May 2023 Newsletter
Making Things Work - A Monthly Newsletter from Everett Housing Authority
May 2023 | Issue 9
A Look Inside This Issue:
- Open Waitlists
Have you checked out our Check Availability page recently? We have 55+ and 62+ waitlists open now - Contacting Your Specialist
We have a brand new contact sheet on our website for helping locate your EHA Voucher Specialist. - Mother's Day
Mother's Day is Sunday, May 14! Do you know how the US came to celebrate this holiday that honors mothers? Find out inside!
Upcoming Events
- Office Closures:
May 29 - Memorial Day - Other:
May 14 - Mother's Day
Waitlists Open: Check Availability
Did you know: our Check Availability page on our website shows any waitlist or property openings we may have available at any given time. If you know someone looking for housing, feel free to pass this information along to them.
Our current waitlist openings include:
- Lake Woods II
Age Restriction: 55+
Unit Sizes: 1-2 BD
Income-restricted property and tenants pay below market flat rent, but do not receive income-based rental assistance
Click here to apply for Lake Woods II waitlist. - Lynn Woods
Age Restriction: 62+
Unit Sizes: Studio, 1BD
Income-restricted property and tenants receive income-based rental assistance
Click here to apply for Lynn Woods waitlist. - Madrona Square
Age Restriction: None
Unit Sizes: 1, 2, 3 BD
Income-restricted property and tenants pay below-market rent, but do not receive income-based rental assistance
Click here to apply for Madrona Square waitlist. - Pepperwood
Age Restriction: 55+
Unit Sizes: 1-2 BD
Income-restricted property and tenants pay belowmarket flat rent, but do not receive income-based rental assistance
Click here to apply for Pepperwood waitlist. - Silver Woods
Age Restriction: 62+
Unit Sizes: Studio, 1BD
Income-restricted property and tenants receive incomebased rental assistance
Click here to apply for Silver Woods waitlist.
Change of Circumstance: How To Report
New job? Adding a family member? Other household changes? If you need to report a change, please log into RENTCafé and complete a change of circumstances via the "Report a Change" function. As a reminder, changes must be reported within 10 business days after they occur.
Click this link to reach the RENTCafé login page. Your username is typically your email address. Once you are logged into your account, click on the "Report a Change" button to begin the process. Please provide relevant verifications for the change you have reported. If you can't upload them to RENTCafé, you can email or fax them to your Certification Specialist, mail them, or bring them to our 24-hour drop box at 3107 Colby Ave. in Everett (on the west side of the building).
Contacting Your Voucher Specialist
Specialists are assigned based on the zip code of your address. If you are part of the rent study, your contact will be a THRIVE Program Specialist. If you are not part of the rent study and are served by the traditional HCV team, your contact will be an HCV Certification Specialist. Please note: some individuals may have a different specialist assigned to them than what is listed. View certification specialists here.
You can also search for contacts at a specific property by using the Properties List or by searching the Staff Directory.
Mother's Day: History and Around the World
Mother's Day is a holiday honoring motherhood that is observed in different forms throughout the world. In the United States, Mother's Day 2023 will occur on Sunday, May 14. The American incarnation of Mother's Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Jarvis would later denounce the holiday's commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar. While dates and celebrations vary, Mother's Day traditionally involves presenting moms with flowers, cards, and other gifts.
History of Mother's Day
Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the clearest modern precedent for Mother's Day is the early Christian festival known as "Mothering Sunday." Once a major tradition in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, this celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their "mother church"-the main church in the vicinity of their home-for a special service. Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation. This custom eventually faded in popularity before merging with the American Mother's Day in the 1930s and 1940s.
Ann Reeves Jarvis and Julia Ward Howe
The origins of Mother's Day as celebrated in the United States date back to the 19th century. In the years before the Civil War, Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia helped start "Mothers' Day Work Clubs" to teach local women how to properly care for their children.
These clubs later became a unifying force in a region of the country still divided over the Civil War.
In 1868 Jarvis organized "Mothers' Friendship Day," at which mothers gathered with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation.
Another precursor to Mother's Day came from the abolitionist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe. In 1870 Howe wrote the "Mother's Day Proclamation," a call to action that asked mothers to unite in promoting world peace. In 1873 Howe campaigned for a "Mother's Peace Day" to be celebrated every June 2.
Other early Mother's Day pioneers include Juliet Calhoun Blakely, a temperance activist who inspired a local Mother's Day in Albion, Michigan, in the 1870s. The duo of Mary Towles Sasseen and Frank Hering, meanwhile, both worked to organize a Mothers' Day in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some have even called Hering "the father of Mothers' Day."
Anna Jarvis Turns Mother's Day Into a National Holiday
The official Mother's Day holiday arose in the 1900s as a result of the efforts of Anna Jarvis, daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Following her mother's 1905 death, Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother's Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children.
After gaining financial backing from a Philadelphia department store owner named John Wanamaker, in May 1908 she organized the first official Mother's Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia. That same day also saw thousands of people attend a Mother's Day event at one of Wanamaker's retail stores in Philadelphia.
Following the success of her first Mother's Day, Jarvis-who remained unmarried and childless her whole life-resolved to see her holiday added to the national calendar. Arguing that American holidays were biased toward male achievements, she started a massive letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians urging the adoption of a special day honoring motherhood.
By 1912 many states, towns and churches had adopted Mother's Day as an annual holiday, and Jarvis had established the Mother's Day International Association to help promote her cause. Her persistence paid off in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.
Jarvis Decries Commercialized Mother's Day
Anna Jarvis had originally conceived of Mother's Day as a day of personal celebration between mothers and families. Her version of the day involved wearing a white carnation as a badge and visiting one's mother or attending church services. But once Mother's Day became a national holiday, it was not long before florists, card companies and other merchants capitalized on its popularity.
While Jarvis had initially worked with the floral industry to help raise Mother's Day's profile, by 1920 she had become disgusted with how the holiday had been commercialized. She outwardly denounced the transformation and urged people to stop buying Mother's Day flowers, cards and candies.
Jarvis eventually resorted to an open campaign against Mother's Day profiteers, speaking out against confectioners, florists and even charities. She also launched countless lawsuits against groups that had used the name "Mother's Day," eventually spending most of her personal wealth in legal fees. By the time of her death in 1948 Jarvis had disowned the holiday altogether, and even actively lobbied the government to see it removed from the American calendar.
Mother's Day Around the World
While versions of Mother's Day are celebrated worldwide, traditions vary depending on the country. In Thailand, for example, Mother's Day is always celebrated in August on the birthday of the current queen, Sirikit.
Another alternate observance of Mother's Day can be found in Ethiopia, where families gather each fall to sing songs and eat a large feast as part of Antrosht, a multi-day celebration honoring motherhood.
In the United States, Mother's Day continues to be celebrated by presenting mothers and other women with gifts and flowers, and it has become one of the biggest holidays for consumer spending. Families also celebrate by giving mothers a day off from activities like cooking or other household chores.
At times, Mother's Day has also been a date for launching political or feminist causes. In 1968 Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., used Mother's Day to host a march in support of underprivileged women and children. In the 1970s women's groups also used the holiday as a time to highlight the need for equal rights and access to childcare.
Ask EHA: Submit Your Questions
Do you have a question about EHA's services and offerings? Maybe you would like to learn more about RentCafe or different teams here at EHA. Send your question or inquiry to Heather Stults via email and it might be featured in next month's newsletter!
Work at EHA!
We're hiring at EHA. We have job openings in Housing Management, Resident Services, Maintenance, Finance and Policy and Innovation. Check out our Careers page and learn more about each position.
FCC Affordable Connectivity Program
The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) was created by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to help connect families and household struggling to afford internet service. HUD-assisted families automatically qualify for ACP and the subsidy is not considered income for the purpose of determining program eligibility or household rent.
The benefit provides:
- Up to $30/month discount for internet service
- Up to $75/month discount for household on qualifying Tribal lands
- A one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, desktop computer, or purchased through a participating provider
How to Enroll
- Go to AffordableConnectivity.gov to submit an application or print a mail-in application
- Contact your preferred participating provider to select an eligible plan and have the discount applied to your bill. Some providers may have an alternative application that they will ask you to complete.
Eligible household must both apply for the program and contact a participating provider to select a service plan.
To learn more about the FCC Affordable Connectivity Program, please click here or call 877-384-2575
May Events
Everett Mall Way Vendor Market
May 6 & 7 | 11 AM-6 PM | Everett Mall, 1402 SE Everett Mall Way
Looking for unique, personalized, and handcrafted gifts like candles, jewelry, clothing, sweet treats, tumblers, and so much more!? Find just that at the Everett Mall May Vendor Market! Located inside the Everett Mall, just look for the balloons and signs. Learn more about the Everett Mall Way Vendor Market on The Crafty B's website!
Everett Farmers Market
May 14 | 10:30 AM-3 PM | 2930 Wetmore Ave. | Entrance at Hewitt & Wetmore or Pacific & Wetmore
Opening day for the Everett Farmers Market is Mother's Day, May 14!
- Snap Market Match - Here's how it works
- Go to the farmers market information tent
- Swipe your EBT Card for the amount you want to spend at the market.
- Match your EBT dollars with SNAP Market Match
- Shop for fresh produce, seeds, and plant starts.
AARP WA: BECU Free Shredding Event
May 20 | 9 AM-1 PM | Everett Mall, 1402 SE Everett Mall Way
Fight fraud - shred it! AARP Washington and BECU can help you protect yourself against Identity theft. Join us for a free document-shredding event at the Everett Mall. Enter on East Mall Drive and continue around the back of the mall past Floor and Decor. The event entrance will be on the south end of the mall.
Bring up to three grocery bags or two banker boxes of documents for shredding. You can also bring old electronics, including TVs, computer monitors and towers, laptops, and cell phones. Printers and VCRs will also be accepted too, for a small recycling fee.
Those who attend the shredding events are also encouraged to bring nonperishable food items for donation to the Salt of the Earth's Food Bank.
The service is free and open to the public. No reservation is required. Free Virtual Career Fairs Healthcare May 3 | 11 AM Click here to register. Entry-Level May 8 | 11 AM Click here to register. To learn more here about the AARP WA: BECU Free Shredding Event, please click here.
Free Virtual Career Fairs
- Healthcare
May 3 | 11 AM
Click here to register for the Healthcare Career Fair. - Entry-Level
May 8 | 11 AM
Click here to register for the Entry-Level Career Fair. - Veterans
May 10 | 11 AM
Click here to register for the Veterans Career Fair.
