Mary's Place Seattle Programs
Mary’s Place Day Center
Hours of operation: Weekdays 7am – 3:30 pm (Families are welcome to stay until 5:00)
Our day center offers breakfast and lunch, showers, laundry, clothes, underwear, hygiene supplies, nursing care, referrals, phone and mail services and support in a warm, dry place where the women are welcomed and respected and where children are loved.
Mary’s Place Family Shelter Programs
Hours of operation: Every night, 5 pm -7 am (8 am weekends)
Rotating Shelter Program
The rotating shelter accommodates single women with children, up to 14 individuals each night, who are hosted in 13 area churches and synagogues for one week each quarter. The congregations are responsible for transporting guests from Mary’s Place to their church or synagogue where they provide dinner, evening activities, overnight accommodations. In the morning the congregations transport families back to Mary’s Place.
Julia’s Place
Julia’s Place is a collaborative effort between Mary’s Place and Madrona Grace Presbyterian Church; the church provides the space and Mary’s Place provides the guests. Julia’s Place is the only self-referring emergency shelter in King County where dads can stay with their families. Like the rotating shelter, this program is completely staffed by volunteers. Many individuals and community groups volunteer to provide the dinner meal and staff for all evening and overnight shifts.
Emergency Family Shelter
The Emergency Family Shelter (EFS) on Bell Street serves up to 48 individuals per night. We work in partnership with Union Gospel Mission, who provides evening staff; Mary’s Place provides oversight, overnight staff, and volunteers. The EFS offers safe shelter to families who have nowhere else to go that night. Community volunteers provide a home-cooked meal and organize activities for adults and children in the evening. Paid staff coordinates check in, meals and volunteers and ensures the safety of all residents.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Mary’s Place has successfully assisted thousands of homeless women into increased stability by helping them into shelter and housing, by increasing their self-esteem and sense of self-worth, by providing supportive community, by supporting them into treatment, by encouraging them to leave abusive situations and make choices that increase their personal safety. Women tell us that without Mary’s Place they would not have survived, that they would not have been successful in making the changes that they have made to improve their lives.
The last year has been one of incredible growth for Mary’s Place. In July of 2012, we moved to our new home at the Hope Center located at 9th and Stewart in Seattle. Our expanded facility allows more women and children to come to Mary’s Place.
Not only do we continue to provide the only day center services available to homeless women with their children in Seattle, but we have found ourselves as the only organization working in homeless services willing to step up to the challenge of providing emergency shelter for families. In April of 2012, we launched Julia’s Place in partnership with Madrona Presbyterian Church to provide shelter to up to 4 18 individuals. It’s the only emergency overnight shelter for two-parent families in King County, and it is completely staffed by community volunteers.
Executive Director, Marty Hartman, with the support of the women and children of Mary’s Place, works tirelessly and advocates regularly to keep the need for family shelter before stakeholders in the community and local government. When public funding was not available, Mary’s Place leveraged in-kind donations, a partnership with Union Gospel Mission and the increased support of many of our current funders to open up our Bell Street Emergency Family Shelter to serve 48 individuals, just as cold weather hit in December of 2012. Our basic need is shelter for the women and women with families we serve and funding to keep our Day Center and Shelters operating. Thank you!