It looks like one of the organizations that help folks on the margins reenter social life equipped with new professional skills, is in the process of loosing employment services funding. I am turning to my Multnomah County/PDX friends and readers with an appeal for action today. The rest of you can enjoy my newest montages, or check out if similar cuts are on the docket in your own neighborhoods.

As you know, I care deeply for support of those less privileged than the rest of us, and Stone Soup is a local organization that has done a lot of work to help people back onto their feet with culinary education and job training. They are also first line defenders against hunger among the houseless in our city. I let them speak for themselves below, and am also attaching an easily modifiable template to write to your Multnomah County commissioner – which is the action I recommend today. Your email to your commissioner will perhaps produce momentum towards keeping these services in the FY26 budget for Multnomah County. At least we can try. (If you have forgotten your district number like I did – here is the easy way to find out!)

Stone Soup’s plight:

A Letter From Our Co-Founder March 18th, 2025 Urgent: Help Save Job Training Funding in Multnomah County’s Budget If you’ve been following Multnomah County politics, you know budget challenges are on the horizon. Service providers across the county—us included—are being asked to tighten our belts yet again. It’s a familiar refrain in the nonprofit world: do more with less.  At Stone Soup PDX, we currently receive funding for our culinary job training program through a contract with Multnomah County’s Joint Office of Homeless Services. This support helps us provide Employment Services to our participants—equipping them with skills, experience, and a path to long-term stability. It’s not just the right thing to do—it’s also smart fiscal policy.  Our Social Return on Investment Calculator estimates that for every $1 invested in our program, local governments save around $8 by reducing the need for public assistance for our participants. I don’t know about you, but if I could get an 8-to-1 return on investment in the market, I’d take that deal every time.  And yet, the proposed FY26 budget completely eliminates the Employment Services funding line.  That means no county support for transformational job training programs like ours. It means pulling public investment from participants like the one we highlighted in a recent blog post—someone who went from dishwasher to Kitchen Manager, now earning $64,000 a year plus benefits. These are real outcomes with real impact.  The good news? The budget isn’t finalized yet. We have until June to advocate for restoring this funding. We understand that cuts are coming. But eliminating this support entirely is the wrong move for Multnomah County.  That’s where you come in. Take a minute to call or email your county commissioner. Tell them you want to see Employment Services restored in the FY26 budget. Let them know that job training programs work—and that investing in our workforce strengthens our entire community.  Here’s how to reach your commissioners:Multnomah County Commissioners: Chair: Jessica Vega Pederson District 1: Meghan Moyer (Powell Location) District 2: Shannon Singleton District 3: Julia Brim-Edwards (Glisan Landing Location) District 4: Vince Jones-Dixon Your voice matters. Let’s make sure they hear it. Craig Gerard Co-Founder and Director of Community Contracts, Stone Soup PDX   To make it easier, we’ve put together a template email you can use—just copy, personalize, and send it to your commissioner.Click here!

And here is the Commissioner Outreach Template- Stone Soup PDX

Subject: Restore Employment Services Funding in the FY26 Budget

Dear Commissioner [Last Name],

I’m writing to urge you to reinstate funding for Employment Services in the FY26 budget. The current proposed budget eliminates this critical funding for service agencies, threatening the ability of organizations like Stone Soup PDX to continue providing essential job training programs.

Stone Soup PDX equips individuals facing employment barriers with the skills they need to secure stable jobs in the food service industry. Without this funding, many of our community’s most vulnerable residents will lose access to workforce development programs that help them build self-sufficiency.

Investing in employment services isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s a smart financial decision. For every $1 invested in Stone Soup PDX, local governments save $8 by reducing reliance on public assistance programs. By supporting job training initiatives, you are strengthening our workforce and ensuring a more economically vibrant Multnomah County.

I strongly urge you and your fellow commissioners to restore funding for Employment Services in the FY26 budget. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Contact Information]

It’ll take ten minutes and is one of the things we can so easily do to fight budget cuts that hurt the most vulnerable among us. Give it a thought, please! And if you want to link to this appeal on your social media to spread the word, that would be cool as well.