Changes

Our original staff lineup was just before we opened our doors last year, on November 1, 2014. Thank you, Cassie and Jeff, for your commitment to this project.

I don't always get to blogging as quickly as I want to. This particular post, I have started and restarted, and I still haven't quite got it right. I realize that I won't get it right, but all I can do is speak from my heart.

​Two of our founding members and shelter managers have decided to move on for now, and to them I owe the deepest gratitude. Please join me in thanking them.

Cassie Burke

Cassie has done a tremendous amount in our community over the past decade and was one of the core organizers who got our shelter project off the ground. Cassie has taught me an enormous amount because of her extensive experience building relationships with some of the most marginalized people in our city. Cassie works incredibly hard and has some of the fiercest love and commitment to people that I have ever seen. I have looked to her over the years as a friend I love dearly, for guidance, advice, as an anchor, and as a navigator to ensure that this program went where it needed to go. We at the shelter wish her all the best in her next chapter and thank her for making this program what it is. Cassie--it would not exist in all its beauty and complexity, thrive, or be nearly as effective as it is without you. Thank you. 

More about Cassie Burke:

She earned her BA in sociology and political economy from The Evergreen State College. Cassie has been a core volunteer, outreach worker, organizer, and board member with EGYHOP for eight years, and created the training manual. Cassie managed the Bread and Roses Women’s Guest House Shelter and staffed the Bread and Roses Advocacy Center concurrently, while acting as an intern coordinator and site supervisor at The Evergreen State College. Cassie participated in the initial formation of the Poor People’s Union and the original encampment of Camp Quixote and volunteered at the camp after the city of Olympia sanctioned it. Cassie held a work-study advocacy position at the Family Support Center and coordinated the  Interfaith Works Women’s Overflow Shelter and the Family Support Shelter, while staffing both as a volunteer host. Cassie volunteered as an advocate at the Sidewalk Advocacy Center from Fall to Spring of 2012. Cassie was also a collective organizer with Queer Rock Camp, a project of Stonewall Youth.

Jefferson Doyle

Jefferson makes up the third part of the core organizing team of outreach workers that came together to form the concept of the shelter program. He has invested many years of energy in building relationships with people on the streets of Olympia. Jefferson was instrumental in building the strong theoretical foundation of the shelter program that we implement every day. He leads with heart and fire, and I am very grateful to him for being a main stabilizing force, constantly reminding us of why we were doing this in the first place. Thank you, Jeff, for your friendship, passion, commitment, and your ability to hold the complexities people face with solidarity.

​More about Jefferson

Jefferson has been a core organizer, outreach worker, and volunteer with EGYHOP for over 5 years.  Jefferson studied political science at Montana State University and general studies at The Evergreen State College. He worked as an overnight counselor in the Young Adult Shelter at Rosie's Place in Community Youth Services in 2013.  Jefferson completed the advanced advocate training with Sidewalk Advocacy Center and volunteered as an advocate at Sidewalk in 2012. Jefferson has volunteered with Stand Up for Kids, a street-based youth advocacy program in Oceanside, California, and also participated in the Poor People’s Union. Jefferson also assisted with the initial encampment of Camp Quixote.