Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Mission Statement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Regional Housing Council holds mission‑statement workshop; directs staff to draft sample statements
Summary
The council worked through a facilitated virtual whiteboard to refine its mission components (audience, purpose, goals) and asked the tech team to draft 2–4 sample mission statements for consideration at the next meeting.
The Thurston County Regional Housing Council spent a substantial portion of the meeting in a facilitated workshop to refine a mission statement that will guide the council’s work on homelessness and housing affordability. Facilitator Sue Mountain led participants through a virtual whiteboard exercise that asked members to identify audience, service/purpose, benefits and goals.
Mountain read the council’s adopted vision from May: "Everyone in Thurston County has stable shelter or housing that they feel is safe and the services they need to thrive." She asked members what words or phrases from that vision connected to their "why." Participants repeatedly highlighted safety, stability and access to services.
During the whiteboard exercise the council prioritized the audience as "the whole community, especially those impacted by homelessness and housing insecurity," and chose coordination as the council’s core purpose. Members voted on phrasing and concepts in real time; recurring themes included concise language, action‑oriented wording and clarity about the population served.
Discussion surfaced differing views about how narrowly to define the council’s service role: some members emphasized the council’s historical role in recommending allocations for funding competitions, while others urged a stronger focus on regional coordination and policy work. Facilitator‑led conversation and comments from council members like Michael Altauser and Casper (co‑chair of the Homeless Services Advisory Board) centered on keeping the mission concise, actionable and accountable.
Tom Webster, summarizing next steps, said the council’s tech team and staff would take the workshop outcomes and prepare two to four draft mission statements for the council to review at the next meeting: "The tech team could... come up with 2, 3, 4 different sample mission statements. ... maybe the October meeting could spend the first little bit on mission before we move into the values discussion," Webster said.
No formal vote was required to continue mission development; the group asked staff to return with word‑smithing options and to carry the workshop themes forward into upcoming values and governance meetings.
