by Kirby Lindsay, posted 12 December 2012
“You’ll see me in the community a lot,” Gordon McHenry, the new President and C.E.O. of Solid Ground, promised. He’s recently accepted these newly established roles at Fremont’s best-known, and home-grown, non-profit. “I want to be responsive,” McHenry stated, and he wants to help raise awareness of Solid Ground, which began in 1974 as the Fremont Public Association, and its work to end poverty and increase independence in its clients.
A Native Son Does Good
Over its rich history, Solid Ground has benefitted from incredibly strong leadership, in addition to many staff people and volunteers fully committed to making a difference and helping others. Having McHenry lead Solid Ground can reassure donors that the organization will continue to grow and enrich the lives of its clients into the future.
A native son who only ever lived outside this region during Graduate School, McHenry comes to Solid Ground with a comprehensive knowledge of our city and its resources. He grew up on Beacon Hill, and attended Cleveland High School and Seattle University. He went to law school, and practiced law with a local firm for several years. He then moved to Boeing where he spent 21 years, first in law and then on the business side in community relations.
“I was always encouraged by my parents to be in the community,” he explained. He found his time, “helping Boeing to be a better corporate citizen,” satisfied a long-held desire to work in service to others. He’d always served, outside of work, on non-profit boards and committees, but at Boeing he had his first taste of combining the two.
Eventually, he chose to shift to non-profit work full-time, and he went to Rainier Scholars. This ambitious program assists low-income children of color to achieve their education goals, and to become the first generation in their families to go on to higher education. According to McHenry, the students have shown him the perseverance and courage necessary to change a life – and the way these young people often walk in two worlds simultaneously.
A Living Strategic Plan
In July 2012, the Solid Ground Board asked McHenry to join the organization. The position attracted him, on one level, because it will give him opportunities for advocacy and influencing of public policy. Also, “the Board has been very supportive,” McHenry reported, “they want to set some very high expectations,” for the organization, and “they want someone to look at the broad picture. Someone to tend day-to-day operations, and long-term strategy.”
With newly installed Chief Operations & Strategy Officer Sandi Culter, McHenry appears eager to meet the Board’s expectations. “2012 is our year of strategies,” he explained, with goal-setting and strategy plans for meeting their mission. “I want to make sure our strategic plan is a living plan,” McHenry said. He wants to be able to think strategically about the programs of Solid Ground, and about aiding clients strategically.
In the coming year, McHenry wants Solid Ground to be, “able to serve in ways that are impactful and sustainable on a long-term basis.” It isn’t enough to find ways to better serve their clients in becoming independent. A program that serves a genuine need is important, but it also must have a dependable and identifiable funding source.
For instance, in October 2012, Solid Ground launched a circulator bus pilot program for Downtown Seattle. The bus route carries passengers, for free, to seven specific stops, each located near services most accessed by low-income/homeless people (i.e. Union Gospel Mission, Harborview, DSHS, Urban Rest Stop, etc.) The pilot program will operate through December 2013, but Solid Ground is collecting comprehensive data daily on usage. When seeking funding to continue the program, this data will show the need for the program.
A Collaborative And Caring Community
Solid Ground operates programs that address four specific areas of need – housing, transportation, food, and advocacy. A client may come to them, McHenry explained, with a housing problem but a strategic assessment can reveal underlying, addressable problems – budgeting, transportation or childcare – that solve the housing problem. “We are able to look holistically,” he explained, “and able to mitigate these issues.”
“What’s great about Seattle,” he went on, “we are a community of collaborators.” McHenry wants to be sure Solid Ground not only benefits from collaborations, for the benefit of its clients, but also that it contributes. “We don’t run employment programs,” he acknowledged, “but it is critical, and we need to have relationships with those organizations that do.”
“This community is very generous, and caring,” McHenry said of the King County region, particularly in assisting those less fortunate meet their basic needs. “We need to have strong relationships,” he said of his promise to be visible in the community, “Solid Ground can’t do it all.”
For more information on how to help Solid Ground – which not only needs donations but also volunteers – visit the website. For those seeking services, the website has information and links to Solid Ground programs as well as those they partner with – or call the front desk at 206/694-6700 from 8:30a – 5p Monday – Friday.
And when you see McHenry around the neighborhood, be sure to say hi and let him know you want to collaborate with Solid Ground!
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©2012 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.