‘Our goal is to bring that holistic approach to the family’

Congressman Adam Smith (D-District 9) visited the Pete Andersen FUSION Family Center in Federal Way on May 20 to see the program for himself and learn more about the other FUSION programs.

Smith has been visiting with similar organizations to hear about what is working and what isn’t for constituents in his district, which includes Federal Way.

Rep. Smith was led on a tour of the family center, which has 31 rooms and currently provides temporary homes to 125 people. Located at 1505 S. 328th Street, the center also features a common room on each floor with a shared kitchen, eating space, TV and activity area.

A 600-square-foot commercial kitchen in the building serves as a space for meals to be cooked for family dinner nights for residents. It also serves as a training space for participants in the FEEST program through Poverty Bay Cafe.

“We’re a little bit unique in we don’t just provide shelter,” David Harrison, executive director of FUSION, told Smith at the tour. “We call it a Family Center rather than shelter by design because it’s not just a shelter … We have parenting classes, we have financial classes. We have tutoring after school for the kids. Our goal is to bring that holistic approach to the family rather than just providing you shelter.”

Smith had the chance to see one of the open rooms, complete with three beds, a mini fridge, a microwave and even a stuffed animal ready to comfort a child. The room shown to Smith wasn’t empty for long as it would be filled by a family later that day.

The family who would fill it that day included a mother and three children, one of whom is a newborn baby who was just born in March. The family was currently staying in their car.

Families access the program through referrals from partner organizations like the Multi-Service Center and Day Center.

“I can tell you right now it’s really busy, phones ringing off the hook, emails, online applications,” Harrison said.

Smith said that “every organization I talk to says the same thing.”

After hearing more about the more intensive transitional housing program that is another aspect of FUSION’s work, Smith said: “See, this is what I think we need more of and I think there are a lot of programs out there to expand those options to get people into housing and help transition them into different programs.”

The group discussed types of transitional housing, including what works and what doesn’t.

“I totally agree that we’ve got to be focused on getting people into housing, but if housing first becomes housing only… the basic idea that step one is getting somebody into a living arrangement is absolutely right, but not if you don’t have the other services that come along. No matter what, that is the best situation, but it’s not going to work long-term,” Smith said.

They also discussed the importance of supporting the next generation.

The Family Center hosts a variety of activities that “lets kids know that they’re still kids,” said Sandy Huggins, board chair.

“If we’re going to break homelessness, you’ve got to tell kids that there’s something else out there and that gives them an opportunity to see that there are other things that they can shoot for,” Katie Dillon added.

Harrison said “it’s one thing if mom and dad had challenges or made bad decisions that resulted in being homeless, but the kids didn’t have a say in it. They didn’t get to choose to be living in a shelter so we’ll make sure they have little kid experiences” and that they focus on “that holistic approach.”

“That’s really our number one goal,” Harrison added, “to break that generational cycle.”

As just one example of this cycle breaking, Megan Anderson shared: “We moved a family into the transitional housing on Friday and the mom said it’s the first time she’s had a bedroom since she was 16.”

FUSION currently has a 78% success rate of clients leaving into “some form of stable housing,” Harrison shared, whether that is FUSION’s transitional housing program, market rate rent, section eight vouchers, finding a landlord who will accept it or some other opportunity.

The FUSION Family Center allows a stay of approximately 60 to 90 days while their intensive transitional housing program is around six to nine months. The transitional program has had a 100% success rate over the past two years, Harrison said.

FUSION also runs Poverty Bay Cafe and the FUSION boutique, and the funds from these efforts support their other programs. Poverty Bay Cafe is also used as a food service training program and is celebrating its second graduate.