Elizabeth Whitman

Contributor at Freelance

writer and farmer. stories of water, climate, & environment @phoenixnewtimes, @nature, @harpers, & elsewhere.

Articles

Finding forever homes for the Pacific Northwest’s wild mustangs

2 weeks ago | cascadepbs.org | Elizabeth Whitman

For 15 years, Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth has been training wild horses and placing them with private owners to help prevent overpopulation. Marjie Hicks leads Casino into the arena to perform in the MYWY mustang challenge in Enumclaw, Washington. (M. Scott Brauer for High Country News) This article first appeared in High Country News. Woolly rumps swayed in unison as two stock trailers rumbled into the Ellensburg, Washington, rodeo grounds.
Meet the people who train wild horses

3 weeks ago | hcn.org | Elizabeth Whitman

Woolly rumps swayed in unison as two stock trailers rumbled into the Ellensburg, Washington, rodeo grounds. The passengers took in their surroundings, ears flicking and nostrils flaring in the 39-degree air. After a full day of bumping over local roads from Bureau of Land Management corrals in Oregon, the mustangs had finally arrived. Marjie Hicks, 64, watched the horses roll in.
Washington youth homelessness organizations face upheaval

2 months ago | columbian.com | Elizabeth Whitman

Interconnected efforts to address youth homelessness in Washington over the past decade experienced major upheaval in recent months as high-profile initiatives closed suddenly or saw significant leadership change. Kim Justice, who had led the state’s Office of Homeless Youth since its establishment in 2015, announced in early September that she would depart in mid-October, leaving operations under interim direction going into the new year.
Washington youth homelessness organizations face upheaval

Jan 20, 2025 | cascadepbs.org | Elizabeth Whitman

Kim Justice, who had led the state’s Office of Homeless Youth since its establishment in 2015, announced in early September that she would depart in mid-October, leaving operations under interim direction going into the new year. The state Department of Commerce, which oversees the office, expected to hire a new director in February.
WA homeless youth program closes after contractor ‘misspent’ $330k

Apr 16, 2024 | crosscut.com | Elizabeth Whitman

Officials ordered a lobbying firm to pay back money meant for a state-funded Lifeline pilot hotline that connects at-risk young people to services. A new state-funded program aimed at connecting at-risk youth with social services abruptly suspended operations. Now the state has ordered the program contractor, lobbying firm SDM Consulting and CEO Samuel D.
Introducing the Youth Today News Podcast

Apr 8, 2024 | northwestreports.podbean.com | Sam Leeds |Sara Bernard |Elizabeth Whitman

The third episode of the investigative series co-produced with Crosscut focuses on one woman's experience with foster care and homelessness in WA. A few months ago, Crosscut collaborated with the nonprofit organization Youth Today to produce a three-part multimedia series on youth homelessness. Reporter Elizabeth Whitman and producer Sam Leeds investigated several pilot programs designed to support young people who’ve been involved in state systems such as foster care or juvenile justice.
foster care and homelessness

Jan 3, 2024 | seattleschild.com | Elizabeth Whitman |Sam Leeds |Cheryl Murfin

One day in second grade, Janell Braxton’s teacher told her, unexpectedly, that her mom had come to pick her up for a dentist appointment. Janell, thrilled to avoid reading time, trotted off to the school office. But she did not see her mother. Instead, a social worker told Janell that the adults had lied about the dentist. She would move into foster care, which Janell’s young mind imagined as a form of jail. Why had this happened? she wondered. Because she hadn’t eaten her vegetables?
‘Home was never a place’: One woman’s life in WA foster care

Nov 27, 2023 | columbian.com | Elizabeth Whitman |Sam Leeds

One day in second grade, Janell Braxton’s teacher told her, unexpectedly, that her mom had come to pick her up for a dentist appointment. Janell, thrilled to avoid reading time, trotted off to the school office. But she did not see her mother. Instead, a social worker told Janell that the adults had lied about the dentist. She would move into foster care, which Janell’s young mind imagined as a form of jail. Why had this happened? she wondered. Because she hadn’t eaten her vegetables?
'Home was never a place': One woman's life in WA foster care

Nov 21, 2023 | crosscut.com | Elizabeth Whitman

Listen to a related podcast on this story here: Janell’s voice trembled as she recalled that moment, her belief that it was all her fault, and the fear she felt for her little brother. For Janell, now 30, that day launched her into more than a decade of near-constant uncertainty in the foster care system and beyond. She shuffled among relatives and foster homes for years, sometimes with her younger brother and at other times separated.
Researchers team up with court staff to help WA homeless youth

Nov 14, 2023 | kxly.com | Elizabeth Whitman |Sam Leeds

By 17, Pip was cycling in and out of Kitsap County’s juvenile court. He avoided going home to a “volatile” living situation where he said he could not express his true self. He struggled at work. Things felt dark. “It was dangerous and really destructive for my mental health,” he said. Still, he stayed focused on certain goals, like graduating from high school.