Kimmy Siebens is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, recognizing women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program was launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which marked 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 management hospital. But it’s the people in her own remote Bremerton community that draw her attention when she’s not at the hospital. Meeting the needs of residents who are not at home, and especially advocating for better care and standing up for populations most likely to be discriminated against, has made her a name many local providers call upon when investigating an issue that much of America is facing.
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 has pushed back against religiously based social services for withholding care from LGBTQ residents and lobbied government agencies not to cloud 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 help homeless pet owners called Their Voice, and regularly appears to oppose camp sweeps that clear people away without providing other resources.
She has been named a USA TODAY Washington Women of the Year honoree.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
MEEGAN M. REID/KITSAP SUN
My career in nursing allows me to speak confidently and informedly about my most vulnerable neighbours. My education and career have given me access to experts in many fields of study as well as access to thousands of people I have cared for, in hospitals or on the streets. Through them I can see how the housing and homelessness crisis has spiraled out of control. This is from a perspective that does not 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 given 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 that if people could see what I see or experience what I experience – they would get it.
The lack of housing (that people can afford) and the lack of services become more apparent when people are sufficiently informed. The misconceptions fall away.
Nursing has also taught me about a person’s basic needs to survive, from having a roof over your head all the way up to becoming an active member or leader of your community. My work with homeless people has given me the opportunity to walk alongside 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 through the cracks.
My mother has been a particularly strong supporter of me using my voice and talking about issues that concern me since I was a child. She always made it clear that even if you didn’t have much, there was always enough to share, and to treat people with kindness.
Austen Macalus / Kitsap Sun
My proudest moments are facilitating the times when people can help each other. Others often think that someone else will handle it. I want to show them that “someone else” is them. This way we can get more people involved and aware of what it is really like to work with people who live outside. Once people learn the truth, they are also most likely to become an advocate and care more about this issue and the people it affects the most.
I am proud of the times I have spoken up against large organizations when I have witnessed mistreatment. For example, when I headed a state investigation into a hospital that was later found guilty of their mistreatment of their out-of-home patients and their misuse of charity funds. This is also very important to me because in retaliation these organizations have tried to cause harm by threatening to harm my career, reporting my nursing license with frivolous and fabricated complaints.
I am very proud to bring attention to the abuse of people who identify as LGBTQ. One local organization’s leadership was moved around and the mayor resigned from his position on their advisory board as a result. I always believe that it is better to be part of the common good than to remain silent, or contribute to the bad.
Misinformation, preconceptions and fear are all major challenges in the work I do to help others. From the 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 who work within “the system” remain silent about the difficulties a vulnerable person has in using it, because they are often funded and graded by the people who manage the system. I say it’s like the “Hunger Games” out there.
When I need motivation, I look back to my core values and beliefs. While they are based on empathy and understanding, they are also based on empiricism. Other people cannot bring you down and make you feel that what you are doing is absurd or wrong when your core self is sure that what you are doing is right. This requires constant reassessment of myself and my actions. There is always room to grow and learn more, that is very motivating for me.
By creating relationships with others who share my goal, but who have different skills and abilities. I work with a small handful of women in my community who are leaders in their own organizations. Their tenacity, passion and their desire to make our community a better place for everyone helps me to keep going when I’m sure I can’t. We all need a community to be a part of.
When you’re onto something good, there will always be an increase in the number of cynics you encounter. Learn to take this as a compliment. You are on the right track. They may doubt you, they may fight you – but they will never stop you.
Published
Updated
