Latest / Resource Report / Resource Report 2 - Peer Olympia
Transcript
- 0:00Hello and welcome to Resource Report, where we share with you important information about
- 0:25local nonprofits and resource organizations that support the community we share, produced
- 0:31by Pathways to Agency.
- 0:33I am your host Rainmaker, and today we will hear all about a fabulous organization located
- 0:39downtown called Peer Olympia.
- 0:42When I walked inside, I saw along the wall to the right lots of encased flyers advertising
- 0:48all the different groups we will hear about later, and to the left a few different rooms
- 0:53with clear glass walls, some with people having a meeting inside.
- 0:57Everything was in gray and white, but it felt clean and comfortable like a community center.
- 1:02I could see a coffee stand behind the counter, where friendly looking people smiled at me
- 1:07as I walked in.
- 1:08Soon I was walked to the back and entered a very large room that looked out towards
- 1:13Legion Way just off the corner of Franklin, where I interviewed site director Stephanie
- 1:18Tompkins and program manager Bri McNeley.
- 1:22Here's Peer Olympia.
- 1:25Hi, I am here at Peer Olympia downtown at the corner of Franklin and Legion.
- 1:38I am meeting with Stephanie Tompkins and Bree McNeley.
- 1:43And you guys are, what do you all do here?
- 1:46I am a site director.
- 1:47And you?
- 1:48And I'm a program manager.
- 1:50Cool.
- 1:51Okay, so can you please explain briefly how long Peer Olympia has been here and how it
- 1:56got started?
- 1:57Yeah, I'll try to keep it brief.
- 2:00In 1984, people were dying of AIDS, and so there was a thing called Susan Dunshey House,
- 2:07and it was people holding the hands of people dying of AIDS.
- 2:11And when medicine came out in the 90s, that kind of started morphing because they didn't
- 2:17need that service anymore, and it started morphing into behavioral health.
- 2:21In 2013, our CEO came in and was a volunteer, worked his way up to be the CEO, and had a
- 2:29vision of opening more sites.
- 2:33And so they rebranded.
- 2:36It had changed from Susan Dunshey to Seattle area support groups, and then it got rebranded
- 2:41to Peer Seattle.
- 2:43And then after Peer Seattle came Peer Spokane, then Peer Kent, and then Peer Olympia.
- 2:50And so we opened three years ago.
- 2:52Oh, that's cool.
- 2:54Yeah.
- 2:55Y'all have only been here for three years.
- 2:56Three years.
- 2:57And a couple of months.
- 3:00Wow.
- 3:01It feels like y'all have been here forever.
- 3:04It feels that way sometimes.
- 3:06And the three years we've been here, we've really embedded quickly into the community.
- 3:11I think that it was something the community needed and just embraced us.
- 3:16And I think we have over, what, 3,000 members at this point, something like that.
- 3:22Y'all are doing some good work.
- 3:24Tell us about that good work you're doing.
- 3:26What are the services that y'all have?
- 3:29So our primary service is peer coaching.
- 3:31That is one-on-one sessions between a coach and a recovery.
- 3:38People who are in recovery and have lived experience.
- 3:42So our coaches all go through a training that we do here.
- 3:47And they have lived experience with really any type of recovery.
- 3:52That can be substance use.
- 3:53That can be mental health.
- 3:54It can be chronic illness, trauma, being part of a group that is marginalized.
- 4:02And so we have a wide variety of coaches to meet the needs of our community.
- 4:06I think we have over 40 coaches and 80 recoveries.
- 4:11Then we also have support groups.
- 4:13So we have about 22 support groups that every single day we have one to three, four support
- 4:21groups going on.
- 4:22Again, a wide variety of support groups.
- 4:25It's mostly volunteers who come in and say, hey, I'm looking for this support group.
- 4:30I can't find it.
- 4:32And we say, we can give you training.
- 4:33Why don't you start one?
- 4:34And so it's, again, really responding to the needs of the community.
- 4:40We do front desk resource and referrals.
- 4:42So people come in looking for various resources.
- 4:46So we will offer that.
- 4:49And then we do supportive housing.
- 4:51So a peer who has lived experience with being either unhoused or not having stable housing,
- 5:01helping people navigate the systems that are in our service area.
- 5:06We do same thing with employment.
- 5:08So again, peers who have struggled with employment, helping those who are still navigating those
- 5:18resources and either looking for employment or education.
- 5:24And then we also have family navigation, which is a family member.
- 5:29So a loved one essentially supporting a loved one that has substance use issues.
- 5:36So that can be a friend, that can be an actual family member.
- 5:43But it's really supporting that family member to help navigate substance use resources or
- 5:51just talking about how that relationship is impacting them and their own recovery.
- 5:58Wow, that's really cool.
- 6:00That's really cool.
- 6:01I'd like to know, like, what does the peer coaching look like?
- 6:05Like give me like, like, OK, I'm coming to do peer coaching.
- 6:09What would I be doing?
- 6:10What's going on?
- 6:11That's a great question.
- 6:12So our peer coaches are CCAR certified through what's called a Recovery Coach Academy.
- 6:19It's a five day training that teaches people how to utilize their lived experience to help
- 6:23others.
- 6:24We are really we don't have a particular pathway that we try to stick with or anything like
- 6:32that.
- 6:33Like we really try to meet people where they're at.
- 6:35You don't have to be abstinent.
- 6:36You don't have to be part of like a 12 step group or anything like that.
- 6:41People have the option to choose whatever pathway they want.
- 6:44So our coaches then utilize their own lived experience.
- 6:48We match based on three things.
- 6:50So one is lived experience of, you know, they're going through something similar as the recovery.
- 6:57Two is that maybe the coach has achieved a goal that the recovery also wants to achieve.
- 7:03And three, perhaps they the recovery wants a coach that's part of like a certain identity.
- 7:09So maybe we have someone who's gender nonconforming or trans or a person of color who wants to
- 7:14meet with someone with that same identity.
- 7:17We can match based on that as well.
- 7:19So it's a one on one meeting or session that they have weekly.
- 7:25It's for 26 sessions.
- 7:27So that comes if they meet once a week, that's six months.
- 7:31And we're really here to support the recovery and finding natural supports.
- 7:37So we kind of step in and then step back.
- 7:39We really focus on building self-efficacy within that person.
- 7:42So we're not going to make a phone call for them or fill out paperwork for them or anything
- 7:46like that.
- 7:47We're going to sit with them while they do it and really help support them through that
- 7:52anxiety or whatever they may be experiencing.
- 7:56And then they yeah, once they're done, then the recoveries graduate and they can become
- 8:04coaches at that point if they choose to do so.
- 8:07So the model kind of looks like starting as a volunteer, you know, having a coach and
- 8:13becoming a coach.
- 8:15And that's really kind of how our model works.
- 8:18Like it's sort of like self-guided.
- 8:19Yes.
- 8:20So it's like the people coming to do the to have received the peer counseling are kind
- 8:26of like they have their own autonomy.
- 8:28This is when I can meet and you know, if they need to change the pacing of how often they
- 8:34come, they can do that.
- 8:38It's 100% self-guided.
- 8:39And we really talk about, you know, not fixing people like people can fix themselves.
- 8:46And we're really there to just witness that journey for them and offer support without
- 8:51judgment.
- 8:52Hey, I've been there too.
- 8:53So yeah, it can be a really unique thing.
- 8:58There, you know, we pair well with clinical and things like that.
- 9:04But we really are a separate peer service that is peers helping peers.
- 9:10So it just is a unique relationship for people who really are just looking for a safe and
- 9:18judgment free space to be able to talk about their challenges.
- 9:21Yeah.
- 9:22And you had said that that also can lead into how does one start working.
- 9:27Yeah.
- 9:28Yeah.
- 9:29Yeah.
- 9:30And I think that's a really good point, well, Brea herself was a coach for quite a while
- 9:34for us before becoming a staff member.
- 9:37What determined is the person themselves that come for the peer counseling that they determine
- 9:43when they feel like they're ready to move to a next level or is it kind of mutual, y'all
- 9:48kind of arrive at that place together?
- 9:50Yeah, I think both.
- 9:51I mean, you know, if somebody, you know, we've, we just hired a coach, we had three positions
- 9:58open, we hired a coach and we hired a volunteer intern for two of the positions.
- 10:04And then one position is somebody we just never knew before this.
- 10:09So a lot of times it is the person, we had a volunteer here who worked here for a year,
- 10:16didn't want a job.
- 10:17And after a year of volunteering here said, hey, maybe I do want a job and applied for
- 10:24one of our positions and did that position for two years.
- 10:28And they just moved on to a new job.
- 10:30So a lot of the model is for people to come in.
- 10:37And if they feel they want to get a job here, it doesn't mean they're going to, of course,
- 10:44because we have the interview.
- 10:45Yeah.
- 10:46So yeah, it is, it's a lot of mutual kind of deciding, you know, because we also have
- 10:51to consider the people that we serve.
- 10:54And we don't want to put someone into a position, whether that's a coach or staff or a facilitator,
- 11:02where their recovery isn't strong enough to, or just aged enough, I guess, where maybe
- 11:11the the stress or the vicarious trauma burnout is going to put their own recovery at risk.
- 11:19So we really try to think about how is coaching going to affect this person.
- 11:26And they get to decide if they're in a spot in their own recovery that would allow them
- 11:31to be able to do this.
- 11:32But we definitely offer a lot of support, a lot of scaffolding around that, because
- 11:37we absolutely don't want to cause harm to either them or the person they're meeting
- 11:40with if we've had people who have gone into coaching thinking that they were ready and
- 11:46they did fantastic and then just something happened and they relapsed and then kind of
- 11:53left four of their people hanging.
- 11:55You know, and of course, they were struggling as well.
- 11:57So we have to kind of consider the whole picture of, you know, how do we minimize harm as much
- 12:04as possible?
- 12:05Right, right.
- 12:06Absolutely.
- 12:07Like understanding where people are at all given times, what capacities there are, and
- 12:13just, you know, big disclaimers, right?
- 12:16So, yeah.
- 12:18So, yeah.
- 12:20So, yeah.
- 12:22So, yeah.
- 12:24So, support groups.
- 12:26I know that you all have so many.
- 12:29Can you give me examples of some of them?
- 12:32Yeah.
- 12:33One that we do is DBT skills building class.
- 12:38So it's people who have been through DBT or going through DBT practicing the skills often
- 12:45with clinical, like there's homework that's given and the therapy itself.
- 12:50So it's really giving people an opportunity to practice those skills that they, you know,
- 12:56were given as homework.
- 12:58That's dialectical behavioral therapy, right?
- 13:00Yeah.
- 13:01Can you explain what that is real quick?
- 13:03Yeah.
- 13:04It's basically a therapy that was built on taking what was most effective from other
- 13:10therapies, so like cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, that type
- 13:16of thing, and kind of taking the most effective skills and tools from those therapies put
- 13:22together.
- 13:23And it really breaks down kind of the emotional process that we go through, whether that's
- 13:29cognitive or emotional or, you know, just our thinking patterns.
- 13:34And it breaks that down into smaller pieces and then looks at those smaller pieces and
- 13:40where we can have intersections and have kind of, what do I want to say, kind of a break
- 13:47or a space where we can do something different.
- 13:50And so that it's really just a space for people to be able to talk about their skills, how
- 13:55they're using those skills and practice those.
- 13:59That's really great for like if you're emotionally dysregulated.
- 14:03Yeah, and then for distress tolerance or mindfulness and then interpersonal relationships.
- 14:10We have a new group.
- 14:12It's an ADHD autistic group that just started like a month ago and it is really well attended.
- 14:22And then we have some reentry groups.
- 14:25We have formerly incarcerated sisters.
- 14:29We've got a couple of parenting groups.
- 14:32We have a Healing for Healer on Thursday nights.
- 14:36Somebody just took over that group.
- 14:38So we'll see how that one turns out.
- 14:40What else do we have?
- 14:42Oh, we got reading groups.
- 14:43We got writing groups.
- 14:44We have a music group.
- 14:45A music group.
- 14:46We have an art group.
- 14:47Creative Connections.
- 14:48The art group is very popular.
- 14:52We have two board game groups, one for adults and the one for families.
- 14:58We've got our, more or less it's our unhoused group.
- 15:04We do that every morning from nine and we just extended it.
- 15:07It used to be nine to ten and we just extended the hours to nine to ten thirty where people
- 15:13can come in and get warm.
- 15:15They can charge your phones and that's pretty well attended group also.
- 15:20And coffee.
- 15:21They were just watching Shrek this morning.
- 15:24So I kept seeing them in there and they were doing really good there but they were just
- 15:30kind of staring into space because they're not facilitating like we do our other groups.
- 15:38So they were staring into space and I thought, man, they don't ever get to watch movies.
- 15:43They don't ever get to, you know, wouldn't it be cool just to give them a movie?
- 15:47So I talked to the person who is pretty much the facilitator of that group and first off
- 15:54they wanted to go to ten thirty.
- 15:56They said that would be great.
- 15:58And then the movies, they love that.
- 16:00And so I went in this week and just let them know, hey, nothing too violent.
- 16:06And so their first pick was Wish.
- 16:08So they watched Wish and now they're watching Shrek.
- 16:12So they're watching movies that are, it's so sweet.
- 16:15And but that's a really popular group.
- 16:18We have anywhere from three to eight people in that every morning.
- 16:22So when you're when you're existing outside of life looking in, when you step into a place
- 16:31and you're watching just any old kind of movie like that, it's like it's it's like reminds
- 16:37you that you're part of life and part of the world and that in itself is very empowering
- 16:44because we're not a day center.
- 16:46No.
- 16:47So we don't have people hanging out there.
- 16:48And so that gives people a space to come in and just kind of like at a day center kind
- 16:56of situation.
- 16:58We are service center.
- 16:59So if you don't have an appointment, you can get some coffee and leave.
- 17:04But that's one that they can sit in for an hour and a half and just enjoy the morning
- 17:09and get warm.
- 17:10Yeah.
- 17:11So we are services appointment based center.
- 17:15But we also offer coffee, tea, water to anyone that wants to come in because we hope that
- 17:25when they're ready to enroll in services, if they're ever ready to enroll in services,
- 17:30that they know that we're a safe space for them to come in, get treated with dignity.
- 17:34We try to keep our space really clean.
- 17:37I know when I was receiving services, some places I would go in and feel like less of
- 17:43a person just because it didn't seem like they really cared about their space.
- 17:48And here it's really important to us to offer a clean, safe space that they can be treated
- 17:56with dignity.
- 17:57Everyone gets treated with dignity.
- 17:59And like I said, when they're ready to enroll in services, then we're here for them.
- 18:06And there's been some really great surprises that have come out of that where you don't
- 18:11want to think negative about people, but you just kind of are like, oh gosh, I really hope
- 18:15this person gets out of this cycle.
- 18:17But with how bad the fentanyl epidemic is, it just sometimes you feel like you're losing
- 18:26hope that are people going to be able to find their way out.
- 18:29And we've had some really great surprises of people coming in and being like, I'm ready.
- 18:33I'm ready to access services.
- 18:35And people that you never thought would, you hoped they would.
- 18:39But the reality of it is that fentanyl is just a really nasty beast to deal with.
- 18:46Talking about the housing support.
- 18:59Yeah.
- 19:00So we don't offer housing.
- 19:04We don't have funding associated with our housing services or anything like that.
- 19:09But like I said, it's a peer who has had housing instability navigating the resources in the
- 19:16area for that housing.
- 19:19So we navigate a lot of the coordinated entry system, which is like our county system to
- 19:26get into shelter or tiny homes or hotels or something like that.
- 19:32So it's just a lot of navigating vouchers or knowing what to do with them or how do
- 19:38I look for an apartment that's only this much that the voucher will actually cover and just
- 19:45kind of processing the frustrations around the system and not having enough housing.
- 19:51Yeah.
- 19:52When somebody comes in, we do goals.
- 19:54What is their goal?
- 19:56And then that housing person will work with them.
- 19:58Maybe they've had an eviction in their past.
- 19:59So how can they navigate to get housing with something like that?
- 20:06They may need ID.
- 20:08They may need a social security card.
- 20:09So really helping them navigate what is it they need and then how can we direct them
- 20:15into the right direction to get those needs met?
- 20:20That can also include services like legal aid and stuff like that.
- 20:24Yes.
- 20:25Yeah.
- 20:26So you never know what a person, you know.
- 20:28So we don't have funding.
- 20:30So it's really just supportive housing.
- 20:33We support people in their quest for looking and looking at barriers and what is keeping
- 20:38you from getting a house and trying to support them with that.
- 20:42It's really wonderful and fabulous.
- 20:44As another group that I've talked to that are supporting people with navigating some
- 20:49of those things as well, that would be power.
- 20:52Are there any other groups that y'all know that do that as well that you'll connect with?
- 20:57Most housing agencies in this town do FCS, foundational community support.
- 21:02We do FCS.
- 21:04A lot of agencies because it's a billable service, a lot of agencies do only FCS.
- 21:11You have to be FCS to be able to meet.
- 21:13We do anybody.
- 21:14We don't, that's the low barrier we have being able to come here is we don't charge.
- 21:22All our services are free and we don't say, oh, you don't have FCS.
- 21:27We can't work with you.
- 21:28Same with employment.
- 21:30We work with anybody who walks in the door who asks for housing support or employment
- 21:35support, education support.
- 21:38So a lot of the other agencies do FCS only and they actually maybe have, there's a funding
- 21:49through FCS called TAP.
- 21:52We don't do that, but they do and that's some housing money that it's spent until January.
- 21:58So there are a lot of agencies that do housing, family support center, they do a housing,
- 22:05they do coordinated entry.
- 22:07We've got Pipe does some kind of housing.
- 22:09I mean, every agency does some kind of capital recovery center.
- 22:16There's just so many, oh, who just showed up today.
- 22:19The community council.
- 22:23They're here meeting with Connor right now.
- 22:25They do FCS.
- 22:26So there's just like almost every agency in this town does some kind of housing practically.
- 22:32But usually y'all kind of like fill in that little gap of that gray area.
- 22:38Yeah.
- 22:39Yeah.
- 22:40Because generally that housing is linked to something else.
- 22:42So go through treatment, we'll get you housing afterwards or go through mental health.
- 22:48It's like a string attachment where you have strings attached.
- 22:52So you have in a way you have more freedom.
- 22:55Yes.
- 22:56But in another way, y'all hands are tied.
- 22:58Yeah.
- 22:59So it's like, that's really cool though.
- 23:01Definitely fills the space that has a need.
- 23:03Yeah.
- 23:04And so you mentioned something, your resource connections on your website, fill that space
- 23:09like with the housing, but like with other things as well.
- 23:12You know, coaching does that, our housing, our employment.
- 23:16And if somebody comes in and needs somewhere to sleep tonight, they know how to send them
- 23:20to a place where they might be able to sleep tonight.
- 23:23Whether they want to go there or not is, you know, but we have those resources, you know,
- 23:28of where you could go sleep tonight.
- 23:30That's barrier free, where you can get a meal, where you can get a shower, things like that.
- 23:37So it's so wonderful.
- 23:38Yeah.
- 23:39It sounds like there isn't anybody who can't help.
- 23:42You know, a lot of times, a lot of times, like people, you know, I've heard this before
- 23:48and that people don't think that they would qualify for services or they're self-conscious
- 23:55about it or there's just all kinds of reasons why people don't want to go out for help,
- 24:01you know.
- 24:02And so can you think of any reason why there would be somebody, what circumstance would
- 24:09there be that you would not be able to help them?
- 24:11So I think, so we had a family come in with a baby, unhoused.
- 24:18All we can do is send them to an agency that could help them.
- 24:22Do you see what I'm saying?
- 24:24So there's nobody we need to turn away without at least a resource, but there is nothing
- 24:30we could do for them other than give them a resource, you know.
- 24:33And it just so happened that day we were doing section eight sign up, we hosted other agencies
- 24:38to come in, so because it was only open for I think two weeks.
- 24:43And so everybody had to hurry up and get signed up.
- 24:45So we hosted space that a lot of people could come in and that family came in that day.
- 24:52So we were able to send them back here to get signed up for section eight, which was
- 24:56nominal.
- 24:57But it's like here, sign up for section eight.
- 25:01So in a couple of years, you can have housing.
- 25:06It's difficult because there's just not enough housing, affordable housing out there.
- 25:10And I would say as far as like referrals, there are definitely people that because we're
- 25:17not crisis responders, we're not a day center.
- 25:19So anyone in crisis is not suitable for our services at this time.
- 25:25But it's always a tomorrow is another day type of attitude.
- 25:30So we don't really believe in punishment.
- 25:32We believe in natural consequences.
- 25:34So hey, you had to blow up in the lobby.
- 25:37Let's try again tomorrow.
- 25:38Right.
- 25:39Oh, you blew up again in the lobby.
- 25:42The next day, we're going to do a one week ban.
- 25:45So it's kind of a graduated natural consequence.
- 25:50But that doesn't mean and there's very few people that as soon as we see them, we're
- 25:54like, nope, like we're trying to head them off and talk to them outside because they're
- 26:01just in a chronic state of escalation.
- 26:04But we've had people who I can think of one in particular who was very violent towards
- 26:09Stephanie actually, who came in and every time he would come in, it was just immediate
- 26:15escalation.
- 26:16He wasn't accessing any services and he just had a tough time.
- 26:21He came in a couple months ago and was like, I'm ready for services.
- 26:25And he's one of those that you never thought you would see that you hoped for it.
- 26:31So even someone who one of the few who have been banned, it's never permanent.
- 26:38And if they come in and say, I want to access these services, we're going to say, OK, let's
- 26:43do it.
- 26:44So yeah, anyone in crisis is not going to be we're not going to be able to help them.
- 26:48The best we can do is try to see like, do you want us to call someone for you?
- 26:54Do you want us to call crew or OHRS or trying to connect them to someone that can help them?
- 27:00And the other reason we wouldn't help somebody is that they didn't want it.
- 27:05So sometimes we get people coming in who are like brought in by their parents or and we
- 27:11only do 18 and over.
- 27:12But like I just had this conversation last week with our family who was saying, hey,
- 27:18the parent wants this for their adult child.
- 27:21But I don't know that the adult child wants it.
- 27:23And so we say no, because we would check in with that child and say, do you want these
- 27:29services?
- 27:30Your parent cannot meet with you unless there's a justifiable reason for it, because it has
- 27:35to be 100 percent autonomous.
- 27:37So it can't be court ordered.
- 27:39It can't be something where we would have to report to somebody with the exception of
- 27:43our funders.
- 27:44But that's different.
- 27:45So we wouldn't be we can be part of a treatment plan, but we're not going to report to unless
- 27:53that person asks for some document from us, we can give it to that member.
- 27:58But we're not going to give it to the courts or to their therapist or to that without them
- 28:04asking for it specifically.
- 28:06So that would be another reason is if it was not their decision, it has to be 100 percent
- 28:11autonomous.
- 28:12They have to want the service in order to be enrolled in it.
- 28:15That's important information, especially like when you think about medical services and
- 28:20actually because the whole medical system may need to fill out like releasing information
- 28:25stuff.
- 28:26So you don't talk with that at all.
- 28:28There's rare times that we do, but it would be at that person's request.
- 28:34And we can do that definitely do some ROIs.
- 28:37But it has to be that person's.
- 28:39And people want us to talk to their people.
- 28:43Yeah.
- 28:44And that's great.
- 28:45That's fine.
- 28:46But how I normally navigate that is I will put it on our official letterhead.
- 28:51I will include my information on there and I will give it directly to the member and
- 28:56then whatever they want to do with that document, they can do what they want.
- 28:59That's an important thing to know.
- 29:02Yeah.
- 29:03Walk me through the actual literal process.
- 29:07If somebody says, OK, I'm ready to receive services.
- 29:10Well, they'll come in the door and one of our front desk people will give them a member
- 29:16intake and it's on an iPad.
- 29:19And it's pretty simple to use.
- 29:23If they need help, one of our front desk volunteers will help and we'll even.
- 29:28Yeah, we've helped.
- 29:29I've helped many people fill out the member intake.
- 29:33Whatever level of help they need to fill it out, we will help them with that.
- 29:39And once in there, there's all our services and they get to mark which ones they want.
- 29:45And our front desk staff will explain to them what the services are, whether what are you
- 29:50signing up for.
- 29:51After that, an email goes to if they ask for coaching, an email will go to our coach leads
- 29:57saying, hey, this person's asked for services.
- 30:00And then the coach lead within a couple of days will call that person or contact that
- 30:05person email if they have contact info.
- 30:09Sometimes they don't put contact information in there and that's always difficult.
- 30:13They don't have contact information.
- 30:15So but whatever department they signed up for, we'll get a hold of them and start the
- 30:20process of them getting like coaching, start the process of them getting a coach.
- 30:26That's kind of how it works.
- 30:27And that's true with every department.
- 30:29Yeah, and the front desk knows that if they don't have contact information, we have drop
- 30:33in hours for most of our services on Fridays.
- 30:37So they can come in and drop in and meet with that lead and talk to them about what the
- 30:43services are, if they want to enroll and how can we get a hold of you or setting up appointments
- 30:48or something like that.
- 30:49So we can still work with them if they don't have contact information.
- 30:51You say that again when the drop in is on Friday.
- 30:55It's Fridays 11 to 1.
- 31:00Do you partner with any other resources?
- 31:09So many.
- 31:10So many.
- 31:11Too many.
- 31:12I named some of them earlier.
- 31:13Yeah.
- 31:14Yeah.
- 31:15So we're a partner, so we try to situate ourselves as kind of a peer hub for providers.
- 31:22We do a lot of the training for the peers at other organizations.
- 31:27They attend our Recovery Coach Academy and we've trained so many from multiple providers.
- 31:35Even in, because our service area covers Thurston, Mason, Lewis and Grace Harbor.
- 31:40So we've even gone to other counties to do Recovery Coach Academies there.
- 31:44And so we try to position ourselves as somewhere that people can come and feel comfortable.
- 31:50And we used to do kind of a provider get together where all the peers could get together and
- 31:55get support from each other.
- 31:57That's kind of on pause for now.
- 31:58But yeah, we have a lot of agencies when they get new hires, they call and ask me when's
- 32:03the next Recovery Coach Academy because they want their new hires to come through.
- 32:08They want all their staff to be trained here.
- 32:11And then your de-escalation training.
- 32:13Yeah, I do a trauma informed de-escalation and crisis intervention.
- 32:16And it's really for peers and for volunteers because our front desk is 100% manned by volunteers.
- 32:24And we do have our front desk coordinator that's always around up front, you know, Monday
- 32:29through Friday.
- 32:32That training is really geared towards like bite size accessible things that people can
- 32:37do in a crisis situation.
- 32:40We do pronoun training, the importance of pronouns and what that looks like in our work.
- 32:47We do some other training.
- 32:49So anytime we have a training, it's really well attended.
- 32:54And then we absolutely work with all the resources that we can possibly find, you know, to help
- 33:00navigate through, whether it's housing or other program managers, just like a wizard
- 33:06at different programs and just staying on top of it because it's just a constant change
- 33:14that, you know, you can have a big old resource list, but then you have to update it almost
- 33:19like weekly or monthly because funding runs out or this program's changing their criteria
- 33:26for taking referrals or this program's full.
- 33:30And so it's just this constant updating of the resources in the area.
- 33:36So our front desk, like I said, is manned 100% by volunteers.
- 33:41So that's just a constant like update as well to work with all of these programs.
- 33:49And then we also offer space.
- 33:51A lot of the programs that are out there like arrest jail and alternatives or like HEN or
- 34:00we were having someone that was doing coordinated entry.
- 34:04So a lot of our, we have crossover, right?
- 34:06We have members that are accessing those services.
- 34:09And so sometimes providers will come here.
- 34:11We have an office that's called the provider office and they can meet with our members
- 34:17to kind of have one-on-one FaceTime with them.
- 34:19So that's kind of a cool thing that gives people Face-to-Face time in a world where
- 34:23it's just a lot of phones or emails or forms or whatever that's hard to navigate.
- 34:28So yeah, we try to include outside providers as much as possible as what we do.
- 34:35I know a provider used our space last week to do a training with their staff.
- 34:39MI training.
- 34:41I think there was almost 20 people in here or something.
- 34:44So yeah, and we offer our space to providers to be able to do that because it brings people
- 34:50in the door to get, you know, I think being in our space really helps people understand
- 34:57what we do.
- 34:59And so offering these trainings for free and really connecting with providers, I think
- 35:04it's something that Thurston County does really well.
- 35:06If you go to other counties, there's a lot of gatekeeping with services.
- 35:11And it's interesting because we're all helping the same community.
- 35:15We're all helping the same people.
- 35:17So we need to connect as much as possible to be able to provide what's out there.
- 35:23And yeah, that's always been an interesting, weird thing that I find strange.
- 35:29Like the training that was last week, they actually wanted three days and the dates that
- 35:36they wanted, two of them didn't work.
- 35:39They could have changed to different dates, but they were kind of locked into those dates.
- 35:43So they just used us for one of those and we found a space somewhere else.
- 35:47How many, what do you do to get in and have a space to use for something?
- 35:52They just get over to me every year.
- 35:54One of us, yeah.
- 35:55We just like, oh, we've got this room available at this time.
- 35:59We have to look and see if we have it.
- 36:01What is the capacity that you have?
- 36:03How many rooms?
- 36:04We've got three group rooms, support group rooms.
- 36:08We've got two coach rooms.
- 36:09We've got the big training room and then all our offices.
- 36:13Are you all able to provide like any kind of materials or whatever?
- 36:17Do you all have like already like a whiteboard or?
- 36:20Yeah, we have like some easels that we use for our trainings.
- 36:24We always have fidget toys for people who, you know, in our training.
- 36:28So we can always bring those out.
- 36:29We have markers and you know, there's, there's like basic supplies that we can offer more
- 36:37so like with food and stuff like that.
- 36:40Like we can offer coffee and tea just like we would normally would.
- 36:44And then if there's any food or anything like that, like they would provide that and any
- 36:48like specialty supplies that they might need.
- 36:51But yeah, we do have a big whiteboard and like individual easels that have the big like
- 36:57pads on it.
- 36:58And we have the.
- 36:59It's an overhead projector.
- 37:00Yeah, we have a big projector for the speakers.
- 37:07So it's, it's a really nice space for, we have some bigger like there's an NA meeting
- 37:13that meets in here.
- 37:15There's two more groups that are going to be moving back here.
- 37:18They started out in the meeting room up front and they've outgrown that space.
- 37:22So now they're going to start using the training room.
- 37:25And yeah, we have zoom capabilities in two of our group rooms and in the in here, the
- 37:32big training room and yeah.
- 37:35And we have to talk about our agencies.
- 37:39We have a provider appreciation that would be our second annual.
- 37:44We didn't have one the first year we opened, but ever since last year we started it and
- 37:49we have it this year in December where we already we have 67 RSVPs from different agencies
- 37:58around here.
- 37:59So we've been prepared.
- 38:01That's what the lights are about is we're getting ready for our provider appreciation.
- 38:06We're getting getting there.
- 38:08We have a little more decorating to do and yeah, just to say thank you to the providers
- 38:14that are in the area and we do like an auction and it's all or a raffle, not an auction.
- 38:21We do a raffle and have food.
- 38:24We're doing last year and this year we're doing fry bread tacos and and then we also
- 38:32make medicine to hand out at the provider appreciation.
- 38:35So like bombs and solves and things like that.
- 38:37I'm seeing I'm in the what is this room that we're in?
- 38:41Big training room.
- 38:42This is the big it is a very big.
- 38:43Lots of beautiful windows and lighting.
- 38:45I see on the table over there.
- 38:47There's some jars with some liquid in it.
- 38:49Yeah, that's the end of it.
- 38:51Yeah, we got we have a few more to make.
- 38:54Almost three boxes like this.
- 38:57Yeah, well, sounds yeah.
- 38:59So here you can have this one.
- 39:01So this one has eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender, olive oil, shea butter and beeswax.
- 39:06So that was so nice.
- 39:08So we made this all the staff decided what they wanted their medicine to be.
- 39:17We had all the plant medicine.
- 39:18It's just like a baby's they put the plant medicine in with the oil and took care of
- 39:25that for weeks like I think two months, eight weeks.
- 39:28You'll see like in our offices, everyone has their babies that they're like putting good
- 39:32intentions into and healing and yeah.
- 39:35And then what is the baby's the medicine in the oil?
- 39:41So I would give everybody everybody knows what this calendula this is what calendula
- 39:47is.
- 39:48So people could decide what kind of healing they want to give the providers that are going
- 39:52to come to our appreciation.
- 39:53And so this one they wanted to make something for anxiety.
- 39:58And so that's what so they put that intention in their baby for two months.
- 40:03And then yesterday we cooked it in a bomb and that's what they put into everything
- 40:10they did was because they want to heal people's anxiety or at least offer some healing for
- 40:16your anxiety.
- 40:17So that one was one of my staff members and they called it chill bomb.
- 40:22Oh, I love that.
- 40:23So it means don't be anxious.
- 40:27So yeah, we've got three boxes like this so far.
- 40:32So everybody will be able to have a couple that night of your volunteers make that.
- 40:38My staff.
- 40:39Your staff.
- 40:40Yes, yes.
- 40:41Me and my staff.
- 40:42Yeah.
- 40:43Yeah.
- 40:44Okay.
- 40:45Yeah.
- 40:46I taught them last year and this year they were they were whizzes at it.
- 40:49I used to make stuff like that all the time.
- 40:52I still do.
- 40:53It's busy.
- 40:54Yeah.
- 40:55Yeah.
- 40:56Yeah.
- 40:57It makes it easy when it's part of work.
- 40:59Yeah.
- 41:00To be able to do it.
- 41:01It's a real challenge.
- 41:02Yeah.
- 41:03Because if we were all trying to do it in our personal lives, it would be really hard.
- 41:06We wouldn't be able to make something, you know, that big of an amount but we just take
- 41:12a whole day and that's what we did all day yesterday.
- 41:14Finding reasons to apply in your work to do stuff like that.
- 41:19Yeah.
- 41:20It's very bonding for our staff.
- 41:25Yeah.
- 41:26That's wonderful.
- 41:27Well, y'all have mentioned that you have other locations.
- 41:32Tell me about that.
- 41:33Where else is there up here?
- 41:35Well, I'll tell you all the services.
- 41:38We've got Pierce Seattle.
- 41:40The start after after Pierce Seattle.
- 41:45Five years ago, they opened up Pierce Spokane and so they do exactly what we do pretty much.
- 41:52They have a different charter than us, like Pierce Seattle is LGBTQIA+.
- 41:58That's their charter.
- 41:59Pierce Spokane has a different charter.
- 42:02Then Peer Cant came along and Peer Cant is heavy justice.
- 42:07They're in the courts.
- 42:09They're in the libraries.
- 42:11So they've got a huge program.
- 42:16So if somebody here in Olympia needed extra legal support, they might go to them.
- 42:23No, no.
- 42:24It's just where you're at.
- 42:25Because they actually put peers into the courts.
- 42:29So you would have to be a part of the courts there.
- 42:33So Peer Cant, if you just walk in, you're going to get the service we give.
- 42:39But if you're a part of drug court, you'll get a peer from Peer Cant.
- 42:46So they've got a whole program for the courts.
- 42:49And they're in the municipal court.
- 42:51They're in drug court.
- 42:52They're in all kinds of courts.
- 42:54Plus they also have all the library.
- 42:57They probably, there's four or five libraries that have peers in it.
- 43:01Peer Cant manages that.
- 43:04They manage the court stuff.
- 43:05They manage the library stuff.
- 43:07So yeah, their focus is different.
- 43:10But if you're just a walk in for services, they have the same services.
- 43:15They have the same services.
- 43:18Same as Spokane has these services.
- 43:21And then Peer Seattle, same thing, same services.
- 43:24They might have, I know they got an AIDS outreach, HIV AIDS outreach.
- 43:32So they have some extra services, same as we have a couple extra services that aren't
- 43:37on the court service.
- 43:39Then Peer Washington came before Cant.
- 43:42They need an admin.
- 43:44And so Peer Washington is the complete admin that runs all our sites.
- 43:50Then Peer Olympia came along, along with Peer Workforce Development.
- 43:55And they're writing the CPC new curriculum.
- 44:00They do the CPC trainings.
- 44:02They do all kinds of, they train the cops.
- 44:06They train all kinds of people.
- 44:08That sounds a lot like DSHS WorkSource Solutions when you say it.
- 44:12It's what makes me think of.
- 44:13Is there any connection?
- 44:14No, no, no, no.
- 44:17They're more with healthcare authority and Department of Health.
- 44:22They're really close with them because of all the rules around the new bill, 5555, and
- 44:28writing that new curriculum for the certified peer counselors.
- 44:31So that's going to change a lot after the first of the year.
- 44:35But that's their big focus right now.
- 44:38And then there were an ombuds program in all 10 regions.
- 44:43The way that ombuds work is each region, an agency would have an ombud, but there wasn't
- 44:49a lot of coordination between all 10 regions.
- 44:53Well our CEO got the contract for that.
- 44:57So now we, Peer Washington, Peer Washington owns all 10 regions.
- 45:04And so it's called Office of Behavioral Health Advocacy.
- 45:08It's not called ombuds anymore.
- 45:10And we have that contract.
- 45:12And so we're in all 10 regions.
- 45:16And it's one person taking the phone calls and transferring it to the regions.
- 45:21And so it's very connected and it didn't used to be.
- 45:24So that's kind of cool.
- 45:25And I have a question about that ombud.
- 45:27So to clarify, I was a certified nursing assistant for the last nine years.
- 45:32So I'm familiar with ombudsman because of that.
- 45:36So when we talk about ombudsman, is that the same kind of ombudsman?
- 45:40It's not called ombudsman no more.
- 45:42No, it's not.
- 45:43It's called OBHA.
- 45:44OBHA.
- 45:45What's that spanish for?
- 45:46Office of Behavioral Health Advocacy.
- 45:47Office of Behavioral Health Advocacy.
- 45:48Yeah, and that's Peer Washington.
- 45:49Oh, right.
- 45:50Wow.
- 45:51We own that.
- 45:52And then we started RNP, Recovery Navigator Program.
- 45:57And I'll tell you what I know of it.
- 46:03I haven't gone to really check it out.
- 46:05But it's when the cops are on the street and they need like they're coming to you and you're
- 46:14either in crisis or you're drunk or maybe you're high.
- 46:19But you don't really need to go to jail.
- 46:22They can call the recovery navigator people and they can come and meet up and take care
- 46:29of this person, maybe put them in a hotel for the night, get them to the hospital, what
- 46:34have you.
- 46:35So it's a rough job because you're on call all the time.
- 46:41But it has grown so much.
- 46:43I think there's about 20, 30 employees in two sites.
- 46:47We have South and North.
- 46:49So one's in Seattle and one's in Federal Way.
- 46:52Does the street cop who encounters such an injury, does he actually call?
- 46:57Yes.
- 46:58Oh my gosh, they're so busy.
- 47:00Yeah, they're so busy.
- 47:02Yeah, it took a minute to like get traction.
- 47:05But law enforcement is so overwhelmed with calls that are not law enforcement.
- 47:12But there's nobody else to call for that kind of crisis intervention or it's kind of a diversion
- 47:18program to keep people out of jails and the justice system.
- 47:22So if someone's having a mental breakdown or just having a hard time, then that referral
- 47:28can go out to RMP from law enforcement, but also from community members.
- 47:32So it's open to anyone to be able to call and say, hey, there's this person who's not
- 47:37doing very well and they can respond.
- 47:41And in Thurston County, it's called LEAD.
- 47:43There's a program a lot like that called LEAD.
- 47:46It's law enforcement, something diversion.
- 47:50I don't know what the A is.
- 47:51It's not my program.
- 47:52But in Thurston County, we have an LEAD lead.
- 47:57The LEAD program is similar to the recovery navigator program.
- 48:00I think it's same funding.
- 48:02This makes me think about like a few years ago, we had the pandemic and all of this and
- 48:07there was the whole defund the police thing.
- 48:09It kind of makes me feel like it was that idea was generated at times.
- 48:14People are wanting social services to get involved and stuff like that.
- 48:20So is that any connection to that?
- 48:23I don't know.
- 48:24I don't think there's a connection directly to defund the police.
- 48:27I would say it's more a connection to fund social services.
- 48:32Just keeping law enforcement out of it.
- 48:35And that's kind of, you know, here Washington doesn't necessarily have an opinion one way
- 48:40or the other as far as that goes.
- 48:42They stay neutral, but yeah, definitely to the idea of like we need more funding for
- 48:49programs just like this so that people, I mean, law enforcement's overwhelmed.
- 48:55Jails are overwhelmed, right?
- 48:56Like it's just an overwhelming system where we're asking people who are not social service
- 49:02providers or necessarily like mental health responders to respond to a situation that's
- 49:08not appropriate for them to respond to, right?
- 49:11And in fact, their presence can actually escalate that.
- 49:16But it's definitely looking at like, okay, where can peer services fit into that as far
- 49:21as social services and the support that we can offer to divert people from the justice
- 49:27system?
- 49:28Because that's just more barriers.
- 49:29Absolutely.
- 49:30Yeah.
- 49:31And the last is Washington Peer Network.
- 49:34And that's a, it's new.
- 49:36It's probably been around for less than a year.
- 49:40And it's a place where it's a network where all peers can go to one place and connect
- 49:46and find out things.
- 49:47So it's still pretty new.
- 49:48If you have an iPhone, you can get it on your iPhone, the app.
- 49:53If you're on an Android, you can go to the website, Washington Peer Network and become
- 49:58a member.
- 49:59It's free and you can get all kinds of information and connect with peers all over the state.
- 50:05It's a statewide network.
- 50:06Yeah, kind of like a social media in a way where you can like meet people and chat with
- 50:12people on your page.
- 50:14And then there's trainings and jobs that are posted.
- 50:20And so it's just kind of this growing, like it's exactly that, a peer network.
- 50:23Yeah.
- 50:24I want to clarify the language.
- 50:25Maybe you say peers, peers, candidates.
- 50:28Are you talking about people who are working for different peer organizations or are you
- 50:33talking about like just people?
- 50:34Peers.
- 50:35Peers, both.
- 50:36Yeah.
- 50:37So the Washington Peer Network, anybody who's a peer, either working in the field or want
- 50:45to work in the field, you may have a CPC, you may not have a CPC, you may be a recovery
- 50:51coach.
- 50:52It's a place that you don't even have to be a CPC or anything.
- 50:57If you want to be part of this network, if you want to go right now, you could go and
- 51:02just see what's going on with the peer world.
- 51:04Maybe you've had an interest of maybe what it means or what's going on or you want information
- 51:09or what's happening next or how hard is it going to be for me to sign up for a CPC next
- 51:16year when the rules change?
- 51:18You can find out that kind of information there.
- 51:20Okay.
- 51:21Okay.
- 51:22So you're using the word peer as more as I too am a provider of some sort, whereas the
- 51:29distinction, the difference is and then someone who would be looking for service.
- 51:35Yeah, a peer is anybody with lived experience.
- 51:38Okay.
- 51:39And that can be any kind of lived experience.
- 51:42It could be that you run housed at one time and you have this great story of how you battled
- 51:51that.
- 51:52And that can be very beneficial to someone else.
- 51:55That means you're a peer.
- 51:56I will tell you, I am definitely a peer.
- 51:59I definitely got some lived experiences.
- 52:02We can all be peers just like ever.
- 52:07Let's see.
- 52:09And then tell me about volunteering here.
- 52:15What is the experience for volunteers?
- 52:18Yeah.
- 52:19So it's really up to the volunteer.
- 52:21So we have three types of volunteers.
- 52:24So technically our coaching is considered volunteering.
- 52:28They do get a stipend to help mitigate costs for them coming down here or whatever, gas
- 52:34or whatever.
- 52:35Our facilitators are volunteers, our group facilitators, and then our front desk volunteers.
- 52:41And that's the biggest pool probably is our front desk volunteers.
- 52:44So anyone who is interested in volunteering goes through a brief screening.
- 52:50And then we don't do background checks or anything like that.
- 52:53They start as soon as we can get them onboarded.
- 52:56So usually that same week we're trying to get them onboarded so they don't lose interest
- 53:01or have to wait a while.
- 53:03Often I had one person call me last week and they were like, I really need something to
- 53:08do for my recovery.
- 53:10And he came in last night.
- 53:12And so it's usually a pretty quick turnaround.
- 53:16We do a brief one day onboarding.
- 53:19It's not even, it's like a two hour onboarding.
- 53:22And then they're at our front desk learning.
- 53:24We always pair them with someone that is, you know, knows the systems really well because
- 53:30there is a little bit of admin stuff.
- 53:32And then we talk about, you know, peer principles, how we treat people when they come in here,
- 53:37why it's important for us to treat everyone with dignity and to treat them as human.
- 53:43And then whatever volunteers are here to learn.
- 53:45So some people just want to give back to the community.
- 53:48They've had well-paid jobs or whatever, and they just want to give back.
- 53:53Some people are here to learn skills.
- 53:55So maybe they're reentering or haven't learned certain skills about just what it is to work.
- 54:02And so, you know, we try to help build that self-efficacy of like, hey, like it's okay
- 54:10that you're late, you're volunteering.
- 54:12That's totally fine.
- 54:13But just know outside of here, like they're going to expect you to be on time and just
- 54:17kind of building those expectations.
- 54:20They are volunteers.
- 54:21So of course, we're not like, how dare you?
- 54:23You know, like they're volunteers so they can do what they want.
- 54:27And then we also offer intern opportunities.
- 54:30So we'll go through Equus or CCAP or we've had Valeo before they kind of changed their
- 54:38program.
- 54:39And that is more structured.
- 54:42And we look at kind of what they are looking to do.
- 54:46Most of the people that come to us are wanting to build some sort of experience with peer
- 54:53work.
- 54:54And so we have interns that have learned how to manage a grant where I sit with them and,
- 55:01you know, the things I can share with them, I'll go through and show them how to do the
- 55:06assessment or whatever that might be.
- 55:09Or if they want to learn how to build a program, we can do projects for them where they can
- 55:16come up with their own project.
- 55:17You know, it's really self-directed again on their part of what do you want to learn
- 55:23and what can I provide that is going to help you learn that.
- 55:28And that can go with the volunteers too.
- 55:30So it really is self-directed, you know, checking in with them.
- 55:35What is it you want to get out of this?
- 55:38And that's kind of how we cater towards that.
- 55:46Tell me about the screening process.
- 55:50Yeah, the screening process.
- 55:51So because we are LGBTQ, that's in our blood.
- 55:54We also in our charter, we focus on folks of color.
- 56:00We have a grant that is for people of color, one of our employment grants.
- 56:08And we also work with a lot of military families.
- 56:12Most of who we see that are vets are folks who have felt like the traditional resources
- 56:19for vets or active military are not what they want to access.
- 56:24So we'll see a lot of vets who are trans or, you know, gender neutral or whatever that
- 56:31might be.
- 56:32And then we also serve rural areas, like I said.
- 56:35So we get a variety of people and we really want to create a safe space.
- 56:39So we're very careful about, you know, we'll ask, are you comfortable honoring someone's
- 56:45pronouns?
- 56:46And if the answer is no, they're going to have, they're going to cause harm here because
- 56:50we have a lot of folks that come in that you say them or alternative pronouns.
- 56:55We'll ask some questions, you know, about tell us experiences you have working with
- 57:02a diverse community or, you know, so we kind of.
- 57:05Want to screen to ensure that the people we have at our front desk are representing peer
- 57:10principles and are representing our charter and more so not causing harm to the people
- 57:15that are coming through the door.
- 57:17That's not to say that there isn't a place for people who don't want to honor pronouns.
- 57:22It's just not here.
- 57:23So they have their own experiences that determine that for them or that, you know, they've for
- 57:29whatever reasons, but it would definitely cause harm here.
- 57:32So yeah.
- 57:33So that's pretty much all the screaming is, is like, how do you feel about what we do?
- 57:39Are you a good fit?
- 57:40That kind of thing.
- 57:41It isn't like you said you don't do background checks.
- 57:44Yeah.
- 57:45We do for staff, but that's it.
- 57:48And even then, like most of the time it's a case by case basis.
- 57:53Most of our staff have some sort of record or something, you know, something in their
- 57:58past that's on that can create an issue with a background check.
- 58:02So even then it's like, there's, it's always a case by case basis of, and most people are
- 58:10fine.
- 58:11Yeah.
- 58:12Personal discernment and judgment, you know, and being reasonable and that kind of thing.
- 58:20That makes it feel like there's like a lot less stress for people around that who are
- 58:25trying to make a change in their lives and they might feel self-conscious about such
- 58:29a thing.
- 58:30Like, oh, screening and alarm bells.
- 58:32Oh my God, I'm going to be screened, you know?
- 58:35And so that really like lowers a lot of barriers there.
- 58:39That's really good.
- 58:40Yeah.
- 58:41We try to be as low barrier as possible, but we do have to consider the harm that's done.
- 58:46You know, we're not, we are absolutely here to teach and to offer a safe space to learn.
- 58:54You know, I came from a very small town where I came out with some ideologies that I no
- 59:01longer identify with or no longer agree with.
- 59:04And so, you know, we want to offer a safe space for that learning.
- 59:07That's why we do pronoun training and things like that.
- 59:10But, you know, we also have to consider who's walking in our door in very vulnerable states
- 59:16and you know, to, to minimize that harm as much as possible.
- 59:20Right.
- 59:21Right.
- 59:22I interviewed y'all a while back for my class project.
- 59:26And so I remember that y'all have like mental health support for volunteers.
- 59:32For staff.
- 59:33Staff.
- 59:34Yes.
- 59:35Yep.
- 59:36So our staff, because it's one of the only jobs I can think of that asks us to relive
- 59:43our traumas on a daily basis and utilize those stories to help others and to consistently
- 59:51hear stories that are activating to our own experiences.
- 59:57Our here Washington offers health care.
- 1:00:00Our staff get health care for free as far as individuals.
- 1:00:05Families are different, but when you have dependents, but for individuals, it's free.
- 1:00:09And then we also offer, I think it's nine sessions or something like that.
- 1:00:13I can't remember exactly, but through a mental health behavior, like you can call the number
- 1:00:18and talk to a counselor or therapist.
- 1:00:22There's something that is upsetting you or, you know, if you're having a tough time with
- 1:00:27the election results or you're having a tough time with, you know, something that happened,
- 1:00:34maybe you're in a car accident or something like that, or maybe you're having mental health
- 1:00:37struggles, right?
- 1:00:39So you can call and utilize that service as well.
- 1:00:42Cause it, it's kind of a, it's a service that isn't there for a long time, but it's something
- 1:00:48you can do right away because a lot of times as we know, finding behavioral health services
- 1:00:53is, it can take a very long time to find a therapist or a counselor.
- 1:01:05So what, what are some job opportunities that might be available currently?
- 1:01:11We just filled like three positions.
- 1:01:14Three of our people went on to bigger, better things, which is a great problem to have.
- 1:01:22It's like our number one reason for losing volunteers and staff because we, you know,
- 1:01:30it's great for entry level peer work here.
- 1:01:33And then there's some opportunity moving into management.
- 1:01:36But we, our volunteer coordinator went to work for Hope and Healing Clinic, a MAC clinic.
- 1:01:43Their coaching lead left to work for the Family Support Center doing amazing things.
- 1:01:51And so yeah, we just filled all of those positions to, like Stephanie said, where we knew they'd
- 1:01:58volunteered here or had coached here.
- 1:02:01That's generally how that looks when we do fill positions.
- 1:02:05And then one, every once in a while, we just find someone really special that we don't
- 1:02:10know, but would like to give an amazing opportunity to.
- 1:02:13So yeah.
- 1:02:14Do y'all take any donations or like, what do you tell me about donations?
- 1:02:24It's on the website.
- 1:02:25We do have donation envelopes here, but mostly like we have somebody who sends a monthly
- 1:02:33donation here every month and then I put it in the bank.
- 1:02:37Like Pure Washington, the website has donation links to any of our programs.
- 1:02:46That's financial.
- 1:02:47Do y'all accept anything else, stuff?
- 1:02:52It depends on what it is.
- 1:02:54Like coffee, things like that, that we use every day.
- 1:02:56Yes.
- 1:02:57We don't distribute from here.
- 1:02:58The reason we don't do that is when we first started, we had like some sleeping bags and
- 1:03:03some tents for our housing service.
- 1:03:06But the problem was we would run out and people would still come in asking and it was just
- 1:03:10kind of re-traumatizing them that, we can't meet your need over and over again.
- 1:03:15And so we stopped distributing from here because we would rather send them somewhere that can
- 1:03:20do it whenever they access that service, like Salvation Army or something like that.
- 1:03:25Who does that?
- 1:03:26Right?
- 1:03:27So we've kind of taken a look at our services and what we can provide for everybody at any
- 1:03:34time and that's what we stick with, our services.
- 1:03:39So yeah, distribution, we would much rather have their needs met when they need that need
- 1:03:47met instead of coming in and having to be told no again.
- 1:03:51We got gigantic boxes of socks.
- 1:03:54Yeah.
- 1:03:55And we give them to agencies that distribute socks.
- 1:03:58Yeah.
- 1:03:59And instead of distributing them ourselves, because yeah, we don't distribute here.
- 1:04:04Okay.
- 1:04:05Okay, cool.
- 1:04:06Is there anything else that you all would like the community to know that we did not
- 1:04:16discuss?
- 1:04:18I think it's really important, like I said earlier, come into our space.
- 1:04:23I mean, come see what we do and get involved, you know, whether that's as a volunteer, as
- 1:04:28a coach, whether that's as a recovery needing services.
- 1:04:35It really does make a whole lot more sense when you come in and can see our space and
- 1:04:40we're always happy to give tours and invite people into our space and, you know, access
- 1:04:46our support groups and, you know, just that we're here for whatever, wherever that person
- 1:04:53is at, like we are here to meet you where you're at.
- 1:04:56So I think, yeah, we're not, it's not reportable.
- 1:05:04You know, a lot of people think that we're like a treatment center that have, you know,
- 1:05:08treatment groups and we're not.
- 1:05:10It's completely autonomous.
- 1:05:12Anybody, it's what they want.
- 1:05:16We have no opinion on what you should be doing with your life.
- 1:05:20Yep.
- 1:05:21Yeah.
- 1:05:22Just say that again, because that's just so good to hear.
- 1:05:25Yeah, we have no opinion on what you should do with your life.
- 1:05:28Thank you.
- 1:05:29You're welcome.
- 1:05:30That's a ton of people taking control of their own lives and making their own choices and
- 1:05:38we support that.
- 1:05:39Yep.
- 1:05:40It's none of my business what they want to do.
- 1:05:41I'm only here to support what their choice is.
- 1:05:45Yep.
- 1:05:46Yep.
- 1:05:47And you could tell us your goal is to be an astronaut or time warp to 1928 and we would
- 1:05:54be like, cool, where do you want to start?
- 1:05:57What support do you need around that?
- 1:06:00It's whatever that person needs and we're really just here to offer a judgment free
- 1:06:06place to be able to exist.
- 1:06:08Yeah.
- 1:06:09And try to train people that, you know, we've had people in our trainings be like, well,
- 1:06:14they can't be in it.
- 1:06:16Who cares?
- 1:06:17How do you know they can't?
- 1:06:18Yeah.
- 1:06:19You know, just let's do step one.
- 1:06:21Let's do step one.
- 1:06:23And maybe in a year they'll be like, you know what?
- 1:06:25I don't want to be an astronaut anymore.
- 1:06:26I want to be this.
- 1:06:27And it's like, okay, where do we start from there?
- 1:06:30And that's really what Pure Olympia is about.
- 1:06:43Thank you for listening to Resource Reports interview with Pure Olympia's site director,
- 1:06:48Stephanie Tompkins and program manager, Bree McNeely.
- 1:06:53To explore the information provided here, check out their website, pure Olympia dot
- 1:06:59O R G. You can also call them at three six zero five two two nine zero six zero or email
- 1:07:10info at pure Olympia dot O R G. Of course they would love to see you.
- 1:07:16You can find them at five twenty two Franklin Street southeast at the corner of Legion Way
- 1:07:22and Franklin downtown near the Olympia Transit Center.
- 1:07:27Due to time constraints, some parts of the interview were cut out, but will be added
- 1:07:32back in for the full version available on RSS dot com slash podcast slash resource
- 1:07:40dash report.
- 1:07:41And of course, our zine format transcript.
- 1:07:45Check out our next show on New Year's Day when we will hear about a rehab center called
- 1:07:49First Things First.
- 1:07:51You won't want to miss it.
- 1:08:02That's it for today's resource report produced by Pathways to Agency.
- 1:08:07At Pathways to Agency, we are driven by the belief that everyone should have the tools
- 1:08:11and support to achieve their goals and thrive in their communities.
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- 1:08:31Resource report offers information about existing and emerging nonprofits and resource organizations.
- 1:08:38Find out more at pathways to agency dot o r g.
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- 1:09:14Till next time and thanks for listening.