For $44/day, we give a woman access to life saving resources at our shelter

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A message from our Programs Director 

The days are getting shorter, colder and wetter.  The Sophia Way opened the doors to its emergency shelter just in time to usher women into a warm, safe place and out of the wet, stormy, weather we had this past weekend.  We have taken back over all operational aspects of the emergency shelter after two years subcontracting with CCS and our clients seemed very pleased by this.
The day center is seeing its numbers continue to rise as the weather turns.  I am delighted to announce that we have been approved for funding by the eastside cities which will allow us to keep our day center opened on the weekends!  This will begin with the start of the new year and I am both pleased and proud to announce that in just one short year, we have increased day center hours 217%!  Our day center offers services to any woman or family wanting/needing them which include: a warm, safe place to be at, computers, mats to rest, case management, mental health counselling, legal assistance, employment help, a certified nurse on hand, hot meals, bus tickets, laundry, showers, and clothing. The day center plays a very crucial function in the path to bringing women out of homelessness as it provides not only a place to be when overnight shelters are not open, but also the services necessary to remove the obstacles to housing. 
Our 6 month programmatic shelter is currently full and the waitlist is closed as we have 40 women currently waiting to get in.  We do have 4 women gearing up to move into permanent housing!  This will open up spots in our various programs to bring in more women and help them to remove obstacles in their lives and reach the same goal of housing successfully.
There is a county wide system called Coordinated Entry that The Sophia Way will enter into in phases. Coordinated Entry will have great impacts on Eastside service provides such as The Sophia Way which helps women out of homelessness.  As the requirements for Coordinated Entry are still being ironed out by the county, it is not clear as to what all these changes will include at this stage. Needless to say that Angela and I are taking active roles in advocating for our clients throughout this process.   
The Sophia Way held its annual luncheon and I was honored to award the first 'Making a Difference Award' to a former client of The Sophia Way.  It was in recognition of the countless hours she has given to making Sophia's Place a space others can call home.  All of us at The Sophia Way are incredibly appreciative of her generous dedication and time.   All of us at The Sophia Way also are incredibly thankful for all of YOU, none of the above could be accomplished without each of you!

- Karie Stearns 


Creating Spaces - Coming Home : Annual Benefit Luncheon 2016 
 
295 Guests in 33 Tables = Over $74,000!
On a cold rainy day, you all showed up and made our luncheon a great success. 
It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home. 
Thank you to everyone who attended our luncheon. You are helping us create homes! You make us what we are today, and you support for our mission means more than you could ever imagine. 
Amazing Speakers, beautiful space and lunch donated by Red Lion Hotel, Bellevue , Our Gold Sponsor - Muslim Association of Puget Sound,  and all your generous hearts made this a truly beautiful and memorable event.

Together we raised over $74,000 making this our most successful luncheon ever! 

On behalf of the women we are proud to serve, thank you again for your generosity and support. We look forward to your continued engagement in our  mission to end homelessness.


Emergency Winter Shelter (EWS)
Not to be deterred by the threat of a severe winter storm, this team pushed forward to open the EWS as scheduled on Oct 15th. Even though the storm was not as powerful as predicted, we took great pride to offer a safe, warm and dry place for the 3 women who spent the night with us. Our numbers are steadily growing as the women are extremely impressed with our space and have eagerly spread the word. The Lakeside Christian Church communities have offered tons of support and compassion. We are excited, engaged and ready to serve. I feel so fortunate to be part of this journey.
 
- Cynthia Brown, EWS Manager
Albert Lee Appliances 
 
Huge thank you to the Albert Lee Appliances who generously have donated 4 commercial sized washers and dryers. They even have donated enough laundry detergent for the next 4 months. 

Access to laundry facilities is one of the biggest challenges women experiencing homelessness face. But thanks to Albert Lee Appliances,  it doesn't have to be anymore. Our previous washers and dryers were only residential grade, which means that they frequently broke and needed repairs- each machine would run up to 5 loads in one day, 5 days per week! With these new machines that were designed to withstand that amount of usage,  women at our Day Center can get their laundry done on time and focus on rebuilding their lives.

Thanks to your amazing donations, we're giving women in our shelter something to smile about every single day.
Butterfly Effect Group 

We are beyond grateful to the ladies of the Butterflies Effect group for their very generous donation of time and supplies. They came to our shelter on the afternoon of September 30th, and not only did they spend 3 hours on their busy Friday afternoon to clean our shelter (and did an incredibly thorough job!) they also donated bags and bags of much needed items! They brought cleaning supplies, snacks, socks and underwear, make-up sets, gift cards, and more! 

Our Volunteer Coordinator, who led the project, said: "I was so impressed with the way everybody was so eager to get right to work, and took the initiative to find what needed to be done and took the time and effort to do it so thoroughly. I was also very touched that several times throughout the evening, members of the group approached me and asked if there was more they could offer. Generous and dedicated people like all of you are truly the reason that we are here. We are so grateful to be a part of this incredible community."

Thank you, Butterflies!

In Her Own Words...

I am writing on behalf of thousands of women who are homeless; Mostly unheard, definitely misrepresented and ALL victims of prejudicial thinking by the majority of Americans.

SURVIVAL IS FULL TIME JOB.

NO ONE ON THE PLANET CHOOSES TO BE HOMELESS unless the alternative options are worse;  severe abuse or, most likely, economic, 

You could triple any reported statistics and barely come close to the number of women who live morning to night to morning, perhaps for months or even years, who are just trying to survive and be safe.  

I chose to live out of the backseat of my Suburu for eight months so I could still work full time. Never enough money to remotely move into an apartment or room of any sort though. Car got towed from flat tire I couldn't fix.

I chose to go to the woods.  The elements are severe. Carrying drinking water, laundry, traveling miles for food on the bus; it all takes unbelievable amounts of time and energy and is spiritually draining. It becomes your whole life-surviving. I often had to sign on the street for the money to get laundry done. I was always asked my story. No one believed I was on Wall Street in the 80's. I couldn't myself. The humility and embarrassment is draining.

Then luck struck- a Social Worker out of the blue telling me about Sophia Way.  I went for the interview, got put a list and 3 days later a call of acceptance. 

I met many women who were close to my age so it was easy to relate to them.  We were all in need of resources to get back on our feet-there for a purpose.  It was astonishingly welcoming-I hadn't experienced being with others so concerned for my well-being.  Food, toiletries, haircuts and medical help, classes, transportation assistance, secure places for belongings. It allows you to have the opportunity to think about and pursue goals that you may have given up - Sophia Way is an absolute blessing and Godsend. So many women have gone on to THRIVE because of it.  

SOPHIA WAY CHANGES LIVES FOR THE BETTER 

- Beverly Ashmun, client at our Transitional Home

Holiday Initiative -  How you can change lives
 
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