Ballard Food Bank Delegates Speak with Lawmakers
By Jade Fisher, Communications Specialist
Through the gloom, rain, and sunshine, our team spent time in Olympia over the last few weeks connecting with legislators on priorities that massively impact our community.
Each year during the Washington Legislative Session we take a step back and think about the bigger picture. We ask, "What policies at the state level would help our neighbors meet their needs?", "What policies would make it easier and more effective for Ballard Food Bank to bring food and hope to our neighbors?" Then our staff and community members chat face to face with lawmakers on how we can move forward in making these policies a reality.
This year our legislative session is only 60 days and will end on March 12th, 2026. A handful of staff and one volunteer represented Ballard Food Bank and our neighbors within this limited time to reach out to lawmakers: Nathaniel Lyons (Senior Manager of Community Advocacy and Outreach), Andrea Guillen (Client Relations Specialist), Nissa Cooley (Kindness Cafe Manager), Jade Fisher (Communications Specialist), and Tim Bernthal (longtime Kindness Cafe and Harvest program volunteer).
Folks participated in specialized advocacy days focused on different policy buckets. Throughout each day, our team promoted laws that would make it easier for our most marginalized neighbors get to a place of self sufficiency, safety, and stability. Though the days were split, the web of services that helps our neighbors thrive is interconnected. It all exists under the umbrella of anti-poverty legislation.
This holistic approach addresses access to food, housing, healthcare, transportation, and other life-saving services. Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day was led by the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. The Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition organized Hunger Action Day. Members of the Meals Partnership Coalition came together to meet with legislators across multiple districts.
Anti-hunger advocates wear orange scarves to bring hunger awareness to the Capitol
Monday, January 26th: Nathanial and Andrea Join Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day
Nathaniel and Andrea had the opportunity to join two meetings with 36th legislative representatives. This last year, our organization spent $538,000 on emergency financial assistance to keep folks in their homes and weather financial crises. That's 24.8% more than what we spent in the 2022 fiscal year. A concerning trend that signals our neighbors are struggling to pay for rent, heating, and light bills.
Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day was attended by 650 passionate service providers and neighbors from across the state.
Nathaniel shares, "The main things that Andrea and I spoke on were HB 2266 which would bar the banning of low income housing or shelter by individual communities."
House Bill 2266 cites "local regulatory barriers, inconsistent siting standards, and discretionary review processes" as barriers to permanent supportive housing, indoor emergency housing, and indoor emergency shelters.
Because of this, households at all income levels are finding themselves out of luck when looking for affordable housing. This leads to a growing number of people experiencing homelessness. HB 2266 encourages more housing supply and fair housing throughout the state and especially urban areas.
They also advocated for HB 2489. Nathaniel says it "is marketed as ‘stopping the criminalization of homelessness’ but would basically take us back to a pre Grants Pass decision status quo."
Housing and Homelessness Advocates unify 650 voices together to show their power in numbers at a rally on the Capitol steps
‘Grants Pass’ refers to the US Supreme Court's decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson that allows cities to enforce 'anti-camping' ordinances which often targets unhoused people for sleeping in public spaces.
For their first meeting, Nathaniel and Andrea met with Senator Noel Frame's Legislative Aid. Then they attended a second meeting with both Rep. Julia Reed's Legislative Aid and Representative Liz Berry herself. The priorities remained the same for each meeting.
As part of their priorities, they also advocated for protecting $3,000,000 in the budget for the Right to Counsel program. This is administered by the Housing Justice Project here in King County. This program provides legal counsel to people facing eviction.
Nathaniel says protecting this chunk of funding is essential to keep the program running. He expands, "We spoke on these as they intersect with the [Resource] Hub's programming and I believe together [with the aforementioned policies] provide a way to address homelessness regionally and allow people to stay in their communities of choice."
Housing advocates thank Senator Noel Frame’s Legislative Aid for his time
Monday, February 2nd: Nissa and Meals Partnership Coalition Advocate in Multiple Legislative Districts
In true Meals Partnership Coalition fashion, the group started with a gathering centered around a delicious breakfast and brief training. The Meals Partnership Coalition (MPC) is a coalition of 50+ providers serving millions of meals annually to a variety of programs and recipients throughout the greater Seattle area. They are also working to strengthen Washington’s prepared meal and food access systems through policy and funding advocacy.
Nissa commemorates her first Olympia excursion
The group then carpooled to Olympia as is often available for special advocacy days. This was Nissa's first time meeting legislators in Olympia - the group did a Capitol tour and had a full afternoon of back-to-back meetings to discuss the 2026 food policy agenda.
MPC spoke with some but not all legislators for the regions they serve in the greater Seattle area. They sat with legislators from the 34th, 36th, and 43rd Districts, including Representatives Joe Fitzgibbons, Liz Berry, and Emily Alvarado, and Senators Jamie Pedersen and Noel Frame. Legislative Assistants from each office, aside from Representative Berry and Senator Pedersen who they talked with themselves, took notes to share with the lawmakers. Each meeting was 15 minutes long. They often start with efficient introductions to each constituent, which organization they represent (if any), and someone from the group takes the lead to highlight the highest priorities.
In those fast-moving meetings, Nissa helped advocate for protecting Washington State Department of Agriculture's funding for prepared meal programs and discussed HB 2100 (Well Washington Fund), HB 2238 (Statewide Food Security) which has passed the house and is going through the senate currently, HB 2463 (which would help Washington farmers grow food to support food banks and pantries and unfortunately did not move past the House), and HB 2313 (Municipal Grocery Stores).
Nissa explains the tie in between the priorities, "They all focused on strengthening hunger relief infrastructure and sustainable revenue."
She says, "My favorite part of the day was connecting directly with lawmakers and seeing how coordinated advocacy through MPC amplifies community voices. I also loved utilizing my voice to help lawmakers see the connection between WSDA funding and urban hot meal programs. I gained a clearer understanding of how budget decisions and committee roles shape what food policy can move forward."
Meals Partnership Coalition members bring their priorities across many legislative district lines
Tuesday, February 10th: Jade and Tim amplify Anti-Hunger and Anti-Poverty priorities at Hunger Action Day
For the meetings, our large group of ten constituents aimed to pack the tiny Olympia offices of the 36th Legislative District lawmakers. Tim Bernthal (a longtime Kindness Café and Harvest program volunteer) and I were the contingent of Ballard Food Bank.
As a representative of our organization, I told folks about stories I’ve heard directly from neighbors who shop, eat, and connect with resources at our Hub for Hope. These neighbors’ stories show why it’s important we protect funding for food and the web of other services our neighbors rely on to thrive (housing, healthcare, transportation). As constituents in the 36th (including fellow food bank staffer Yohannes from RVFB), we shared lived experiences with hunger, working in human services, and how our policy priorities directly affect our neighbors.
Constituents of the 36th LD pose with Rep. Liz Berry
We spoke with Senator Noel Frame’s Legislative Aid, Rep. Julia Reed’s Legislative Aid, and Rep. Liz Berry herself - who was very excited to share that she loves her Ballard Food Bank volunteer shifts at the Welcome Desk. She usually volunteers when session is over.
It was a sunny day in the Capitol. The sunshine was not the only win for the day. While Tim and I were in our first meeting with Senator Frame’s office, HB 2238 passed which would create a statewide plan for food security. It promotes collaboration and coordination between agencies and stakeholders with expertise in the state/federal programs that feed people and support producers.
We prioritized asking our legislators to protect funding for food assistance and basic needs programs like housing and healthcare. We are lucky to reside in a legislative district where our representatives hear our priorities and share that we align on these values. We advocated for basic needs supports for college students (SB 6227, HB 2586/SB 5963) and ensuring communities have access to grocery stores (HB 2297, 2294) alongside other anti-poverty measures like protecting TANF for families in deep poverty.
We also talked about our concerns with ICE and there are multiple bills being written and discussed that work to protect sensitive places from ICE and legislation about if ICE contacts employers about employee data then employers must notify their workers.
There are seemingly a lot of policies to navigate when advocating in Olympia. But there is incredible support from the organizers of the event. Hunger Free Washington and Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition start the day with a training on how to talk to the office staff, legislators, and what each policy priority is.
Tim says he really appreciated the morning presentations from advocacy staff, “with the ‘inside scoop’ on the situation legislators are facing this session and the bigger picture of what is likely to be possible for our common legislative priorities … I also enjoyed experiencing the interest and commitment of our 36th district legislators to our nutrition and food system concerns. All in all, a half day well spent”
I totally agree with Tim. I cherish the opportunity to talk directly with our legislators about the ways we can better protect our neighbors from harmful policies. It is incredibly important for us to be at the table, to join the important conversations, and to throw our weight behind policies that bolster food programs and other life saving essentials gives us hope for a better future.
Students, human service providers, volunteers, and neighbors are stronger together!
Want to stay updated with the legislature before session ends? Find out what’s happening in the legislature here!