The genesis of the Queen Anne Helpline, a charitable organization celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, can be traced to an elderly woman buying cat food at the Queen Anne Thriftway, according to longtime helpline director Pat Sobek.
The late Dick Rhodes - owner and founder of the grocery store (now the Metropolitan Market) - said he knew the woman, and he knew for a fact that she didn't own a cat, Sobek said.
The obvious conclusion was the woman was buying cat food for herself because she couldn't afford to feed herself any other way. So Rhodes decided to do something about it.
In 1982 he met with three neighborhood pastors and the late Ray Moore, a state senator from Queen Anne, to come up with a way to help neighborhood residents in need. "And that's when it became the Queen Anne Helpline," Sobek remembered.
The pastor at a church where Sobek volunteered was involved in the founding of the helpline, she said. "And [the helpline] just sounded really exciting to me, and I signed up as a volunteer."
Sobek has been with the helpline ever since and is now one of two paid staff members with the organization, which is also run with the aid of numerous volunteers.
Originally set up in the basement of a church, three volunteers working two hours a day, three days a week, started taking calls from Queen Anne residents looking for help, mostly with food, she said.
"It was primarily referrals for the first couple of months," Sobek said of steering helpline clients to other organizations that could assist them.
Later that summer, the helpline raised money during the 1982 Ye Olde Queen Anne Days celebration, and the former Le Tastevin restaurant in Lower Queen Anne raised around $4,700 during an open house the following November, Sobek said.
The total budget the first year was $12,790; of that, $5,000 went to housing assistance, while $3,000 went to the Queen Anne food bank, according to helpline records.
Thriftway put on the helpline's first food festival in 1984 in a building on top of the Hill that once held a bowling alley. The event raised $5,500, Sobek said. "It was really fun."
The helpline moved to its current location at 311 W. McGraw St. the following year, she said. It was the same year that saw the first Queen Anne Fun Run, which this year raised $10,000 for the helpline.
City officials have said there aren't enough participants in the race to warrant the expense of staffing the event with police, but Sobek said she is optimistic that race will be held next year.
After all, Seattle's police chief lives in the neighborhood, along with a state senator and a city council member, she said of potential allies that also include Queen Anne/Magnolia News publisher Mike Dillon.
The biggest fundraising event for the helpline is its yearly banquet and silent auction. The event - which raised $60,000 last year - began in 1987 and has been staged at the downtown Sheraton Hotel for the last 13 or 14 years, Sobek said.
SERVICES AND CLIENTS
The Queen Anne Helpline helps clients with rent and food, and the organization also has a clothing bank. A few months ago, the helpline expanded the latter service to include providing work shoes for work-release convicts, she said. "We do a lot of work with the shelter people," Sobek said of providing bus tickets and tapping the clothing bank.
"This last week, we helped an abused mom get out of town," Sobek said with a grim expression. The mom has two young kids and no resources, the helpline director added.
Another way the organization helps women with children is its continuing-education program. Begun in 1987, the program helps clients cover college tuition. "I would say we've probably helped over 100 young women finish their education and become self-supporting," Sobek said.
Other clients aren't so fortunate. Sobek spoke of helping a woman years ago who had three young children and was living in a hotel. These days, the Queen Anne Helpline is helping the woman's children, who have grown up and have their own children now, she said, shaking her head a bit. "The cycle continues."
Many might be surprised that people who are down on their luck live in Queen Anne, Sobek concedes. "I don't think people look; I don't think people see it," she said.
Sobek stressed that there are those in need in the community, many of whom are working but are having a rough time getting by because of medical problems, disabilities and skyrocketing rents. There are also more than 1,000 low-income housing units and shelter beds in Queen Anne, she said.
The overall helpline budget for 2007 is $281,000, but the organization is doing better than some social-service organizations that no longer have any funds to help people with, Sobek said, adding that she hears such stories "all the time from our clients."
On the flip side, Queen Anne residents are predominantly a generous bunch, she said. Still, the helpline is looking for more donations for the silent auction at this year's banquet on Oct. 14. Call 282-1540 for information or tickets, which run $85 per person.
As for the future, Sobek is of two minds. "My wish would be we wouldn't need the helpline," she said. "I don't think that's going to happen."
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