What do Queen Anne, Magnolia and South Lake Union all have in common? You might think they are all relatively affluent communities, they are home to some amazing organizations and businesses (including The Gates Foundation and Amazon) and they all offer many wonderful amenities. There’s also a serious challenge they share that’s less visible: They are home to many families and individuals experiencing severe economic hardship. That’s where the Queen Anne Helpline comes in.
Many of you have heard of us and know we are a social-service nonprofit organization, and you may also be aware of what we do: provide financial and basic-needs assistance to neighbors experiencing hardship. But what a lot of people do not realize is that we help residents in all of these neighborhoods. Our service area covers three ZIP codes: 98199 (Magnolia), 98119 (top of Queen Anne) and 98109, which stretches from the top of Queen Anne, south to Denny Way and east to Interstate 5, encompassing the entire South Lake Union neighborhood.
Combined, there are more than 65,000 residents in these neighborhoods, including 1,200 subsidized housing units, several shelters and a number of transitional apartment buildings. And, yes, despite the reality of rapid upscale development in South Lake Union, it, too, is home to shelters, subsidized housing and individuals living on fixed incomes. Our clients come from all three ZIP codes and represent the spectrum of hardships and needs that lead them to ask for help.
Every day, we see how unexpected events like a job loss or medical emergency can undermine the stability of local families and individuals: people like Barbara, a recently widowed senior who struggled to pay her rent after her husband’s death. Or Jack, who, despite working two part-time jobs while in school, got behind on his utility payments and, much to his embarrassment, found himself asking us for help. These are people we shop with, sit next to in the coffee shop and attend church with. These are our neighbors.
Same mission
The Queen Anne Helpline has a well-deserved reputation for making a meaningful and lasting difference in people’s lives. Today, we are serving more clients than at any time in our 32-year history. And thanks to an increased focus on partnerships and efficiencies, we are now allocating a greater percentage of our budget to direct client services than ever before. Part of that is reflected in our expanded efforts to raise awareness about the need in our community, our programs and our impact.
Another important Helpline upgrade for our clients and the community is our new website: www.QueenAnneHelpline.org. Here, you can learn about our history, who we are and, most importantly, what we do every day.
We are particularly proud that the Helpline’s work prevents an estimated 300 evictions each year through our rental-assistance program, helps keep the heat on for seniors and, through our new Weekend Food for Kids program, provides 240 meals and snacks each weekend to hungry students.
As our tagline now says, “Serving Queen Anne, Magnolia and South Lake Union.” What remains unchanged is our mission-driven, hard work and commitment to making a real difference in hundreds of our neighbors’ lives each year.
LISA MOORE is executive director of the Queen Anne Helpline. To comment on this column, write to QAMagNews@nwlink.com.
[[In-content Ad]]