Local Presbyterian Homeless Project for Two-Parent Families
Seattle Presbytery
From the Seattle Presbytery Network To End Homelessness
We thought it was time to give you an update on a homeless project that we’ve been tracking and supporting for the last several months. As you may know, Madrona Grace Presbyterian Church in Seattle very generously donated their large basement space as a shelter for homeless families. Well, after a lot of construction help from volunteers from various congregations including their own, it is now up and running and providing one of the very few emergency overnight shelters for two-parent families in King County! There are currently six families living in shelter at Julia’s Place and these are families who would otherwise have nowhere to go to stay together.
Graphics courtesy of Sacha Maxim.
Julia’s Place has developed a great momentum and continues to push forward with the mission of keeping the families of our community off the streets at night. Sarah and Victor came to Julia’s Place with their four children in May last year after both losing their jobs and subsequently their housing. They worked diligently every day towards obtaining housing, both catching the bus from Madrona every morning at 5:45am to get to their new jobs in Woodinville. By the end of July, they had saved up enough money to move their family into their own home!
Thanks to the generosity of Madrona Grace Presbyterian Church, Julia’s Place was able to provide 2,997 bed nights for homeless families from April to November of this year! And their partnership with Mary’s Place in Gethsemane Lutheran church provides a day-facility for their use as well.
But while Julia’s Place has developed a strong core of volunteers to bring in meals and host the families each evening, the need continues for additional volunteer support to maintain this momentum. So we are asking you to look closely at the attached photos and volunteer opportunities summary to see how your congregation might come alongside this critical project.
We will be contacting you by phone soon to answer any questions and to see if this important ministry fits with your congregation’s local outreach efforts. In the meantime, if you or your church has questions or would like to be involved with this worthy effort, please contact Dawn McConaughy of Mercer Island Presbyterian Church at dawnmcconaughy@comcast.net, or Alyson Moon at alyson@marysplaceseattle.org or (206) 621-8474.
Thanks for giving serious consideration to joining with us in helping Madrona Presbyterian continue to provide the loving care to homeless families in the Greater Seattle area.
Carol Nett and Jack Roos, Co-Conveners
Current Project Needs (Updated 3/5/13)
- Shower Installation: Site with plumbing identified. Need construction designed.
- Foundation seepage: Back gutter leak contributing to the problem. Need approach.
- Gas heater replacement: Existing ones working ok for now. But need to get estimates for similar replacements.
- Electrical wiring changes: Consider moving heater to another circuit and installing wall switch for lights.
- Blackberry brambles on south side: Access from south side & use church’s compost bins.
- Additional Refrigerator: Need a second one to separate guest food from group leftovers. Check electrical circuit load for location.
- Washer & Dryer Replacement: Existing ones are small and unreliable. Survey price vs. capacity & efficiency.
- Touchup Painting: Need to identify areas and see if matching paint exists.
- Warming Oven: Check out price & power requirements of oven to keep delivered food warm.
- Entry Door Closer: Install door closer on outside door to keep down heat loss.