Need Help in Pierce County? | Meet Pamm {South Sound Outreach}

Meet Pamm Silver

For the past 6 years, Pamm has been South Sound Outreach’s  “Outreach Coordinator”.

Pamm’s works primarily with the Senior and Disabled community.  Her goal is to make sure all of their basic needs are addressed such as Basic Food, Shelter, Prescription Assistance and Social Security.  Pamm also makes it a point to visit Senior Centers and Apartments to personally interview them.

She finds that many seniors and disabled people are not aware of services available to them.  “At SSOS, We are a “link” to services,” Pamm says.  “If they need lawn mower repair, I know where to send them.  If they need furniture, there’s help for that as well (NW Furniture Bank).  If there’s a problem, we can solve it!”

Pamm and SSOS also partner with other Non Profits, DSHS, Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC), Senior Centers & Food banks to make sure all of our clients get the help they need.

Pamm’s favorite part of working at SSOS:  “I love the feeling of helping those in need as my equal.  They are treated with compassion and respect.”

When asked about her interests outside SSOS, she replied, “I enjoy travel.  My favorite trip was when I went to New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina.  I went to see how I could help the jazz community.  I am a HUGE fan of jazz music.”  Pamm also used to write for the “Northwest Jazz Profile” magazine.  When she is not traveling or listening to jazz, Pamm enjoys doing a little gardening.

Pamm’s Quote to live by:  “We can all make a difference.  Let’s be a neighbor to our neighbors!”

Recipe for Stone Soup

Recipe for Stone Soup
As told by our guest blogger, Judy (a SSOS client and a FISH Food Bank client)

There was a small village that had fallen on hard times. People were worried that they didn’t have enough food to feed their children. One wise old women called on each household and said, ”Tomorrow we shall celebrate. We will come together and have our first festival of the stone soup.” Each family in turn said, “But we have only 2 potatoes.” Others said, “We only have 1 onion”, “We only have 3 carrots” and so on through the entire village.

“Don’t worry” she said. “I have a very large pot, water and a few soup stones. The next day the villagers were excited and gathered their meager food sources and joyfully ventured to the village meeting area. There over a large cooking fire stood the wise one. The huge cooking pot was already simmering. “We are gathered together giving a prayer of thanks. We all have a little bit of something to share and together we shall have a feast.”

As each family added their offerings to the soup spirits lifted and the celebrating began. They also planned to work together for the next stone soup festival.

Trust me this works! Try it with your friends but remember to wash stones well!

The Real Scoop on Stone Soup!
A note about Judy – She is an amazingly funny woman that we are thankful to know.  The glass is definitely half full in her eyes.  She loves to write guest blogs including many fabulous recipes.  She told us that she makes Stone Soup all the time.  She believes that when things are tough, people can pull together and have something wonderful.  Invite your friends over and ask them to look in your refrigerator and see what you have so it doesn’t go to waste.   And, yes, she really does put stones in the soup!

Would you like to own a home?

NEED HELP BUYING YOUR FIRST HOME?

We can help! Our housing counselors offer pre-purchase homeownership counseling and homebuyer education seminars.

Contact us if you are thinking about buying a house in the next couple of years.

We can help you plan for homeownership, improve credit, develop spending plans, and learn about down payment assistance programs.

UPCOMING HOMEBUYER EDUCATION SEMINARS

DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE AND HOMEOWNERSHIP PROGRAMS

Washington State Housing Finance Commission programs: http://www.wshfc.org/buyers/downpayment.htm
Learn about funds for first-time homebuyers, people with disabilities, veterans, and school employees.

City of Tacoma Down Payment Assistance: www.cityoftacoma.org

Pierce County Down Payment Assistance: www.co.pierce.wa.us

Homeownership Center of Tacoma: www.hct-homes.org
Homeownership options and down payment assistance for specific properties.

PC2 Homeownership Program: www.pc2online.org
Down payment assistance for households that include a person with a documented developmental disability.

Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity: www.tpc-habitat.org
Homeownership program for very low-income households.

OTHER RESOURCES

Homeownership Center of Washington: http://www.homeownership-wa.org/

Washington State Housing Finance Commission: www.wshfc.org

Fair Housing Center of Washington: http://www.fhcwashington.org/

OATMEAL CAKE RECIPE

OATMEAL CAKE

OVEN 350*

• 1 1/2 CUPS HOT WATER

• 1 CUP OATMEAL

BRING WATER TO BOIL..ADD  OATMEAL & SHORTNG.TURN OFF &COVER

• 1/2 CUP SHORTENING

***LET COOK AND COOL WHILE PREPARING NEXT INGREDIIENTS***

• 2 CUPS SUGAR

• 2 CUPS BROWN SUGAR

MIX SUGARS & EGGS TOGETHER IN LG MIXING BOWL & ADD COOLED OATMEAL

 

• 4 EGGS

• 2 2/3 CUPS FLOUR

• 2 TEASPOONS SODA

COMBINE ALL DRY INGREDIENTS AND GRADUALLY ADD TO ABOVE WET MIXTURE

• 1TEASPOON SALT

• 2 TEASPOON CINNAMON

PLACE IN GREASED AND FLOURED BAKING DISH 11X13….PLACE IN 350* OVEN FOR 35–45 MIN
JUST BEFORE CAKE IS DONE PREPARE TOPPING

BROILED TOPPING
IN SMALL SAUCEPAN MELT

• 1 CUBE BUTTER, ADD

• 3 TABLESPOONS MILK,

• 1 CUP BROWN SUGAR

STIR & BRING TO FULL BOIL, TURN HEAT DOWN AND ADD

• 1 CUP SHREDDED COCONUT

• 1 CUP CHOPPED NUTS .

REMOVE CAKE FROM OVEN AND SPREAD HOT MIXTURE OVER ENTIRE CAKE AREA….RETURN TO OVEN ON BROIL AND REMOVE WHEN MIXTURE BEGINS TO BUBBLE.  ENJOY!

Thank you to our friends at The Kitchn for the photo.

Cecil | a Connection Center Success

“You almost need a Master’s Degree in Social Work to know how to go about all of this.”

Photo Courtesy of FISH Food Banks

Cecil, a lifelong resident of Pierce County, exemplifies the escalating complications that occur when people with chronic conditions have no access to health care. Outreach Professional Stella Brumley met him at the Southeast 85^th FISH Food Bank, where she staffs the “Connection Center,” one of the entry points that South Sound Outreach Services (SSOS) has established for food bank clients to get connected with community resources.

Cecil has supported himself throughout his life with a variety of manual labor jobs, but a complication of his diabetes called neuropathy caused him to unknowingly and seriously burn his foot. A year later, the foot has still not healed completely and he’s unable to walk well enough to perform any of the work for which he is qualified. When Stella met him, he was living in his camper in the parking lot of various big box stores with no income and no health insurance. He’d been in the emergency room twice with life-threatening ketoacidosis, which would have been preventable with diabetic care and supplies.

Stella enrolled Cecil in Washington Basic Food and the Disability Lifeline program, which gave him a small cash subsidy, food stamps, and medical coverage. Like many homeless clients, Cecil uses SSOS as his address and Stella brings his subsidy-related mail to him at the food bank. She enrolled him in our Prescription Assistance Program, contacting medical suppliers to get him a free blood sugar monitor and reduced cost test strips. She arranged for utility assistance funds to pay for propane for heating and cooking in his camper, and began a Social Security Disability claim. The Disability Lifeline program was eliminated in the state budget cuts, so Stella is hoping to complete the complex Social Security claims process before his Disability Lifeline medical ends.  If he is awarded a Social Security Disability claim, Stella will help Cecil to find and apply for affordable rental housing so that he can move out of his trailer.

There are resources available to support people like Cecil, but the systems of support are so complex and disjointed that one client recently remarked, “You almost need a Master’s Degree in Social Work to know how to go about all of this.” The mission of SSOS is to compassionately guide people through the complex array of resources they need to achieve sustainable, independent living.  With the cutbacks to Disability Lifeline, we expect to serve many more people like Cecil in the next year. The Connection Centers collaboration with FISH Food Banks has enabled SSOS to serve many clients like Cecil.