CIRCLE OF TEN
If you have felt overwhelmed by the issue of homelessness and wondered how you can make a difference, consider joining a Circle of Ten.
What is the Circle of Ten?
Circle of Ten are groups of ten people coming together as a community in support of one person struggling. Ten people saying, we are here for you, we believe in you, and we want you to succeed because we love you.
Circle of Ten is a chosen intentional family. Ten people promising a life-long commitment of friendship. Friendships that strive to be unconditional and centered on the idea that we are all trying to be better humans. The circle is grounded in the relentless act of listening and loving.
Please meet the first Circle of Ten group, formed in January 2024. The team consists of individuals with lived experience as well as ones who have done social work and street outreach in the past. The team has started to work with Kaitlyn who is ready to stop drug use and live a more fulfilling life.
How does it work?
Every person living on the streets wants to move forward in their life. Nobody chooses to be homeless. However, due to personal circumstances and societal barriers, not everyone is ready to move forward. For those that are, a Circle of Ten will be formed, creating a safety net of care, resources, and opportunity.
Circle of Ten members will be chosen from a pool of those that have signed up to take part in the program. Based on the needs of the person receiving support, circle members will be chosen for being a good match. For example, someone hoping to find sobriety will benefit from those in the circle having successfully gone through their own sobriety transition. Or, a person wanting to go back to school and study psychology will benefit from a psychologist being in the circle.
Once the person receiving support has accomplished their goals and feels like they have “made it”, whatever that means for them, there will be a graduation! If the person then desires, they can join the circle, which now becomes the Circle of Eleven, allowing another person who is in need to come into the middle.
Blair
CIRCLE OF TEN team member
“I myself am in recovery from active substance abuse disorder. I participate in a Buddhist based recovery program. This personal experience provides me with a deep understanding of the challenges individuals face during their own recovery process. It equips me with empathy, resilience, and a unique perspective that I believe enhances my ability to connect with and support others on their own recovery journeys. My commitment to ongoing personal growth and my firsthand experience navigating recovery contributes to my dedication to fostering a supportive and compassionate environment for those facing similar challenges.” - Blair
Do the Circle Members contribute financially?
The Circle of Ten Members are there only for friendship and guidance. There are no financial obligations. When financial barriers emerge, YKMN will help raise whatever funds needed from the larger community.
When funds are donated, the person receiving those funds agrees to pay half of the amount back. Payment will not be to the donors, but to the next person needing support. With this, each person supported is given the opportunity to pay it forward, helping the next person in need. Donors will also know that their funds are not a one-and-done donation. Rather, their good will keeps traveling forward.
Faith
CIRCLE OF TEN team member
“I believe that it is everyone’s responsibility to help each other even in the smallest of ways. I have done this through volunteering, most recently as a mediator for Thurston county, helping low income folks worth through parenting plans. I see how much trauma is introduced into children’s lives at such a young age. And while people say that kids are resilient, that hasn’t been my experience: I see them being profoundly impacted.
I am a doer, I like to do things, get things done, solve hard problems, and I am relentless when I get started.” - Faith
Why do we need Circles of Ten?
Governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and churches of all faiths are doing the heavy lifting of addressing homelessness. It is simply not enough. We see people suffering on our streets, in our parks, and our neighborhoods. We don’t need statistics to know that the numbers are increasing year after year.
The most important part of the solution for addressing homelessness is being left on the sidelines. That part is us, each and every one of us. We are the answer for ending homelessness.
We do this by first understanding we do not have a homelessness crisis. We have a community crisis. This is an important distinction. When we say, “Homelessness Crisis”, we point to those people over there, assigning personal blame to them, leaving us on the sidelines. However when we say, “Community Crisis”, we must include ourselves, for we are all part of the community. In that moment we ask ourselves, what can I do to make a difference? We do this because we know that a healthy community does not accept homelessness.
Ed
CIRCLE OF TEN team member
“With friends and communities around the world in terrible danger and suffering daily overwhelming catastrophes, I'm finding it easy to be daunted by global as well as local emergencies. At the same time, I was recently part of a tiny group of people helping to move another friend into a small apartment. After a years-long struggle with addiction and the cycles of detox, homelessness and relapse, our friend is now sober, healthy, motivated, and living indoors. The simple process of helping carry a mattress and a chest of drawers reminded me of the impact a small number of people can make. I was deeply moved, and I'm deeply glad to be on a team that can help make a tangible change.” -Ed
“It is a well-known fact that people who have experienced trauma, isolation, and abuse are at a much higher risk of experiencing homelessness and substance use disorder than those who have not. One overlooked way that people begin to heal from sometimes a lifetime of trauma and abuse is through healthy, loving, and safe relationships. I have worked in homelessness in Seattle for over 10 years and I can say with confidence that if every one of our unsheltered neighbors had a Circle of Ten to support them, care for them, and love them, we would effectively end homelessness. Thank you to all of you courageous people joining this movement, we need you. We cannot detach ourselves from the brokenness in our communities, we need to face it, to own it, and to do something about it, every one of us. This concept is simple yet revolutionary. Thank you, Rex, and everyone at You Know Me Now. I cannot wait to see how this beautiful concept changes the world.”
Elizabeth Dahl Helendi
Executive Director, Aurora Commons
"The central insight that we are healed through connection has been like a taproot as Homeless in Seattle morphed into Facing Homelessness and spawned the BLOCK Project and You Know Me Now. What inspires me about the Circle of Ten is that it not only applies this principle to healing one individual at a time, but that it offers it as well to everyone who is drawn to participate through their yearning for connection, and in so doing, points a way forward to fixing our broken systems and the growing sense of separation that convinces us that solvable problems are insolvable."
Sinan Demirel
Former Executive Director, ROOTS and Elizabeth Gregory Home. Current Associate Director, The Existence Project
“I was a Seattle City Councilmember for ten years and I spent much of my time trying to find policies that would help people exit homelessness. In my work, I met with a lot of people experiencing homelessness and many folks who were previously homeless and were now trying to help others. What struck me over the years was that there were many similarities between my housed friends and those suffering homelessness: in both sets of people, many have mental health challenges, some have addiction issues, many had traumatic events such as suffering abuse, loss of a loved one, a chronic disease or loss of a job. What became apparent was the stark difference between these two groups of people was that my housed friends all had a robust support network whereas those suffering homelessness had lost their support network. Having someone who can help you out with a job lead, a place to crash when things get rough, advice and support when a crisis hits, or just companionship when you feel completely alone can make the difference between bouncing back and falling further. The "Circle of Ten" is an inspired effort to address what is perhaps the greatest challenge facing those suffering from homelessness and to make our communities stronger.”
Mike O'Brien
Former Seattle City Councilmember
"The homeless crisis will be solved by building community and spending massive amounts of money on low-income housing. While we work on that last part, the healing relationships created through programs like Circle of Ten help us all be better humans. Isolation is the soil in which shame and addiction thrive. When we have the courage to humbly walk alongside the most vulnerable, we change the world."
Timothy Harris
Founder, Real Change
“I’ve been lucky, yet I often think what it would be like to wake up cold without my husband, without a credit card to buy hot coffee and breakfast. No ready place to wash and dry my clothes or change my muddy socks. No available doctor willing to treat my cough or cash to buy a toothbrush. I’d be hungry and a mess looking for an open bathroom. I’d desperately want a shower and to wash my hair. I’d want people to make eye contact and smile at me like before, before I lost everything.
Many of us who have that warm home and caring people surrounding us would struggle to survive. Without those positive resources, we’d be targets for abuse with few places to turn. A Circle of Ten would be just the personal lifeline needed to move toward health and regain self-esteem. It’s a small but mighty important step for creating yet another way for people in our community to connect and make a difference.“
Sally Bagshaw
Downtown Seattle resident and former Seattle City Councilmember
Is joining a Circle of Ten for me?
We all need to be a part of the solution for ending homelessness. Each of us has something to offer and when we join with everyone else, we find the needed solutions.
The Circle of Ten will not be for everyone, only you will know if it is for you. However, if you believe in authentic relationships, ones showing care and love for someone struggling, and you want to engage in community, then this might be for you!
A few years ago I met a young poet by the name of Arcadia. She was living homeless in a tent, in Woodland Park. She was really struggling. In one of our talks she shared, “When you are born you are given a small slice of the giant map of humanity. All you know is what is seen on your tiny piece. When you meet someone else and genuinely get to know them, they share their slice of the map with you. In that moment, you learn more about the world around you, and through that, about yourself too.” Then she shared, “The most illuminating slices of the map are held by those different from you, often those that you don’t agree with. It’s why it is so important for all of us to reach out to get to know each other, even when it is difficult.”
The Circle of Ten is a place for folks to come together, to share their slice of the map and in return, see so much more of the big beautiful map of humanity! If that sounds good to you, please contact us!
Arcadia