Tax Time Is Coming

January is the start of tax season. No need to fear because United Way offers free tax preparation help for anyone making less than $62,000 per year. Even if you didn’t make much money this past year, you can still qualify for tax credits and deductions which can add up to a significant refund.

The key to a smooth tax process is preparation. Make sure that any employer you worked for in 2015 has your current address so you can get all of your W-2s. Keep the records of your childcare and employment related expenses. If you can find it, bring your tax return from last year.

United Way has 24 different locations around King County to serve you. Go to uwkc.org/taxhelp to find the site nearest you and get a full list of what you should bring.

Job Opportunities 12/29/15

The YMCA is offering a paid internship program called Clear Path to Employment for people between 18-25 years old. If you are receiving food stamps and currently live in a housing program or have a history of homelessness, this program can provide you with job readiness training, job search assistance and a 3 month long paid internship. Clear Path to Employment also offers a bonus for people who are able to obtain jobs after the end of their internship. Information sessions on this program are held every 2nd and 4th Wednesday from 2-3 pm at the 2100 Building, 2100 24th Ave S, Suite 250 in Seattle. For more information, you can also contact Elizabeth Hough at 206-549-3899 or ehough@seattleymca.org.

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Full Life Care is looking for home care aides. Home care aides assist people with personal care and perform basic household services like cooking, cleaning and doing laundry. Home care aides are needed for part and full time work all around the Seattle area. If this position sounds like a good fit for you, go to fulllifecare.org/about-us/join-our-team/.

There are tons of jobs at the SeaTac Airport. The airport is easy to get to using public transportation and offers a wide variety of options for people with all sorts of skills and experience. Employees working at the airport also get access to various training programs through Airport University. Contact the Airport Jobs Office by calling 206-787-7501. You can also see all of the open positions by look at the Airport Jobs Hotlist which is updated weekly.

Website Survey

Solid Ground is building a new website and we want your help to make it better! The site is still a work in progress, but we want to know your thoughts to help us improve the final product.

Here’s where you come in: Please take our usability study! You will get a chance to check out the new website, try out a few tasks, and let us know what you think. We want to know how users experience the website. Can you find what you’re looking for? Is it user friendly or not? What do you think of the overall look and feel of the site? Let us know what you think by going to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/solidgroundwebsite and completing the survey.

The survey will close in about two weeks, so don’t delay. We recommend that you complete it on a computer or tablet instead of a phone, but it will work on your phone. Keep in mind that the website is still under construction, so some forms are not ready, and some copy is still being added. Please treat this survey as confidential and do not share any links, images or content you see on the site.

Thanks so much from all of us at Solid Ground!

Job Opportunities 12/15/15

Hopelink has a new education program called Work Ready. This program is based around a class twice a week from 5:30 to 8pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. Students who complete the program will receive a free laptop. Registration is on Monday, January 4 at 5pm at the Ronald United Methodist Church at 17839 Aurora Ave N in Shoreline. Classes will run through March 23rd at the same location. Students will also get bus tickets to get to and from class as well as additional financial coaching and employment support. For more information, call Kelli Graham at 425-361-3703 or email to kgraham@hope-link.org.

South Seattle College is still enrolling for students in their short term programs starting the first week of January. All of these trainings are free for people receiving basic food or unemployment benefits. From taking the first steps in office work to aerospace composites, there are classes to help you move toward a career. Contact the South Seattle College’s Workforce Education Office at 206-934-5835 or go to startnextquarter.org.

Due to the holiday, there will be no Resource Wire posts during the week of the December 21st. Resource Wire will return on December 29th on the usual schedule.

MLK Advocacy Day

January marks the start of legislative session and it's time to make your voice heard in Olympia. The Statewide Poverty Action Network will be coordinating a trip to the capitol on Martin Luther King Day, January 18th for their annual lobby day.  Free transportation will be provided to Olympia. If you have never been to a lobby day, it's a time to speak directly to your legislators about what matters to you.

This year, Poverty Action is focusing on criminal justice reform, reducing restrictions on TANF and maintaining restrictions on payday lending businesses as well as other policies to end poverty.

Again, this will be on Monday, January 18th. Please save the date. More information will be coming in the next few weeks.

For more information about this advocacy day, call Poverty Action at 206-694-6794 or email David Reyes at david@povertyaction.org.

Job Opportunities 12/8/15

Swedish Medical Centers will be holding an interview event on Thursday and Friday, December 10 and 11 from 9am to 4pm. This interview event is for both clinical and non-clinical positions including administrative, patient service and food service at all the Swedish locations. The interviews will be held at the Met Park East Building 1730 Minor Avenue Suite 400. Please RSVP by going to this link. You can search available positions by going to swedish.jobs.

Ashley Furniture is hiring for several positions in the Seatac and Tacoma areas. Open interviews will be held on Tuesday, December 15 at the Worksource Pierce Office at 1305 Tacoma Ave S, Suite 201 in Tacoma. They are looking for people to fill Warehouse, Porters, Sales, and Management positions. The event is from 1-2pm. The following are links for the job descriptions:

Upholstery Repair Technician

Sales Associate

Warehouse Associate

Store Manager

Tacoma will also be hosting a “Get Hired” Job Fair presented by Pierce County Library System and Workforce Central. This event will take place on Tuesday, December 15 from 3-6pm. The job fair will be preceded by a networking workshop from 2-3pm. This event will be held at the Pierce County Library Administrative Center at 3005 112th St E in Tacoma.

DSHS and YWCA are now offering the Resources to Initiate Successful Employment, or RISE, program. This is a pilot program that is looking to help people with multiple barriers to successful employment and may lack employment experience. For more information about this exciting opportunity to gain skills and employment, call Larissa Lincoln at 425-264-1425 or Trina Aboulhoson at 206-436-8618. 

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Community Voicemail and Lifeline Phones

As many of you know, the Community Voicemail program is coming to an end after 23 years. We will not be able to enroll any new participants after the end of this year and the service will end in March 2016. Maureen Jones, the ConnectUp Program Coordinator, will be working with our partner agencies to transition people to other voicemail providers such as Laser Voicemail or Google Voice. More information about that transition will be coming as the specifics are decided.

Although the Community Voicemail program is ending, the Lifeline cellphones which provide a free handset with 250 minutes per month will continue without any changes. If you currently have a phone through Safelink, Assurance Wireless or any of the other Lifeline providers, there will be no change to your service.

Resource Wire, the broadcast message and email newsletter, will continue as well. After the Community Voicemail program comes to an end, it will be sent out in digital form only but the same content will continue.