A Critical Shortage of Affordable Housing
There is a critical shortage of affordable housing in our area (and around the country.) According to a recent report, an average of only 31 affordable and available rental units exist for every 100 extremely low income renter households. How can we end homelessness when adequate affordable housing simply doesn’t exist?
Interfaith Housing Partnership Puts Housing Within Reach for Working Families
The Interfaith Housing Partnership (IHP) puts affordable housing within reach for working families in our community. Families who are living at The Family Shelter and who have income from employment can apply for the program. While in IHP, participants receive a monthly rent subsidy ranging from $50-$150, allowing their rent to be no more than 30% of their income. $150 may not sound like much, but this is often all it takes to place a family’s rent within the affordable range.
The Faith Community Rallies in Support
Since its inception in 2006, IHP has been supported primarily through annual pledges of support from local faith groups. We of course welcome and appreciate support from individuals, but it is important to acknowledge that the backbone of this program is an inter-faith community of congregations committed to making a difference in the lives of families experiencing homelessness.
A Path Toward a Bright, Stable Future
While in the program, families work with a case manager who helps them gain the skills to move toward independence by staying employed, increasing income and continuing to meet the needs of their children. As a family moves further toward independence, their subsidy is gradually reduced to zero. With the skills and support they’ve gained along the way, they are often well on their way toward a bright, stable future.
One Family’s Journey
A number of years ago, a single father with two children came to live at The Family Shelter. Through job loss, family crisis and broken down vehicles he persisted in locating housing. The rent was almost within his family’s reach, but not quite. He needed a little help, so shelter staff recommended him for the IHP program. During his three years in the program, he maintained housing, found a better paying, more stable job and a reliable car. He went on to earn his Bachelor’s Degree, supported by his employer. With the help of IHP, he was able to move his family through a difficult period in their lives and achieve the stability and security he had always dreamed of for his children.
[highlight]What Can I Do?[/highlight]
- ~ Talk to your congregation about pledging an annual rent subsidy
- ~ Introduce us to a friendly landlord. We are always looking for good placements for our IHP families.
A new school year can be daunting for any child. New classroom, new teacher, new friends. Starting the school year while living at a homeless shelter often means added anxieties: do I tell my teachers where I’m living? What about my friends? Will I stick out if I don’t have new clothes and the right school supplies?
Thanks to the congregation of Eve
rett United Church of Christ, every child who stays at The Family Shelter this school year will have the supplies they need to help them enter their new classrooms with confidence.
Children at the shelter need new school supplies year round. Families come to us with very few resources and their children may be starting a new school mid-year. The congregation at UCC has pledged to provide all of the necessary school supplies for the entire year.
Last week, the kids started receiving their backpacks. It was a day filled with pencils, notebooks, rulers and plenty of smiles.
Our Children’s Summer Program offers structure and learning opportunities for our school-aged residents during the long days of summer. We create arts and crafts, participate in sporting events and enjoy field trips, family picnics and visitors like The Reptile Man.
[highlight]Volunteers needed[/highlight]
When: June 22nd-August 28th
Time Commitment: At least one day a week (M-Thu) from 2-3:45pm
If you are interested: Please fill out the contact form below. You will hear back from our Children’s Advocate, Desmond Pullen.
[contact-form-7 id=”2217″ title=”Children’s Summer Program Volunteers”]
Earlier this year, The Family Shelter was awarded a Community Impact Project from Leadership Snohomish County. On June 6th, we saw this come to fruition as a dozen volunteers gathered to revitalize our Children’s Activity Room.
The group scrubbed, organized and painted this room that is so central to life at the shelter. (And they took time to share a barbecue with shelter residents and staff, so it wasn’t all work and no play!) When the kids saw their new room for the first time, they were delighted to find, among other things, new art supplies and a chalkboard table and wall.
Thank so much to Leadership Snohomish County and all of the volunteers for helping make the shelter a little brighter. And thanks to the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers whose members came out in full force to volunteer.
![Two Congregations Rally in Support of Shelter Residents]()
[highlight]Stanwood United Methodist Church: Welcome Boxes[/highlight]
A plastic file box can go a long way toward making someone feel comfortable in a new place. This is the goal behind the Welcome Box Project at Stanwood United Methodist Church. Families often come to the shelter with very little, and although there isn’t much storage space, some basic items can make the transition easier.
Stanwood United Methodist Church provides Best Wishes boxes to families as they move from the shelter into housing.
Since 2012, the Missions Committee has gathered donations from the congregation, then assembled a box for every family who moves into the shelter. A thermometer lets parents triage their sick children in the middle of the night. Envelopes, postage stamps and a calendar help residents pay bills and take care of other business. A flash drive and a file box helps them stay organized as they look for housing. Now in its third year, this project has made a big difference in the lives of shelter residents. We often hear how these items make life easier in a difficult situation.
The members of Stanwood United Methodist Church began the project because their faith calls them to serve the poor. “What better way to serve the poor,” says Chuck Durland, Mission Committee chair. “We get satisfaction out of helping families get their lives together.”
Stanwood UMC also provides Best Wishes Boxes, which give residents some necessities when they leave the shelter for permanent housing. A set of towels, hygiene supplies and a medical kit are among the items.
[highlight]Unity Center for Positive Living: Resident Pantry[/highlight]
The Welcome Boxes project has been so well received that we decided to expand upon it and create a Resident Pantry, stocked with cooking supplies, sheets, shower curtains and other items that families leaving the shelter need in order to set up their new homes.
A big thank you to the congregation of Unity Center for Positive Living for a hugely successful supply drive that generated enough items to stock the closet for the first round of residents.
Contact us to contribute to The Resident Pantry
Families often have very few personal belongings when they come to the shelter.
Basic household items can be very helpful when they later transition into a new home!
Our Resident Pantry is stocked with Home and Kitchen supplies. So that families can help themselves to what they need when they move out of the shelter and into their new home.
Do you have kitchen items or home decor to donate to our Resident Pantry?
Please contact the Family Shelter at (425) 303-9774 ext. 208, or fill out this form.
