{"id":477,"date":"2020-08-06T10:19:31","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T17:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/?p=477"},"modified":"2020-08-06T10:34:08","modified_gmt":"2020-08-06T17:34:08","slug":"summer-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/2020\/08\/06\/summer-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Update"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Happy Summer, Friends!<\/p>\n<p>I am proud of my twenty-five year career in public service, and if there\u2019s a silver lining to all the uncertainty and fear around COVID, it\u2019s that public servants like me really have an opportunity to step up.<\/p>\n<p>And step up we have.<\/p>\n<p>Not only are your government employees working under strange conditions (at home, behind plastic barriers, over the phone, etc.), but they are also facing the same challenges so many are struggling with such as children at home, poor internet connections and dining room table \u201cdesks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But you know what? None of those challenges can hold back the public servants who work for the Pierce County Human Services Department. When I reflect on their hard work and dedication, I\u2019m reminded of a quote from American television personality, and everyone\u2019s favorite neighbor, Mr. Rogers:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;Real strength has to do with helping others.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>From organizing food drives at senior centers to sending supportive e-cards to colleagues, and lending our office space to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department\u2019s growing team of contact tracers, this team of compassionate, creative, and adaptive government employees is delivering critical services in this desperate time of need.\u00a0Read on to catch up on the latest developments in the Human Services COVID response.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Providing up to 3 months of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cognitoforms.com\/PCHSHomelessPrograms\/EmergencyRentalAssistanceProgramApplication\"><strong>rental assistance<\/strong><\/a> to income-qualifying households through an online portal and multiple local non-profit organizations.<\/li>\n<li>Offering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cognitoforms.com\/PCHSHomelessPrograms\/ForeclosurePreventionCounselingAndMortgageAssistanceProgramApplication\"><strong>mortgage counseling and financial support<\/strong> <\/a>to families at risk of losing their homes due to job-loss related foreclosure.<\/li>\n<li>Funding our county\u2019s network of more than 80 <strong>food banks<\/strong> and pantries.<\/li>\n<li>Contracting with over 20 <a href=\"https:\/\/piercecountywa.gov\/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=4776\"><strong>senior centers<\/strong><\/a> across the county to help them adapt their spaces and services.<\/li>\n<li>Delivering <strong>meals and boxes of food<\/strong> to seniors.<\/li>\n<li>Supporting our <a href=\"https:\/\/piercecountywa.gov\/123\/Veterans-Assistance-Programs\"><strong>Veteran<\/strong><\/a> population with housing costs, gas cards, and grocery vouchers.<\/li>\n<li>Supplementing services offered by our <a href=\"https:\/\/piercecountywa.gov\/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=4772\"><strong>domestic violence<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/piercecountywa.gov\/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=4763\"><strong>behavioral health<\/strong><\/a> providers.<\/li>\n<li>Expanding <strong>supported employment<\/strong> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.piercecountywa.gov\/btb\"><strong>transportation<\/strong><\/a> resources for our neighbors with developmental delays.<\/li>\n<li>Expanding <strong>shelters<\/strong> and other emergency housing for residents experiencing homelessness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_478\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-478\" style=\"width: 525px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-478 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/files\/2020\/08\/IMG_0113-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/files\/2020\/08\/IMG_0113-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/files\/2020\/08\/IMG_0113-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/files\/2020\/08\/IMG_0113-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-478\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteers helping give supplies to seniors at the Mid-County Senior Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_479\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-479\" style=\"width: 525px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-479 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/files\/2020\/08\/IMG_0114-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/files\/2020\/08\/IMG_0114-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/files\/2020\/08\/IMG_0114-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/files\/2020\/08\/IMG_0114-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-479\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">ADR staff and partners prepare bags of essential food and household items to low-income seniors\u00a0at the Mid-County Senior Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For information on each of these programs, check out our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.piercecountywa.gov\/6859\/Human-Services-COVID-19-Help\">COVID-19 help<\/a> website, or reach out and I\u2019ll share details or refer you on to one of our department\u2019s amazing staff. And, we could really use your help to get the word out about these great services across our county, so if you have networks we should connect with, let me know! We have flyers, graphics and more.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Rodgers\u2019 mom must have been pretty awesome to raise such a wise and kind man. When he was a child, sad and scared about the world around him, she said, \u201cLook for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m really proud to be leading one of our county\u2019s own department of helpers.\u00a0Public service at its best.<\/p>\n<p>Regards,<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-398\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/files\/2019\/08\/Heather-signature-thick-transparent.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"218\" height=\"132\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>P.S. To make up for my missing blog posts this summer, stay tuned for a BONUS guest blog later this month. Did you know Senior Citizen\u2019s Day is two weeks from tomorrow on August 21?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy Summer, Friends! I am proud of my twenty-five year career in public service, and if there\u2019s a silver lining to all the uncertainty and fear around COVID, it\u2019s that public servants like me really have an opportunity to step up. And step up we have. Not only are your government employees working under strange &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/2020\/08\/06\/summer-update\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Summer Update&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Summer Update - Pierce County Human Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/humanservices\/2020\/08\/06\/summer-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Summer Update - Pierce County Human Services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Happy Summer, Friends! 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