Immanuel Community Services Programs
Our Recovery Program offers food and shelter in a supportive environment to men whose addictions to drugs and/or alcohol has resulted in homelessness and hopelessness. In partnership with the Matt Talbot Center, where most of the men attend daytime treatment prorgrams, we provide the only clean and sober shelter in Seattle. We offer the men an opportunity enjoy healhty food, hot showers, laundry facilities and a safe warm place to sleep at night. The men may stay with us, for free, for up to a year while they work on their individual treatment plans. At the conclusion of this intensive program, the men move into permanent housing and become involved with their community.
Our Food Bank is open twice a month in the basement of Immanuel Lutheran Church. An average of 125 individuals are served by a dedicated team of volunteers. Our Food Bank also provides food for the men in our Recovery Program and for our monthly Community Meal which is served to approximately 150 people the last Sunday of each month.
Our Hygiene Program, which is open weekday mornings from 8:00 AM to noon, provides hot showers and laundry services to men and women who are homeless and need a place to take care of their personal hygiene. We offer hygiene suupplies such as soap, shampoo, and towels. We also offer coffee and a warm dry place to rest.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Our most vivid successes come from the men who graduate from our Recovery Program. Every month we see how lives change as the men develop new skills, attitudes and habits that are healthy and productive. For example, a young man who had been attending a local community college got involved with drugs, dropped out of school, lost his housing and destroyed his relationships with family and friends. Now that he has completed our program, he is back in school studying to become a drug rehabilitation counselor. He has housing and is reconnecting with his family.We are currently in need of remodeling the showers and restrooms used by both our Recovery Program in the evening and our Hygiene Program in the mornings. These restroom facilities are used 365 days a year by an average of 40 people per day. We are in the process of exploring ideas for remodeling and getting estimates for the work to be done.