Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

YWCA celebrates its honor roll

Women of Achievement Awards pay tribute to community service

It started as the “buck a month program” – a church program trying to raise enough money to feed homeless teens at Crosswalk a roast beef dinner instead of the usual spaghetti. And then it grew and its focus changed just a tad, too.

Today, Harriet Jacobson is running the “Sole to Soul” program which provides shoes, socks and coats to low-income and underserved youth. Last year, Sole to Soul collected $8,000 and on Wednesday Jacobson is receiving one of the YWCA’s Women of Achievement Awards for her commitment to community service.

“I’m flabbergasted and it thrills me, it’s a validation, I think,” said Jacobson, a retired teacher who lives in Spokane Valley. “I feel very humbled. There is a part of me that’s gratified and then there’s another part that says what I’m doing is what makes my life worth living.”

It was Jacobson who stood up in front of the congregation at Unity Church on 29th Avenue back in ’93, and asked for one dollar from each congregation member, every month.

By Christmas that year, and many roast beef dinners later, there was still $500 left in the “buck a month” program.

“We approached Target which had just opened here, and they gave us a 40 percent discount on everything,” said Jacobson. That first load of shoes and shirts went to the transitional school the YWCA was running for homeless children at the time.

“I’ll never forget the staff person looked at me and said: ‘this is all new stuff, nobody ever gives us new stuff,’ ” said Jacobson.

Today, the focus of Sole to Soul is to provide new shoes for children.

“New shoes are magical,” said Jacobson. “We ask the kids, how far can you run? How high can you jump? And they are so excited.”

And Jacobson has turned into an incredible bargain hunter.

“I go on my hunches a lot,” she said, laughing. “When I feel like I really should stop by somewhere, I do, and there’s usually something there.”

The Martin Luther King Center, Crosswalk and the American Indian Center are among the eight sites that receive shoes and clothes from Sole to Soul.

“We are hoping we can grow this to 10 sites next year,” said Jacobson. “And the program fills a hole in my life: I don’t play bridge, I’m not a lady who lunches, I don’t always share a language with other women – this program is a blessing for me.”

Keynote speaker at the lunch will be Dr. Mae C. Jemison, who joined NASA in ’87 and was one of the astronauts on the space shuttle Endeavor when it took off in September 1992. Prior to becoming the first black woman in space, Jemison had worked as a general practitioner in Los Angeles and as a Peace Corps medical officer in Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa. Jemison left NASA in ’93 to found The Jemison Group, which combines solar powered generating systems and satellite-based communication to provide health care in West Africa – among many other projects that combine science and technology to better human health.

It’s no mistake, by the way, that there’s a man on this year’s list.

Tony Stewart, founder of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and a retired professor from North Idaho College, is receiving the Carl Maxey Racial Justice Award. This award can go to any person or organization that works to better human rights.

“I so admired Maxey’s commitment to civil rights and freedom of speech,” said Stewart. “He often took a position that wasn’t popular – he didn’t take a poll to see what people wanted – he did what was right.”

Stewart retired from NIC, where he taught political science and produced the public TV show “The NIC Public Forum,” in spring. Most people probably remember Stewart for his tireless work on the Human Rights Task Force, including supporting the lawsuit that ultimately bankrupted the Aryan Nations in 2003.

“You know, no one ever elects themselves a leader, it comes from the people around you,” Stewart said. “I am so humbled. There are so many great people I’ve worked with over the years – I’m accepting this award in their names, for who they are, for inspiring me.”

Reach Pia Hallenberg