The Sound of the Pacific Northwest

CASA started from a handful of volunteers recruited by word of mouth in King County and has grown to 70,000+ volunteers across the United States.  The volunteers are trained by the court to advocate for the needs of children removed from their families due to abuse or neglect allegations.  CASA volunteers gather information, report to the court on the needs of the child, assist the court in making difficult decisions, and make sure that the children’s needs are heard.  To talk about CASA, we invited Sarah Childs, Recruitment & Retention Coordinator for The King County Dependency CASA Program, and Michael Griesedieck, their Program Manager.

Katherine Kehrli is the founder, chair, and chief bread & energy cookie officer for Community Loaves, a grassroots bread and cookie home-based volunteer brigade, baking and delivering wholegrain loaves and energy cookies to local food banks. Listen to today's podcast to find more information about this fantastic organization. 

Dr. John Zeisel is a world-renowned expert on living with Alzheimer’s and he’s the founder of the I’m Still Here Foundation. You can meet him Thursday, January 22 from 1 – 2:30 pm at the Frye Art Museum Auditorium. This community-focused event is designed to bring together both people supporting loved ones on the memory loss journey and professionals who provide dementia-friendly programs and services in our area.

Community Warehouse is a non-profit organization that collects new and gently used furniture to provide to individuals and families transitioning out of crisis situations, such as homelessness, domestic violence, or disaster recovery, at no cost. We invited Phil Gerigscott, Senior Manager of Communications for Community Warehouse. 

Today we talked to Kristine Moreland, President and Co-Founder of The More We Love. The More We Love is an organization that provides outreach to those impacted by homelessness. They build trust, advocate for these individuals, and provide them with the love, appropriate resources, and care they need to heal and thrive. 

Today we talked to Jennifer Simonic, Co-Founder of Loose Ends. Loose Ends is a non-profit that finishes art projects that loved ones leave behind when they pass away. 

We’re in December! It’s almost the holidays and we’re thinking of where we’re gonna spend them, what we’ll be cooking, presents… So many things to worry about… What do you call those? Oh yes, FWPs… First world problems… Most of us have these kinds of problems, but many people have real problems. They are not wondering what they’ll be eating for Christmas because they don’t even know if they’ll have food tomorrow. Food insecurity is not fun, especially if others depend on you. We have some friends that for the holidays always make backpacks with food supplies and toiletries that they then hand to people in a situation of homelessness. But there are people who do this every day of the year! That is the case of Machael Casper. For the last 5 years she’s been running Milk Crate Kitchen.

Today we have invited Andrea Woroch, a nationally-recognized family finance expert, writer, speaker and frequent on air-contributor on radio and tv, to share practical tips for cutting your grocery bill, especially around the holidays.

Next month, December is Cybersecurity Awareness month, so to help us understand this issue and give us some tips, we have invited a cybersecurity expert, Stanton Greenawalt, Professor Cybersecurity at Horry Georgetown Technical College In South Carolina.

There's an art exhibit called Please Touch organized by ReVision Arts and curated by Barbara Oswald. Barbara very graciously accepted to talk to us today about this interesting concept. 

In the Pacific Northwest, we have a serious problem with drugs, crime, homelessness, domestic violence... so many issues that, believe it or not, improve when this one thing gets better…  We’re talking about reading… Children who cannot read proficiently by the fourth grade are four times less likely to graduate on time—hindering their chances to succeed in college, career, and in life. And here’s an alarming statistic… In Oregon, more than half of 3rd graders are not reading at grade level. There is an organization in Oregon that is working hard to boost reading levels in school. We’re talking about SMART Reading. To talk about SMART Reading, we have invited Jessica Bowersox, SMART Reading’s Executive Director. 

October is known as National Disability Employment Awareness Month and is also a time to raise awareness for specific conditions like Down Syndrome. National Disability Employment Awareness Month highlights the contributions of people with disabilities to the workforce, encourages inclusive hiring practices, and promotes an accessible work environment. So, today, we’re talking to an organization in Portland that empowers individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We’re talking about PHAME, with PH, not F. To talk about PHAME, we have invited Dana Dinh, their Outreach & Student Engagement Manager.

Today we’re speaking with Megan Mayes, Director of Community Relations for BELLWETHER HOUSING. They know a thing or two about housing… They operate over 3,500 low-income apartments throughout the Puget Sound region. 

Homelessness is a significant and growing problem in the Pacific Northwest. Something needs to be done and soon!  “Portland Rescue Mission” is one of the many organizations working hard to make a difference and end homelessness in the Pacific Northwest.  They are so committed to their mission that their Interim CEO, Erin Holcomb, spent 24 hours on a bench in Portland this week. In Seattle, the CEO for Bread of Life Mission, Kim Cook, also spent 24 hours on a Bench in Seattle this past week. Before they did it, we recorded an interview with Erin Holcomb to ask her about "Conversations on a Bench."

Salem Radio Seattle will be at Missions Fest Seattle. This is a free event with keynote speakers and 60 seminars and exhibits. This is happening Friday and Saturday Oct 10th and 11th at the Highlands Community Church in Renton. For more information go to MissionsFestSeattle.org.

We thought, since we’re gonna be there, it would be a nice idea to talk to one of those 60 exhibitors that will be there with Salem Media Seattle. We chose Vision House. And to talk about Vision House, we invited their Executive Director, Derek Sciba.

Derek Sciba has 15 years of nonprofit leadership experience, having served with global relief organizations such as World Concern and World Vision. Before stepping into the nonprofit world, Derek worked as a television news reporter, where he told stories that sought justice for families facing trauma.

There's a very important gala taking place on October 4th and it’s the ALS Northwest Silver & Gold Gala at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.

To talk about ALS Northwest and their upcoming gala, we have invited Cassy Adams, their Executive Director.

Do you know a woman who’s had a cancer diagnosis? Team Survivor Northwest provides a vital lifeline - offering free fitness programs and a healing community that improves health outcomes for women with cancer. On October 4, you can directly support these transformative services by attending Team Survivor Northwest's 30 Years Strong Gala. As a listener of this station, use code RADIO to save $20 on tickets. This is your chance to invest locally and support women with cancer in their healing. Visit TeamSurvivorNW.org now to reserve your seat. 

To talk about this Gala and more we invited Ericka Newman , Team Survivor Northwest Executive Director. 

There’s an organization in Portland that has been coming to the rescue of homeless youth between 15 and 25 years of age since 2002. Their name is p:ear. To talk about p:ear, we invited Tony Camacho Martinez, their program director.

Have you ever wondered about the people you see all the time, like your bus driver, your baker, your garbage collector? What’s interesting or fun about their jobs? What ticks them off? What makes them smile? Well, we thought it would be a great idea to talk to them. This week, we talked to a Community Transit bus driver in Washington. We had a great conversation and learned a lot about him and his job. Listen to our conversation with David Scroggins of Community Transit here...

There’s a Volunteer Expo coming up on September 4th at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland. To talk about this event, we’ve invited Melissa Wilmot, Public Relations & Social Media Manager, Community Relations at The Standard Insurance Company.