USA TODAY’s Women of the Year: Meet the nurse using her voice to speak up for the homeless

Kimmy Siebens is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.

In her profession as a nurse, Kimmy Siebens treats all kinds of challenges at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the state's only Level 1 trauma center and disaster control hospital. But it's people in her own outlying community of Bremerton that draw her attention when she's not at the hospital. Meeting the needs of residents who are unhoused, and in particular advocating for better care and standing up for populations most likely to be discriminated against, have made her a name that many local providers call on when examining an issue facing much of America.

Siebens is a Northwest native, growing up on a small farm on Washington's bucolic Olympic Peninsula. She left home to travel the country in a VW bus and backpack South America several times, only to return to the region she loved to settle into a nursing career.

She's pushed back against religious-based social services providers for withholding care from LGBTQ residents and lobbied government agencies not to shun shelters or navigation centers in an effort to hide the homeless. At one point she began offering hot dogs and beans, served from the back of her truck, to anyone in need.

She runs a nonprofit to assist pet owners who are homeless, called Their Voice, and regularly shows up to oppose encampment sweeps that clear people away without providing other resources.

She has been named USA TODAY's Women of the Year honoree from Washington.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

How did your career in nursing influence your work advocating for neighbors who are struggling or without shelter?

My career in nursing allows me to speak up confidently and informed about my most vulnerable neighbors. My education and career has provided access to experts in many fields of study as well as access to thousands of people I have cared for, in a hospital setting, or on the streets. Through them I can see how the housing and homeless crisis has spiraled out of control. This is from a perspective that doesn’t blame unhoused individuals for this incredibly large housing and public health crisis.

Nursing has taught me that in order for a person to make a good decision they need to be provided information based on facts and real data that they can understand. People need to see the real faces and stories of homelessness. I always think, if people could see what I am seeing or experience what I am experiencing — they would get it.

The lack of housing (that people can afford) and the lack of services, becomes more clear when people are adequately informed. The misconceptions fall away.

Nursing has also taught me about a person’s basic needs to survive, starting with a roof over your head and all the way up to becoming an active member or leader of your community. My work with unhoused people has allowed me to walk next to the individual in crisis. Seeing it from this angle has taught me that even when there are supposed safeguards built into the system, too many fall between the cracks.

Was there anyone who paved the way for you?

My mother has been a particularly strong supporter of me using my voice and speaking up about issues that concern me since I was a child. She always made it clear that even if you don’t have a lot, there was always enough to share, and to treat people with kindness.

What has been your proudest moment in the work that you do?

My proudest moments are facilitating those times when people can help one another. Others commonly think that someone else is going to handle it. I want to show them that "someone else" is them. This is how we can get more people involved and aware of what it's really like working with people who live outside. Once people get to know the truth, they too, will most likely become an advocate and care more about this issue and the people it is affecting the most.

I am proud of the times that I have spoken up against large organizations when I witnessed mistreatment. For example, when I spearheaded a state investigation of a hospital that was later found guilty of their mistreatment of their unhoused patients and their misuse of charity care funding. This is also very significant to me because in retaliation these organizations have tried to cause harm by threatening to damage my career, to report my nursing license with frivolous and made up complaints.

I am very proud of bringing attention to the abuse of people who identify as LGBTQ. One local organization's management was moved around and the mayor stepped down from his position on their advisory board as a result. I always believe it's better to be part of the common good rather than be silent, or complicit with the bad.

What is the biggest challenge in the work you are doing?

Misinformation, preconceptions and fear are all big challenges in the work I do to help others. Starting from the very upper echelon of our society, there are many barriers.

I help people who have needs that can be met if they can be helped through the system. The wonderful people working within “the system” remain silent to the difficulties a vulnerable person has using it, because they are often funded and graded by the people managing the system. I say it's like the "Hunger Games" out there.

Do you have a guiding principle, or mantra to lean on as motivation?

When needing motivation I look back to my core values and beliefs. While they are based in empathy and understanding, they are also based in empirical evidence. Other people cannot get you down and make you feel like what you are doing is absurd or wrong when your core self is confident that what you are doing is right. This takes constant reassessment of myself and my actions. There is always room to grow and learn more, that is very motivating to me.

How do you overcome adversity?

By creating relationships with others who share my goal but have different skills and abilities. I work with a small handful of women in my community who are leaders in their own organizations. Their stamina, their passion, and their desire to make our community a better place for everyone helps to keep me moving forward when I am sure that I cannot. All of us need a community to be a part of.

What advice would you give your younger self?

When you’re on to something good, there will always be an increase in the amount of cynics you encounter. Learn to take this as a compliment. You are on the right track. They can doubt you, they can fight you — but they never stop you.

• 2022 Women of the Year: Melinda French Gates: Courage is ‘using your voice’ to push for necessary but controversial change

• Women of the Century: ‘Gender equality pioneers’: Influential women from Washington includes state and Seattle politicians

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Seattle nurse honored by USA TODAY for advocating for the unhoused