ABOUT RHONDA WEATHERS:
Rhonda Weathers has served as the Executive Director of SOS Community Services since 2013. She oversees programs that prevent and end homelessness for more than 7,000 people in Washtenaw County each year. During her tenure, she has implemented a number of exciting initiatives including the reintroduction and expansion of SOS’s Parents as Teachers program, which promotes learning and development for at-risk children. She designed an innovative new program to prevent eviction and homelessness for local Section 8 tenants. She serves on the Boards of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance, the Washtenaw County Continuum of Care, and Washtenaw Alliance for Children and Youth. In previous positions, she has overseen the provision of domestic violence and sexual assault services as the Executive Director of Oasis Family Resource Center in Cadillac, Michigan. She also has worked as a psychologist, therapist, and counselor. She earned a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Eastern Michigan University.
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David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and welcome to our weekly exploration of equity and opportunity in our community. I'm David Fair, and this is Washtenaw United. In Washtenaw County, housing and food insecurity continue to grow. There are immediate needs and crisis services that must be provided. And there is the work to help create more stability for future generations. Many of these community services come from nonprofit organizations who, in a time of changing federal policy and priorities, face some financial challenges of their own. For 55 years now, SOS Community Services has been working to promote housing stability and family self-sufficiency. Since 2013, SOS has been led by Executive Director Rhonda Weathers. And I'm glad you could join us today, Rhonda!
Rhonda Weathers: Thank you so much, David! I'm happy to be here!
David Fair: We have current challenges and successes to discuss, but I want to get a little foundational information first. How significantly did the work at SOS change after March 12th of 2020, when the "Stay Home, Stay Safe" mandate went into effect to prevent the spread of COVID-19?
Rhonda Weathers: Well, it changed pretty dramatically for us. We serve primarily a homeless population, and a lot of the homeless population in downtown Ypsilanti where we're located were accustomed to using restaurants, the library, places like that to use the restroom, clean their hands, tidy up a bit. And all of those sources went away. So, we recognized immediately that people who were living on the streets needed a place to use the restroom and have some hygienic facilities available to them. So, we immediately brought in some port-a-potties that had the hand-cleaning stations with them at both of our locations, so that people could access those and, hopefully, prevent the further spread of any infectious disease. So, we tried to respond to the very basic needs first. And then, we started changing our programs to be able to serve people safely in home. A lot of our work is done in home, both in our housing programs and in our children's program. Our food pantry is done, of course, on site. So, we had to change the food pantry, so that people could order their food for the week online, and then, they would pull up and give us a call and we would take the food out to them. For our housing and children's programs, we started doing virtual case management with folks, so that we talked to them on the phone or we might set up a Zoom call with them. And when people were in need of food or diapers or any other thing, we would do a lot of what we called "porch drops". So, we would take the needed items out to the home and leave them on a porch for the person.
David Fair: There were a lot of changes and, I'm sure, a lot of stressors along with those changes. What if any changes have the past six or seven months brought to SOS with the shakeup in federal policy and funding priorities?
Rhonda Weathers: Well, it's been a time of great uncertainty for most nonprofits. There's been a lot of talk at the federal level about how things will change, but they haven't changed a lot for us yet. It's been changing more for our partners, like Food Gatherers. Food Gatherers provides most of the food to our food pantry, and they've experienced a huge cut.
David Fair: About one and a half million tons, if I remember correctly.
Rhonda Weathers: Yes, it's been enormous! And they've been doing a wonderful job of trying to secure the dollars to replace that. It's going to take a lot of collaboration at the local level to know how we can best serve as many people as we can.
David Fair: Our Washtenaw United conversation with SOS Community Services Executive Director Rhonda Weathers continues on 89.1 WEMU. It sounds like, at the heart of your work, it is about collaboration. Given what we've been talking about and the challenges that lay ahead, can we still say that these organizational partnerships are succeeding at moving us closer to equity and security in Washtenaw County?
Rhonda Weathers: Oh, most definitely! We work very closely with not only Food Gatherers, but, for instance, we run a diversion program, diverting people out of our emergency shelter system. And we do that in collaboration with partners in the community, such as Shelter Association of Washtenaw County. We write a grant together to pull in funding from the state to have some flexible dollars to assist people with relocating to another county, to another state oftentimes, or simply paying off an arrearage in a very quick manner, so that they can stay in their home and stay out of the shelter system. So, it's a very effective collaboration. SOC, or Shelter Association of Washtenaw County, tends to handle the individuals' side of that program, and SOS handles the family side.
David Fair: Well, the organization is serving in excess of 7,000 people and families a year, and the majority of those that the SOS helps identify as BIPOC--Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. DEI programs and funding are being reduced or eliminated. It is central to the work you do. Will DEI remain at the heart of the mission of SOS?
Rhonda Weathers: Oh, it will, and it must! We really continually seek to understand how these social inequities have fueled not only the lack of affordable housing, particularly for the BIPOC populations, but they have fueled so much of the inequities in our larger social structure. So, our DEI work continues. We have a committee that is focused on that. We have a diverse staff. We believe that our staff should mirror the people that we serve. And so, we're always seeking to increase the diversity in our board and our volunteers. Our structure also includes people with lived experience of homelessness because we need that perspective in order to assure that programs are accessible, responsible, and respectful of the needs and experiences of people who need them.
David Fair: I am sure that, through the course of working through all of these challenges, that it can be somewhat consuming of the mind. But I'm sure there are also the great rewards of seeing a family get together and move into a place of stability. Do you have a favorite story of a family you've worked with?
Rhonda Weathers: Oh, most certainly! We had a family who came to us, and it always comes to mind. A single mother with two children--they were homeless. They had been living in their car for quite some time when they came to the attention, actually, of our Parents as Teachers program--our children's program. And so, in the Parents as Teachers program, the worker would actually meet with them at a community setting, usually a restaurant, a McDonald's Playland, or something like that, so the kids could play while they talked with the mom. So, we started offering support to the family through that. And then, from there, we were able to help the person connect with local, the local HAWC system, Housing Access Washtenaw County, and they got referred into our shelter program. And they were in shelter for, I believe, four months before they received a referral into our rapid rehousing program, which is a longer-term solution to homelessness. The family holds the lease with the landlord, and we support them with rental assistance and case management. They were in our rapid re-housing program for a year. And after that, the person was able to obtain a housing choice voucher. It used to be called Section 8. So, they were able to locate a unit that would accept the voucher. And that really stabilizes a family when their rent has been stabilized, and they know that they'll never pay more than 30% of their income toward rent. Mom took advantage of this opportunity, and she went back to school and obtained her bachelor's degree in social work. And she decided that she wanted to own her own home. And so, she connected with Habitat for Humanity and was able to get into their system and now lives in a home that she owns with her children. The family is extremely stable. She utilized her degree to get a job in social services and continues to be very self-reliant. I love that story!
David Fair: Yeah, that is a great story of courage, bravery, and true persistence, and a great reward for all who took part in helping create that success story! As people listen to that story, I'm sure some are sitting and thinking, "I wish I knew one thing I could do today to make a similar difference." What would your suggestion be?
Rhonda Weathers: Well, there are many ways to make a difference. You can make a difference through volunteering at one of the social services agencies. We love volunteers! Volunteers really man our food pantry, especially, but we also use volunteers in our development department. We use volunteers to man our front desk and answer the phones. So, volunteering is a wonderful way to give back. Of course, donating to an agency that you believe is doing really good work is another wonderful way and simply being an active member of the community and understanding what's going on, listening in on the Board of Commissioners meetings or listening in on City Council meetings, so that you understand the services that are out there that many of which are at risk currently and can just be an informed participant in your community.
David Fair: Well, thank you so much for the time, information, and conversation today, Rhonda! I appreciate it!
Rhonda Weathers: Thank you, David! And thank you for the opportunity!
David Fair: That is Rhonda Weathers. She is Executive Director of SOS Community Services and has been our guest on Washtenaw United. For more information on SOS, the services it provides, just stop by our website at WEMU.org, and we'll get you where you need to go. Washtenaw United is produced in partnership with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and you hear it every Monday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti. Celebrating 60 years of broadcasting from the campus of Eastern Michigan University!
WEMU has partnered with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to explore the people, organizations, and institutions creating opportunity and equity in our area. And, as part of this ongoing series, you’ll also hear from the people benefiting and growing from the investments being made in the areas of our community where there are gaps in available services. It is a community voice. It is 'Washtenaw United.'
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