Cascade Hasson Sotheby’s International Realty was honored to be a proud sponsor of the Gathering for Change fundraising event on October 15, 2025, joining community partners at the Historic Kiggins Theatre to back real, local solutions to end homelessness in Clark County. Advisors from the region attended, adding their voices—and their presence—to a night built on action.
From the first greeting at the door to the final applause, the room moved as one, like a single, focused heartbeat. Emcee Linda Reid welcomed the in-person and livestream audiences and nailed the thesis of the night: this isn’t just fundraising—it’s a movement.
The Videos Everyone’s Still Talking About
The first film set the tone with a precise metaphor: Council for the Homeless as the region’s “air traffic controller.” Not flashy, not performative—just the essential coordination that gets people to a safe place. We saw dispatchers, case managers, partners, and volunteers connected like runway lights, aligning each approach so no one is left alone in crisis. “We help guide every journey home,” the narrator said. “We are the heartbeat of a community rising.”
Later, the story of a local mother named Deborah brought the crowd to that hush you only hear when everyone’s listening hard. After their longtime rental was sold, Deborah, her son Steven, and grandchildren Mason and Emma spent four months living in their car—until housing specialist Hazel Flores found a landlord willing to say yes. First month’s rent, deposits, and furniture bank support—the practical pieces clicked into place. Deborah’s on-screen words landed like a charge: “Good people are out there. If you let them know you’re strong, people step up.”
When the appeal started, bid cards shot up. The goal for the night was $250,000, and before the evening was over, the total cleared $300,000.
Acknowledgment, History, and Belonging
Chief Impact Officer Brondalyn Clark and Resident Commissioner Duana Ricks-Johnson, a Colville tribal member and U.S. Navy veteran, didn’t sugarcoat the data: homelessness disproportionately impacts people of color in Clark County. Duana then offered a land acknowledgment and a personal testament that reframed the room:
“Keep shining your light so that those like me and my family may relight their own way home.”
The Voices of Change: Empathy, Diversity, and Hope in Action
The evening’s closing conversation—moderated by Esra Khalil, Senior Program Officer at the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington—brought together two leaders whose work sits at the intersection of justice, equity, and human connection: Jesse Beason, President and CEO of the Northwest Health Foundation, and Ed Johnson, Director of Litigation at the Oregon Law Center.
Together, they stripped the issue of its politics and spoke to the heart of what it means to lead with empathy.
Johnson began by crediting his late mother, a special education teacher, for teaching him how to truly listen.
“Lawyers are good at listening for what we want to hear,” he said. “But real listening takes work—especially for people for whom the system has never worked.”
He paused, then added a line that hung in the air:
“Homelessness is a human problem, not a tent problem. People forced to live outside are not an enemy invasion—they are our neighbors.”
Beason built on that with what became one of the night’s defining ideas: diversity as our country’s superpower.
“Learning new things isn’t about confirming your beliefs—it’s about evolving them. If we don’t listen, we don’t actually get the story. Empathy, listening, and diversity—those are the tools that build belonging.”
Then Khalil steered the conversation into action: how does empathy turn into movement? Johnson answered plainly:
“There are people in power making choices that make homelessness worse. That doesn’t make our work less urgent—it makes it more urgent.”
And Beason closed with the reminder that tied the whole night together:
“Hope is a discipline. It’s easy when things are easy—but essential when evidence points the other way. Our job is to act locally, to remember we are the people, and to build a future as good as this country’s promise.”
Where We Fit In
As real estate professionals, we know home isn’t an abstraction. It’s keys in hand, a door that locks, heat that works, a lease that renews. It’s also zoning, permitting, financing, and the will to say “yes” when it matters. That’s why Cascade Hasson Sotheby’s International Realty showed up as a proud sponsor—and why several of our advisors were in the room to listen, learn, and support the partners coordinating this complex system every day, to help make a difference happen.
What We’re Taking With Us
- From the films: coordination is the difference between chaos and safety.
- From Deborah’s family: a single “yes” can break a months-long stalemate.
- From Beason, Johnson, and Khalil: empathy without action is sentiment; empathy with action is change.
The momentum we felt at Gathering for Change was real because it was built on specifics—people, programs, policy, and a community willing to keep showing up, even when no one else does. We’re proud to be part of that community, and we’re committed to the hard, hopeful work ahead: making sure everyone in Clark County has a safe, stable place to call home.
Contact Council for the Homeless
Housing Assistance: 360.695.9677
Administrative Inquiries: 360.699.5106 (ext 150)
Media Inquiries: 360.989.4653
Website: councilforthehomeless.org
Contact our Local Advisors
David Merrick I 360.947.1625
Nancy Koivunen I 360.904.4305
Marin Sinclair I 360.907.3098
Mary Nguyen I 971.249.2553