KELLY DAWN FINDS PURPOSE IN HELPING NEIGHBORS STAY SAFE AT HOME
After seven years with SNAP, Kelly Dawn still lights up when she talks about solving problems. As director of housing services, Dawn leads the teams behind SNAP’s weatherization, minor home repair and single-family rehabilitation programs. Together, they help low-income homeowners, many of them seniors, keep their homes safe, efficient and livable.
“I love problem solving,” Dawn said. “That’s probably the number one thing that goes on here. We solve problems, whether that’s internal or for our clients. Trying to get to a yes for a client: “Yep, we can help you.’ I love trying to figure out what we can do to get to a good solution.”
From retail and banking to nonprofit work
Dawn joined SNAP in 2019 after working as an assistant manager at Walmart and spending several years in banking, where she advanced from teller to vault teller. While she valued the leadership experience, she wanted a career with stronger work-life balance and deeper community impact.
“I found that I like doing things to help people, nonprofit-wise,” she said. “I realized that retail management was not what I wanted to spend my life doing. SNAP had an opening, so I applied, got here and decided that this is exactly what I wanted to do.”
She started as an assistant in the minor home repair program, helping clients apply and qualify for assistance. Within months, she moved into a supervisory role and eventually became program manager. Recently, she stepped into her current leadership position overseeing all housing services programs.
What housing services means for neighbors
Under Dawn’s leadership, SNAP’s housing services focus on helping people remain in their homes safely and affordably.
Weatherization helps income-qualified homeowners, often in older or drafty homes, make their houses more energy efficient. Crews assess where energy is escaping and address issues such as insulation, draft sealing and heating system efficiency. The goal is to make homes warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer and less expensive to maintain.
Minor home repair addresses smaller but critical issues: leaking faucets, plumbing problems, malfunctioning furnaces, hot water heaters or electrical concerns. The program can also install accessibility features such as grab bars to help seniors move safely through their homes.
Single-family rehabilitation offers low-interest loan options for larger, more costly repairs, such as roof replacement or major sewer issues, helping homeowners maintain safe living conditions.
For many clients, these repairs mean the difference between stability and crisis.
“A lot of people who don’t have significant income find themselves having to make a choice between food, medical expenses or upkeeping their homes,” Dawn said. “If your home isn’t warm, healthy and safe, it’s hard to keep yourself warm, healthy and safe.”
By lowering energy bills or fixing urgent repairs, SNAP’s programs can free up limited income for groceries, prescriptions or other essentials.
Partnerships make it possible
Dawn credits collaboration, both inside and outside the organization, for making the work successful.
“We talk to each other, we collaborate with each other,” she said. “The utilities support SNAP, and our contractors are able to give us really concentrated efforts inside the community and inside these people’s homes, understanding what they truly need.”
That collaboration extends across SNAP’s programs. Clients who enter through one service can be referred to others, creating a more comprehensive safety net.
“Being around this long means we’re doing something right,” Dawn said, noting SNAP’s six decades of service. “What I do is just a small part of what SNAP does as a whole. But our programs complement each other. We can refer clients and get them all the help they need as opposed to just one piece.”
Relationships that last
While the repairs matter, relationships often leave the deepest impression. Dawn recalls working with an older woman who lived alone and was experiencing serious sewer issues. Early conversations were tense as they worked to fully understand the problem. But after talking it through and coordinating repairs, the situation turned into something more lasting.
“She’ll call me by name. She’ll ask for me specifically,” Dawn said. “We’ve developed a rapport that enables her to feel like she’s got someone to talk to. And I get to hear all kinds of really cool stories about her past.”
For Dawn, those connections reflect SNAP’s guiding principle: Neighbors by Your Side.
“It means that you’re never alone,” she said. “Whether it’s myself or someone else, there’s always somebody who’s going to be there next to you, walking through your journey, holding you up or lending you an arm to help you walk through the path you’re going through.”
Finding energy and joy at work
Housing services can be demanding, especially as needs grow and funding requirements shift. But Dawn has found simple ways to keep her team energized.
“Sometimes we dance,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve been known to put on a song and say, ‘Hey, I need a little bit of something.’ For 60 seconds, let’s just dance.”
It’s a brief pause in a busy day, and a reminder that even serious work benefits from moments of joy.
Since moving to Spokane in 2011, Dawn has built a career centered on service. Seven years into her time at SNAP, she remains motivated by the same goal: helping neighbors stay safe, warm and secure in the place they call home.
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