On June 25th, the Coalition was invited to attend the press conference for the recently announced Shield Seattle Initiative.
Co-ED Amarinthia Torres stood alongside so many community partners, coalition leaders, and small business owners in support of this proposal!
She spoke in support of the Initiative: “Abuse of power at the federal level is forcing local gender-based violence programs to make an impossible choice; deny lifesaving services to immigrant and LGBTQ survivors or get cut off from funding. It’s unacceptable, it’s an affront to our values and it’s one reason why we’re supportive of the Shield Seattle Initiative. This proposal is a step in the right direction towards fair and much needed local revenue to protect our values and ensure that programs can keep their doors open to all survivors in our city as they seek safety, dignity, and self-determination from the impacts of abuse.”
The Coalition pleased to see that this proposal will ease the costs for small businesses and dedicate funding towards essential human services such as housing vouchers and shelter, food and nutrition access, services for survivors of gender-based violence, and much more.
Thank you to the Seattle Human Services Coalition, Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness, Family Works Seattle and so many others for standing with us and to CM Rinck and Mayor Harrell for proposing this critical protection for gender-based violence survivors and the services and supports they rely on in our community.