November 5, 2025

Hi Everyone,

By now you’ve probably read the news of Barb’s resignation as Director of Operations and Volunteer Coordinator for SFNW in order to take a new and impactful position with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. If you’ve not seen her letter yet, you may find it here.

As the Board and Staff of SFNW, we’d like to recognize the incredible achievements that Barb has made. In just a few years, she helped transform a regular group of once-a-week volunteers who were fundraising and building 1-2 homes at a time. Her image of a full-time factory, staffed by hundreds of volunteers, stacked with supplies and churning out tiny homes, is now our reality. Last week we built and tilted up our 670^th tiny home; these homes have collectively used nearly $3M in donated funds and required over 115,000 volunteer hours. It took a visionary, and a doggedly determined leader, to will our current Hope Factory into existence. Thank you, Barb!

Barb leaves for a new and exciting position that will once again put her determination and organizational skills to the test. We have no doubt that she will elevate proven, affordable solutions to quickly and efficiently serve our neighbors who are homeless with dignity and respect, while also freeing our public spaces for everyone’s enjoyment. We wish her quick success, for the good of our neighbors and our entire region.

Moving forward, we assure all of you, our entire community of volunteers, donors, supporters, advisers, partners, and advocates, that the Board of SFNW is actively managing this transition to ensure we continue to produce our tiny homes. Purchasing, building, volunteering, and fundraising operations will all continue uninterrupted, as will our outreach and education efforts. A transition like this also brings opportunities to examine systems and make sure they’re set up most efficiently for the future, and we will surely be taking advantage of opportunities that appear. We invite your questions, concerns, and ideas, which you may send to soundfoundationsnw@gmail.com or devel.sfnw@gmail.com.

In the meantime, we thank all of you for your past and current support of the tiny home solution! As the weather worsens, we are mindful that new villages are opening soon, with more on the horizon next year. We’ll be meeting our obligation to make sure they’re stocked with warm, safe, and dry tiny homes. We urge volunteers to sign up, show up, and tilt up! We ask donors to continue trusting us with your generosity, as you have been. We encourage supporters and advocates to share details and opinions about tiny homes with your networks. And mostly we ask you, our entire family of tiny homes supporters (now 4700 strong) to continue believing that Homelessness Is Solvable!

Thank you, and onward!

The Board & Staff of SFNW