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Centerstone 

Description

For over 48 years, Centerstone (formerly Central Area Motivation Program) has provided essential human services to meet the needs of Seattle’s poor. Centerstone is one of Washington’s oldest and most respected community organizations founded in the era of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.  In 1979, we joined the Washington State Community Action Partnership, a network of 30 agencies in 39 counties that has partnered together to improve the lives of low-income people throughout the state. Today Centerstone’s programs and services help over 20,000 people a year through food, housing, and education programs.

Mission Statement
Centerstone helps people help themselves and each other as they move from poverty to self-sufficiency through programs and advocacy.
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Centerstone
722 18th Avenue 
Seattle 
WA
98122 
(206) 812-4940 

Andrea Caupain 
CEO 

Programs

Centerstone Programs

Centerstone is a community lifeline, helping to address hunger, homelessness, and other issues. As Centerstone engages clients through basic needs programs, our primary goal is to help them to move past financial crisis and stabilize their situations. We then align clients to empowerment programs to help them move out of poverty. 

Energy Assistance
Our Energy Assistance program helps over 10,000 people per year to manage the rising costs of heat by offering financial assistance to pay home heating bills while providing energy conservation education to minimize future home heating costs. We also offer emergency services to families in financial crisis.

Food Assistance
Our Food Assistance program provides nutritious food and grocery items through our Food Bank. We also offer a home delivery service to help the elderly and people with disabilities. In 2011, Centerstone distributed 42,738 food bags to people in need.

Financial Education
Our Financial Education program helps people develop positive financial habits and stretch their money further through training on banking, personal finances, debt, and budgeting. The program offers group workshops, 1:1 financial coaching, tax preparation assistance, and community partnerships to empower people to create a better financial feature and pathways to opportunity.

Recent Successes and Current Challenges

The need for local hunger relief is on the rise. In September 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released information that more than 387,000 families in Washington State are unsure of the source of their next meal. This means 1 in 7 Washington families can't be certain that they will not go hungry. Centerstone is challenged with meeting this growing problem of local hunger relief.  Centerstone’s Food Bank saw a record number of clients in 2011, serving 7,172 individuals, an increase of 58% from 4,500 clients in 2009. Your support will help us to meet the growing demands of community hunger by expanding our home delivery route, increasing awareness of sustainable eating by providing nutrition education for our clients, and improving accessibility and availability by extending our Food Bank hours.

Evaluation


Centerstone helps people of all cultures meet their needs for food, housing, and financial education.
Best Practices
Centerstone’s Housing Program provided assistance to 405 families. Evaluation of the data showed that 58% of clients were African or African American. The ratio of female clients exceeded male clients 2:1 and the females were primarily in the age category of 35-45 years old. Their housing program staff began to research the potential causes and scope of housing instability for this group and is developing goals to create new programming and adapt current services to meet the demonstrated need.

They do a community needs assessment annually and focus on how to reach a greater number of people and provide relevant programs.

Collaboration
To increase access to their Energy Assistance Program funding they partner with organizations serving Seattle residents from immigrant and refugee communities, such as Neighborhood House, Refugees Women’s Alliance, and Asian Counseling and Referral Services. They have been able to increase the completeness of applications submitted by people whose first language is not English.
Sustainability
Centerstone is the new name for Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP). Their programs and services have expanded beyond the Central Area and they now serve people throughout the city of Seattle. Their goal remains the same to help people help themselves as they move from poverty to self-sufficiency.

In the past three years Centerstone has assessed internal processes and staff and increased operational efficiency. They have maintained their programs with fewer staff and more volunteers. They have implemented technological infrastructure to automate their program operations and improve program measurement and effectiveness. They have restructured their board and started recruiting new board members in January 2012. They currently have 9 board members and hope to recruit three more in 2013.

Financial Health
Currently 97% of their support is government funding. They have focused on private fund development efforts as public funding sources have continued to decrease. They cultivated relationships with new private donors and will hold their annual fall auction event to raise financial support from the community. They have invested in consulting resources as well as one staff member part-time to support fund development mailings, donor cultivation, and event coordination.

Grant History with The Seattle Foundation:

Grants Awarded through The Seattle Foundation Grantmaking Program:

DateAmountPurpose
There are no recent grants awarded to this organization.

Financials

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