GiveBIG 2025 is on May 6-7

Help us raise $5,000 toward laundry needs at the Family Shelter!

GiveBIG is all about supporting local nonprofits that make a difference in our communities – like the Interfaith Family Shelter. This year, we are focusing on a specific need at our shelter.

GiveBIG 2025 fundraiser: Loads of Love

We have approx. 44 families using the Family Shelter facility every year, and that’s a lot of laundry, washing & drying! Our families desperately need better laundry equipment.

Give today and help us raise $5,000 towards replacing residential appliances

with sturdy commercial equipment!

GiveBIG now!

Client Spotlight: Shelley’s Story

Interfaith helped Shelley and her family rebuild their lives and find a home!

Shelley* grew up in Hawaii where she met her ex-husband, and they moved to WA after she graduated college. But by early 2020, and in the early stages of recovery, she met Tommy at a sober house in Snohomish County. Despite concerns about his abusive behavior, Shelley’s infant child and dependency needs made it difficult for her to break away from him— especially when Tommy promised to care for them. Besides, Tommy always found her when she did try to escape.

They moved to the east coast in search of a better life, but returned to WA when Shelley became pregnant again. Her efforts to work stable jobs were soon thwarted by the high cost of childcare, and being unable to leave Tommy at home with the children. Eventually, the family lost their Seattle apartment due to Tommy’s addiction, and found themselves living in their car and later in a tent off Green Lake (Feb 2024). She recalls that Tommy often left her and the now three young children for days at a time—he would break her phone so that she could not contact friends or family.

I’m definitely stronger after a few months of being at Interfaith. I could not have done all this alone and been able to get housed within 90 days by myself.

Shelley, Interfaith Family Shelter client (2024)

Shelley finally escaped to a motel through DSHS and a navigator. But Tommy found her, and this time it was particularly ugly: he dislocated her jaw, fractured her cheekbone, and threatened to take their lives. Then the police intervened and arrested him—Shelley and the children were finally safe! That’s when they came to the Interfaith Family Shelter. She struggled to adjust to normalcy and leave the constant fear behind. She persevered “for the kids,” and worked diligently with our case manager to get housing and find a job.

We are proud to serve clients like Shelley and her young family (4, 3 and 2 years, respectively) and provide the resources and space for them to rebuild their lives from trauma. Shelley recently received the keys to her very own housing unit in Snohomish County, and her hard work is paying off. She is a measure of true resiliency.

“I’m definitely stronger after a few months of being at Interfaith,” she says. “I could not have done all this alone and been able to get housed within 90 days by myself.”

*Names and some details changes to protect client confidentiality.

Does your family – or a family you know – need emergency shelter and a pathway out of homelessness?

Let us know, and we can reach out if a unit becomes available.

Submit a Shelter Intake Form

MOD Pizza Fundraiser on Sun, Dec 08

Take a slice

out of

family homelessness!

We are teaming up with MOD Pizza to join forces against family homelessness on Sun, Dec 08.

And YOU can help!

Simply order a MOD Pizza anytime on Dec 08, 2024, and make sure you use the code “MODGIVES20“

Order:

online
through the app
or visit the Mod Pizza at 7909 Evergreen Way, Everett WA 98203 (offer valid on in-person orders at this store only – make sure you bring the flyer below with you when you visit!).

And MOD Pizza will donate 20% of your bill to support Interfaith and our programs!

Giving Tuesday is on Dec 03, 2024

GivingTuesday is on December 3, 2024.

It’s a special time of year, when the whole world comes together to give back through acts of kindness, gifts of voice, time, talent, or treasure.

Make a difference through your gift

No child should sleep unhoused.

Every family deserves a home.

We are committed to giving families the resources that they need to rebuild their lives and achieve permanent housing.

Especially as many of us struggle with increasing prices and inflation, your gift can help keep a family warm, nourished, and motivated to overcome homelessness.

Interfaith is a great shelter for families – thank you, thank you!

The staff were really there to help us and point us in the right direction.

The time you took to help us get off the street and find housing is amazing!

Junice

Mom, family of 5, (Aug 2024)

Created in 2012, GivingTuesday started with a simple idea: a day focused on encouraging people to do good.

Today, it’s a global movement that inspires generosity and giving back to make a positive change in other people’s lives.

Families Together 2024 was a Success!

Families Together 2024 was on Thursday, October 24, 2024

Thank you to everyone who made our annual fundraising event a big success!

Once again, Families Together was streamed online with two watch parties:

one in Marysville, and the other in Edmonds.

We are still finalizing the numbers, but here is what we know so far:

Total number of attendees: 75
- 59 guests attended in-person watch parties
- 16 guests joined online
Total amount raised (so far): $11,700… and counting!

All funds raised through Families Together fundraiser are included in the ongoing 2024 Annual Fund campaign, which aims to raise $140,000 by the end of the year.

And we have exciting news:

this fundraising event brought us to $100,745!

Even better: YOU helped us maximize and meet the Donor Match Challenge!

We could not have done it without each and every one of you – thank you so much!

Learn more about the 2024 Annual Fund campaign

Keynote Speaker:

Megan Dunn, Snohomish County Councilmember, District 2

Emcee:

Mary Cline-Stively, CEO, ChildStrive

Watch the recording of Families Together 2024:

It’s Back-to-School Time – and our volunteers are stepping up!

August is back-to-school time, and our staff and programs are busy getting kids at the shelter ready for the new school year. And volunteers like Kimberly Jones play a vital role in that process.

Kimberly first got involved with the Interfaith Family Shelter about 18 years ago, when her mom Jackie Rasco (our Shelter Case Manager) started working at the shelter. “We have been consistent volunteers ever since, including decorating cookies for holidays, preparing and serving Thanksgiving dinner, assisting my niece in hosting a baby shower for new moms, and donating various needed items over the years,” shares Kim.

But about seven years ago, Kim became aware of a distinct need for kids at the shelter around this time of year. “In 2017, I received a letter from Interfaith requesting backpacks and school supplies for children currently living in the shelter,” she says. “So my oldest daughter and I bought a backpack filled with supplies. But when we dropped it off, we noticed that the backpacks donated by government organizations were quite basic—thin, small, and lacking quality supplies like Crayola crayons and markers.”

Kimberly Jones has been organizing backpacks and school supplies for families at our shelters since 2017.

We decided to donate both backpacks and school supplies ourselves. For the first two years, my daughter and I personally funded all the donations.

And that was the beginning of what has now become an August tradition in the Jones household!

“Starting that year, we decided to donate both backpacks and school supplies ourselves,” shares Kim. “For the first two years, my daughter and I personally funded all the donations. By Year 3, we wanted to expand our efforts and reached out to the community for help. Thanks to donations from family, various community members, friends, nonprofits like Hub-n-Spoke, coworkers, and families at Zion Lutheran School, we have been able to provide high-quality supplies, name-brand backpacks, graphing calculators, and Crayola crayons and markers.”

The back-to-school Backpack Drive is now a family tradition in the Jones household!

The Back-to-School Backpack Drive has become a true labor of love for Kim and her family. “Our primary goal is to give these children the tools that they need for success, and to get them excited about using their new supplies in the classroom.”

More importantly, Kim know that this effort helps alleviate the burden on families at our shelter, and helps them not worry about having to purchase school supplies. “We are so thankful we are able to do this, and have the support of our amazing community!”