Counselors
in Bellingham’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) office have been
seeing more and more of their clients go back to work as local employers
continue to hire individuals with various medically documented disabilities,
said Business Supervisor Carl Johnston. Despite the positive experience of
watching their clients immerse themselves into the work force, the employees of
the DVR office in the Meridian Neighborhood, located within the Department of
Social Health Services (DSHS) building, have been increasingly challenged over
time due to government service cuts and subsequent diminishing resources, Johnston
said.
The
DVR helps individuals with significant disabilities overcome barriers to
seeking employment by creating specific vocational, rehab, and/or higher
education plans tailored specifically to each client. Johnston, who has worked
as the business supervisor of Bellingham’s DVR office for twelve years, said he
has certainly noticed the growth of Meridian into one of the most congested
areas of Bellingham. He said that over time, there has been a diminishment of
support services. When welfare programs are cut, people who rely on these
services are not receiving as many resources, Johnston said.
“Even
though we are trying to be work related and employment focused, if people do
not have their basic needs met, it is really hard to be successful with them,”
Johnston said. “With the diminishment of resources, it has been harder to
provide for customers. It limits what we can pay for and help with.”
Johnston
said with the support services being slashed, there is a greater reliance on
community nonprofit organizations, namely churches. Christ the King Community
Church, located near the DSHS, has a young adult ministry called Ekklesia that
meets every week in downtown Bellingham. Kate Crain, an administrator at
Ekklesia, said that homeless people are more than welcome to attend their
services.
“There
are no perfect people allowed at Ekklesia, so there is no reason why homeless
people cannot come in,” said Crain. “We don’t have any resources on hand for
homeless people, but we can get them the help that they need.”
Jon
Ng, founder of the Rising Hope Street Ministry, said he gathers his team of
young adults outside of Ekklesia every Friday night, and from there they split
up into the streets of downtown Bellingham to distribute food, water and
clothing donated by locals.
“We
reach the ones whom no one is reaching. The ones who sleep under bridges, the
ones who camp in forests, the ones who’ve never stepped inside a church before,
and those who most people would never talk to simply because of their
appearance, smell, or intoxication,” Ng said. “It has been massively changing
lives; I have personally witnessed several homeless people escape poverty,
while those who still remain in it now survive with renewed hope and purpose
for the future.”
Ng
said he established the Rising Hope Street Ministry in mid-September 2012 after
growing close to a homeless patient, who then lost his life due to medical
complications.
“The
grief I had over his life triggered a life-altering mission to find out how to
alleviate poverty,” said Ng.
Alongside
their Friday night distribution of resources to the homeless, the Rising Hope
Street Ministry has Discipleship nights every Wednesday, Ng said.
“We
take a 16-passenger van and load it up with clothing, coffee or hot cocoa, and
sometimes we even bring soap and hot water to wash homeless people’s feet!” Ng
said.
Ng
encourages people to become involved with proactive help methods for the poor,
because the more people step away and segregate themselves from the homeless,
the more they are actually causing harm.
“The
more we separate the rich from the poor, the greater the gap is between us and
them, and the more we are contributing to the problem,” Ng said. “This is why
the work that we do at Rising Hope is not only engaging the homeless
relationally; we want to provide community and leadership to help others step
in and participate in the beautiful work that God is doing here in Bellingham.”
Despite
the financial challenges at the DVR, Business Supervisor Carl Johnston said he
and the DVR counselors continue to keep a positive door open with the business
community. Johnston said that he and his team network with local employers and
help them understand that people with disabilities can be viable employees.
Only
individuals with medically documented disabilities can qualify for DVR
services, and Johnston said that a homeless individual may not necessarily
qualify for these services. However, since the DVR is located in the DSHS
building, they do see a lot of homeless people, and Johnston said the DVR’s counselors
try to connect the homeless people to local resources. This includes helping
them get on social security if they need a stable income, helping connect them
to housing in the county, directing them to various mental health support
systems, as well as providing resources for drug and alcohol treatment,
Johnston said.
“A
lot of the time, people with limitations get stigmatized and seen with a
certain negative view. We are always fighting against that stigma and
encouraging people to see the potential in people with disabilities, and not
their limitations,” Johnston said. “We are encouraging people to see their
strengths, and give our clients an opportunity to prove themselves.”
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