Welcome, Barbara!
I want to assist the Multifaith Works stakeholders in addressing their hopes and fears while taking advantage of the opportunities associated with the changes. Together we will be on a journey of discernment, discovery and action.

While we will all miss Anson as he begins his new position as Executive Director at the American Jewish Committee’s Seattle Chapter, the Multifaith Works Staff and Board wish him the best in his exciting life transition. After an extensive interview process, we are happy to announce that the Multifaith Works Board has approved the hiring of Barbara Green as Multifaith Works Interim Executive Director. Barbara will begin her role on March 1st, and will serve for approximately six months. During this time, we will embark on a national search for a permanent Executive Director.

Over the past ten years, Barbara Green has served as Interim Executive Director in several well-respected non-profit organizations in the region: Seattle Midwifery School, Seattle Tilth, Washington Works, Lambert House, Women’s Funding Alliance, Chicken Soup Brigade, and more. In addition, she has over twenty years of experience in non-profit leadership and management and organizational development consulting. She came highly recommended not only by former agencies but also by peers in the consulting and interim executive professions. Barbara recently expressed her excitement about her new role at Multifaith Works:

"I am looking forward to guiding Multifaith Works during this time of transition. While the ambiguity experienced during change can be challenging, it is also a time for creativity, renewal and development. I want to assist the Multifaith Works stakeholders in addressing their hopes and fears while taking advantage of the opportunities associated with the changes. Together we will be on a journey of discernment, discovery and action. I look forward to starting."

We are confident that the strong Board and Staff we have in place are well equipped to maintain the organization during this transitional period.

From our Clients

Some of you have seen the state I’ve been in for most of the past 14 years. My neurological problems kept me in bed or home-bound for most of that time until my healing last summer. Your sponsored feast was the first Christmas activity I’ve been able to attend in that amount of time, and it brought me so much joy.

I am grateful for all that my Multifaith Works AIDS CareTeams have done, and are doing for me. For the first in a long time, I’m enjoying life rather than just surviving. I have enjoyed my new friendship with another Multifaith Works client. As St. Teresa of Avila wrote in the 1500s regarding her own chronic poor health:

“It is a wonderful thing when a sick person finds another wounded with that same sickness; how great the consolation to find you are not alone. The two become a powerful help to each other in suffering and meriting. What excellent backing they give to one another.”

Although I am not Catholic, St. Teresa’s words speak to me personally across the centuries as I try to understand what is happening to me. I still have symptoms, but they just don’t touch me in the way they used to. The best way I can describe it is as if I’m in a busy restaurant with dishes clanking and people talking at all the tables around me. At one table sits
AIDS; at another my finances; at another my personal relationships, etc. But the only One I’m interested in is the One who is sitting across the table from me. I thought I was disqualified, yet my dreams are becoming my reality. If I start gibbering ecstatically or levitating, you’ll know something funny is going on!

Building and Fixing
Grace [Ravenna House Manager] is just wonderful. She’s good people. She helped me get off the street. I’m more than grateful for it.

by Barbara Bowen, Multifaith Works Volunteer

On a cold January day, I met Ravenna House resident, Ira, to catch a snapshot of his life. Ira strikes me as a passionate guy. He’s passionate about bicycles, computers, and about youth making smart choices. And he’s happiest when tinkering and doing things to please other people.

Born in Springfield, Oregon and raised in California, Ira hitchhiked to Seattle at age 19. He liked this city and the mountains, and he stayed. That was 13 years ago.

When Ira was a boy, his uncle had a pile of junk bicycle parts in his yard. He taught Ira how to assemble a whole bicycle from those parts, and an avocation was born. Ira constructed a cool bike, and has been fixing them since. Nowadays, Ira takes his bike everywhere, and he once rode a circuit following Seattle city bus routes.

Ira’s other passion was born when his stepmother introduced him to computers. He learned how to use them in grade school, and how to fix them from a techie roommate. Ira is self-taught by making up problems just so he can fix them, and he finds computer parts by dumpster diving on Capitol Hill. He would like to attend school to learn more about computers and get a
good job. He loves building them from scratch, and has built some for his housemates at Ravenna House, as well as for one of the Multifaith Works House Managers.

Speaking of housemates, when I ask Ira about Ravenna House, he says “I love it there. Grace [Ravenna House Manager] is just wonderful. She’s good people. She helped me get off the street. I’m more than grateful for it.” He likes the community and the structure… although he finds deadlines for clean rooms a challenge.

I ask Ira what words of wisdom he would like to share with the world: “SAFE SEX!! Youth are scared of being here and are on a self-destruct path and don’t practice safe sex.” His message is, “Tough it out, do safe sex, and don’t give up hope!”

I then asked what gives him inspiration. He said, “God doesn’t make junk.” After a pause, he followed up with “The computer thing - it’s intriguing to me. They’re made with living mineral - it’s of the earth. There are so many things they use it for. Like ...watches, walkmans, escalators, ...and searching for extra terrestrials.” He laughs lightly. It has been a pleasure meeting Ira.

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A Non-judgmental Presence
by Mark Newton, Shanti Volunteer

My first Shanti client has passed. I miss him. He provided lessons in humility, maintaining boundaries, patience, and compassion. He helped me learn to support someone with multiple physical and emotional challenges. And he reminded me “there before the grace of God go I.” I am grateful to him.

Since his death, I’ve thought a good bit about one of the competencies Shanti teaches. It is the importance of being a non-anxious, non-judgmental presence. Some individuals who entered my client’s life toward its end offered loving kindness. Others offered challenges. Some had designs on his personal effects; one tried to influence his Last Will and Testament; and some had designs on his soul.

One afternoon, a paid care provider invited my client to renounce his sexual orientation and take Jesus into his heart. As unconscionable as that was, it was not isolated. Just days before my client drew his last breath, a stranger called him. He also suggested my client renounce his sexual orientation and take Jesus as his savior.

How was I as a volunteer to respond, if at all? I felt I had two options; one visceral and one rational. Let my own anger emerge, or manage it and focus exclusively on my client. The Shanti choice was clear but not necessarily easy; I chose to process my anger with my Small Group of other Shanti volunteers, allowing me to remain fully present for my client. By maintaining a non-anxious and non-judgmental presence, I provided a context within which my client could take the full space for himself - to vent and eventually set boundaries and reaffirm his sense of self worth. This enabled him to reaffirm and reconnect with his own sources of emotional and spiritual comfort as he moved closer to crossing over.

The Shanti model of unconditional support buoyed my client and me. We know. We tested it together. .

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Supporting Multifaith Works

Multifaith Merchandise

Ahura Peace Necklaces 
"Ahura" is derived from the Zoroastrianism meaning, "Good Spirit" or "Angel." 16" pewter chain with 4" extension, 11 pewter faith symbol charms. $25 each. Click on image for a larger photo.

Hozho Peace Necklaces 
Hozho is the Navajo work for "A way of life." Eleven pewter faith symbol charms dangle from a black waxed cotton cord that adjusts from 16" to 14." $25 each. Click on image for a larger photo.

Multifaith Works mugs, Tshirts, hats, Jewish & Christian AIDS Pins, and more... Please click for further information about other multifaith merchandise.

How to Order
To order any of these items, please mail a check made payable to Multifaith Works at 1801 - 12th Ave. Suite A, Seattle, WA  98122. Please write the item and quantity in the memo line. Visa, MasterCard, and American Express are also accepted. For more information, call 206.324.1520 x221 or email info@multifaith.org

Got a Car to Donate?

Multifaith Works is now able to accept donations of cars, whether running or not. Simply call Andrea at 206.324.1520 x225 or email info@multifaith.org. Once we obtain the necessary information about your car or truck, an auction/towing company will arise for pickup, title transfer, and voila: you get a tax credit and Multifaith Works gets a cash donation.

As a housing provider, Multifaith Works is always seeking houses to develop into supportive homes for people living with AIDS and other illnesses. Receiving a house in donation, or rent-free for a number of years cuts our development costs significantly, which in turn means we are able to put a new home "on line" in much shorter time. So, if you have a house to spare, running or not, please consider donating it to Multifaith Works.

Workplace Giving
There are many easy ways to show your support of Multifaith Works. Workplace Giving Campaigns offer you the chance to give to Multifaith Works through payroll deductions. For campaigns at public sector workplaces, Multifaith Works is found under Local Independent Charities (LIC). For the most benefit to our agency, please direct your contribution specifically to our agency.

In addition, Multifaith Works is a United Way partner agency and you can support us by contributing to the Community Safety net or more directly by writing our name in the donor choice section of the pledge form.

If your employer matches gifts, please be sure to participate in its matching gift program because doubles your contribution to us. SAFECO, Microsoft, Washington Mutual, Boeing, and many others have corporate matching gift programs.

For information about giving opportunities with Multifaith Works, please contact Gary Southerton at 206.324.1520 x229 or gary@multifaith.org.

In the Works is published online and in print four times per year.  To receive this newsletter via email, or for further information, please contact Multifaith Works at info@multifaith.org or 206.324.1520 x221.

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