Many Capitol Hill residents want to do something to help their homeless neighbors, but don’t know where to start or how different organizations are involved. Spare the Change, an open house and forum Thursday night on homelessness in the neighborhood, provided those with homes information and resources for helping those without.

Long-time Seattle resident Jean Fukuda, who moved to the Hill a few months ago, came to the forum to learn about what each organization represented there does and to find a volunteer opportunity to help those living on the streets.

“It’s just such a heartbreak to see people struggle so hard,” she told CHS.

Fukuda knows money is important for the organizations, but she said it doesn’t feel as meaningful as volunteering. She previously helped build five Habitat for Humanity houses and would like to do some hands-on work for the homeless whether it’s serving a meal or something else.

Emily Stein, an architectural designer, who has lived in Seattle for a few years, came to the forum to learn more about what’s going on and what’s being done about the homelessness issue on Capitol Hill.

“I realized how much homelessness is a part of the community,” she said.

Stein has previously donated to Facing Homelessness, a project that aims to get resources to homeless people and make them more than nameless faces on the street through photography.

Millie Heye, case manager for Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets, or PSKS which provides services to people 13 to 29, said they work with not only other organizations fighting homelessness, but also the Capitol Hill Community Council, the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and Capitol Hill Housing, which all sponsored the event.

“This is an issue that cannot be addressed alone,” Capitol Hill Community Council president Zachary DeWolf told attendees at the forum.

Many of the people Heye works with have good interactions with Capitol Hill residents and business, she said, and the forum was an opportunity to continue to build the community as a whole.

Heye and the other panelists agreed that community members interacting with and getting to learn about their homeless neighbors makes a difference.

“These people are a part of our community and if we want to see these people grow and be successful then they have to be treated like they are a part of the community,” said Bradley Smith, outreach worker, with the Downtown Seattle Association’s Multidisciplinary Team which expanded to Capitol Hill in January. CHS reported here on the program’s first year on the Hill.

Spare the Change: Five people got off the streets of Capitol Hill this summer, hundreds remain

Heye said people, including those who are homeless, have different levels of comfort with interacting with others, but often buying a little food or giving someone a cigarette can brighten a homeless person’s day.

However, if someone on the street appears to be really struggling with a mental health or substance issue Millie Heye advised people to call 911.

Millie Heye’s husband Michael Heye said he thought the event was a good opportunity hear about the little things that can make a difference.

He said Johnny Schilling with YouthCare, which works with people up to age 25, made a point that really stood out for him. It was the reminder that everyone in that room had a home to go to and be themselves, have a drink, be depressed or feed an addiction. Homeless people don’t have that. When they experience those things, it’s for all to see.

“I think that doing our best to remember people’s identity and remember that we’re all here, every single human on the planet is here, to survive to enjoy their time on this planet, to be part of a community to prosper as much as we can,” Schilling said.

Schilling also reminded attendees that people who live on the streets often aren’t there by choice, many have trauma from shelters or find it challenging to abide by a program’s rules.

The panel generally agreed that Capitol Hill has a lot more homeless youth than many other areas of the city, but Don Jensen, executive director of Community Lunch on Capitol Hill, also noted that about 25% of the people they feed are senior citizens.

Many people in Capitol Hills homeless community also have substance abuse or mental health issues. Another common theme is that they come from rural communities without many services, so they come to Seattle looking for those services, but they don’t have a support system to help them.

Heye noted that Capitol Hill’s homeless also have a strong community, making it difficult and scary to transition out of because they are losing their community.

The transition is made even more difficult due to high rent and criminal records for homelessness crimes such as urinating in public or trespassing.

To continue improving the lives of the homeless population on Capitol Hill, the organizations said they need donations of money, gift cards, volunteers and for people to be educated on homelessness. Attendees Thursday night got the opportunity to help at the end of the event by sorting supplies donated to the organizations.