Making Life Work is a collaboration of community-minded organizations that began working together in January 2017 to identify and address unmet needs within the Stanwood-Camano community. The focus of the collaboration is identifying and working together to overcome the many obstacles that prevent our most vulnerable community members from having their basic needs met and from living healthy, happy lives.
Mobility Mentoring - The first program created by the Making Life Work collaboration is designed to mentor families with young children as they set and reach goals to improve outcomes in areas such as economic security, post-secondary education and employment, early childhood education, social capital, and health & well-being.
Online Resource Hub - The second initiative tackled by Making Life Work was the creation of a hyper local online resource hub. In partnership with Providence Institute for a Healthier Community, the Stanwood-Camano Online Resource Hub was created so those looking for local resources do not have to search through hundreds of irrelevant listings to get to the ones that matter to them most. The resource hub can be accessed at stanwood-camano.org. To list a program or service on the resource hub, contact info@s-caf.org.
Transportation Initiative - To address the transportation needs of many rural residents who do not have easy access to existing bus service, a transportation workgroup was created to research options. This small workgroup turned into a multi-agency coalition called the North County Transportation Coalition. With a $50,000 planning grant from WSDOT, the Coalition was able to propose a new fixed route service with deviations to schedule door-to-door service for those who cannot get to an identified stop or who need special access such as a wheelchair lift. A new grant was prepared for a two year pilot project. In May 2021 the Coalition was awarded $660,000 for the pilot project, which will begin the summer of 2021. The Stanwood Community & Senior Center is the lead fiscal agent for this initiative.
Community Land Trust - Another community need that was identified early was affordable housing solutions. After discussing various options, a committee was formed to investigate the viability of forming a local community land trust. This committee is currently in the information gathering stage.
Mental Health Initiative - After conducting a community-wide health and well-being survey, it became apparent that mental health was an area that would require a collaborative effort to address within the community. This new initiative, begun in spring 2021, is in the initial planning stages.
Early Education - Our data indicates a lack of childcare and preschool providers in our community, as well as a need to support kindergarten-readiness as children enter Kindergarten. Making Life Work is partnering with the Stanwood-Camano School District in several ways to support early learning.