Washington State Lived Experience Coalition

The Lived Experience Coalition is a multiracial coalition centering Black and Indigenous leadership development of people who have experienced or currently experiencing homelessness/housing insecurity. We come together to lift each other up, advocate for ourselves and others, and advance race and social justice. We believe that housing is a human right.  We work beyond oppressive structures by unifying our voices and efforts to dismantle multisystem barriers impacting people who are experiencing homelessness, involvement in the justice system, struggling with trauma, and/or fleeing violence or emotional/psychological victimization. We know that those closest to the problem are closest to the solutions, but furthest from power and resources. We aim to disrupt the status quo by creating healing-centered, brave, and restorative spaces for our members to gain a sense of their power while joining with others to transform ourselves, our community, and our world into a place that is welcoming to all, equal for all, and safe for all.

I have been a member of the Washington State Lived Experience Coalition (LEC) since 2022. The Washington State Lived Experience Coalition was founded upon anti-racist and anti-oppression community organizing principles and is a Black, Brown, and Indigenous led, multiracial, multicultural coalition centering leadership development of people who have experienced or are currently experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. My own lived experience with homelessness, and what it taught me is what gave me the passion to work with a group of people who were actually, and genuinely trying to help the homeless. Through working with LEC I was lucky enough to be picked to represent homeless people on the County Regional Homelessness Authority. A government sanctined board of politicians, City councilmen, and the mayor. It was quite the learning experience for me, and I will always support the LEC and the KCHRA, although not as directly as in previous years. I'm the guy in the middle.