We are Sound Outreach

I’m Jeff Klein, Sound Outreach’s new Executive Director. I did not know that I could write to you on this platform until a few weeks ago. It’s neat when you want to report good news to all of your supporters, right after you discover that your organization has an email newsletter list that hasn’t been used in two years!

I’ve been on the job for 7 months now. If you want to learn about my background or about our staff, you can visit our staff page. I took this job because I love Sound Outreach’s mission, especially the last word in our mission statement, independence. Our staff are experts at connecting people to resources that provide stability—benefits like SNAP, Medicare, Social Security Disability, and healthcare. Now, thanks to a grant from the Bamford Family Foundation and BECU, we have launched Financial Capabilities classes and Financial Coaching for our clients, starting this summer.

With this new program, we help people move towards independence. Clients who change their relationship with money can begin to depend less on the benefits they receive. Our aim is to connect people to resources, and where possible, help our clients to become self-reliant. This is our long-term goal.
 
We’ve had many successes in the past seven months:

• We created a Financial Empowerment program
• We grew our Board of Directors from six members to 13
• Project Homeless Connect received generous support from the Milgard Foundation and the Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound
• We’ve expanded Medicare education to thousands of seniors in the community
• We bolstered resources for our Basic Food program

These are just a few of our successes. We expect more in the near future.
 
Just as our clients receive help from government programs, we receive the majority of our funding from government sources. A major goal of mine is to become more independent, just as we hope for our clients. This means that we must diversify our revenue streams away from current levels, where 87% of our funding comes from government grants. We’ll need your help to accomplish this goal. Please register to attend Sound Outreach’s first fundraising Community Assets Breakfast on September 10, 2015 at the brand new University YMCA in Tacoma. RSVP here to reserve a seat. The breakfast is free, but we will be asking for a contribution at the event.
 
Thank you for your support over the years. I look forward to sharing more of the great work we do at Sound Outreach.

The Dimmer Foundation, United Way Pierce County, The YMCA, and Sound Outreach invite you to participate in our Poverty Immersion Workshop. This opportunity provides a unique experience that helps people begin to understand what life is like with limited resources and overwhelming barriers.