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.
A volunteer, Isabelle, teaches Spanish.
“I like science best. We’re learning about rocks,” the girl declares as she settles into a chair. Her smile reveals two front teeth waiting to grow in. She is in the first grade and has lived with her family at the shelter for several months while they search for housing.
Soon she is joined by four other elementary aged children, all eager to begin Learning Hour. No one has remembered their backpacks. A staff member sends the kids upstairs to retrieve them and they all return breathless, plopping their bags onto the table.
And so it goes. Learning Hour at the shelter takes place four afternoons a week. Elementary aged residents are joined by volunteers who help with homework and computer skills. A Spanish teacher comes in once a week. The kids are each given a journal and are encouraged to use this as an outlet for the many emotions they may experience during this time of instability in their young lives.
An afternoon at Garfield Park
Learning Hour serves a very practical purpose. Children experiencing homelessness often fall behind their peers in school. Volunteers provide one-on-one tutoring. But beyond this, it is invaluable in many other ways.
Experiencing homelessness, living at a shelter, can be scary and isolating for a child. Learning Hour helps build relationships, both with other children and with the volunteers. Peer support is an important part of this process. Kids living at the shelter often develop lasting bonds with one another, finding friends who understands what they’ve been going through. We’ve also developed an informal partnership with Archbishop Murphy High School and currently have eight students who volunteer. It is always heartening to see the learning, laughing and relationship building that happens when kids help kids.
Our hope is that this time spent in the activity room each afternoon helps the children not only achieve in school, but also build trust, confidence and a safe, supportive place on their journey to a permanent home.
Students from Archbishop Murphy High School provide peer support.
A big thank you to WSU Extension Master Gardeners for donating ten yards of compost to the garden. Summer planting is in full swing and we’ll soon have yummy veggies–and happy eaters!–to show for it.
The garden may not yet be in bloom for the season, but it still provides lots of great hiding places for an Easter egg hunt. Children at the shelter enjoyed a visit from Jelly Bean the bunny, and fun was had by all.
![Two Congregations Rally in Support of Shelter Residents]()
Everyone needs a champion, especially families experiencing homelessness. May 5th is The Seattle Foundation’s “GiveBIG Day of Champions.”
From midnight to midnight, donations made to Interfaith Association through the GiveBIG website will be stretched with a partial match from event sponsors.
Homelessness can end – one family at a time. If you’re looking for a chance to really make a difference in the lives of local families, May 5th is a great day to do it.
GiveBIG here
Sixty percent of residents who stay at our shelter each year are children, which is one reason why we love it when young people volunteer with us. The energy and enthusiasm they bring is contagious. And the learning that happens when peers support peers is a two-way street. We thought we’d highlight two great ways in which youth have made a difference at the shelter recently.
Learning Hour with students from Archbishop Murphy High School
We currently have eight students from Archbishop Murphy High School who volunteer as tutors during learning hour, a weekday evening program for elementary school children. Over the past two years, we’ve developed a great informal partnership with the high school and have welcomed a dozen additional student volunteers during that time. The learning, laughing and relationship building that happens is invaluable.
A Birthday Book Drive
When Thandiwe planned her 11th birthday, she decided to do something a little different. Instead of getting gifts from her friends, she wanted to give back. She called Mr. P., our Children’s Advocate, and asked if the kids at the shelter needed new books. Of course! Thandiwe and her friends gathered over fifty new books to stock the shelves of the children’s activity room. What a great idea for a memorable and meaningful birthday. Thanks Thandiwe!
![Two Congregations Rally in Support of Shelter Residents]()
Wednesday, April 29th: 5-8pm
Shawn O’Donnell’s Restaurant
122 – 128th Street SE, Everett
You have to eat anyway, right? So why not make it count? On April 29th between 5-8pm, Shawn O’Donnell’s restaurant is donating 20% of all food and beverage purchases to The Family Shelter.
Drop by for a quick bite to eat or linger for the silent auction. Either way, you’ll make a difference in the lives of homeless families in our community.
Silent auction items include:
- Cypress Farms horseback riding lessons
- Seattle Storm tickets
- Brooks running shoes
- Lottery tickets themed basket
- …and more
We hope you’ll join us!
