Charity Choice Monday – Mary’s Place – Real Change 13

My friend Rob Macauley, a real estate Loan Officer with First Security Bank, has been a supporter of Mary’s Place for as long as I’ve known him.  I thought I knew what Mary’s Place accomplishes, and I was wrong. I thought it was “a women’s shelter.” This is what it really is, from its website:

“We provide safe, inclusive shelter and services that support women, children and families on their journey out of homelessness. Across nine emergency family shelters in King County, we keep struggling families together, inside, and safe when they have no place else to go providing shelter, services, resources, community, and hope.

Basic needs are met each day: meals, showers, and laundry facilities–children are connected with schools. In the evening, families in shelter have dinner, do homework, socialize, and prepare for the week ahead. Resources are offered each day for housing, employment, wellness, and financial needs. Housing specialists work with families to address barriers and empower parents to build family stability, secure housing, and prepare for employment. Kids do homework, participate in fun and enriching activities, and go on outings and adventures in our on-site Kids Club.

Children with life threatening illnesses should not be living in cars and tents awaiting chemo or dialysis. Families, who have lost everything in the struggle to get their child well, have a place to receive care and support in shelter at Mary’s Place Popsicle Place program.

We also operate a Women’s Day Center in downtown Seattle that provides meals, showers, laundry, access to resources, and community to over a hundred women each day.”

Mary’s Place has an extensive wish list: you can learn more on its “share your stuff” page. And, in a compelling example of the formidable power of coalitions, Mary’s Place partners with Goodwill, Westside Baby, Birthday Dreams and Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission.