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Pike Market Senior Center & Food Bank 

Description

The Pike Market Senior Center & Food Bank serves a diverse population of over 3,500 predominantly low-income and homeless seniors living downtown. Clients face the challenges of aging while enduring the social isolation that can accompany poverty, mental illness, or struggles with addiction. We offer nutritious meals and groceries, assistance with housing, help accessing benefit programs, employment opportunities, and social and fitness activities. All services are free. We offer resources for clients at every step of the journey from homelessness and isolation to healthy social engagement and independence.

Mission Statement
The Pike Market Senior Center serves older adults by offering a whole-services approach to connect them with our greater community.

The Pike Market Food Bank is dedicated to ensuring that families and individuals at risk of food insecurity can put nutritious food on the table.
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Pike Market Senior Center & Food Bank
85 Pike St Ste 200 
Seattle 
WA
98101-2077 
(206) 728-2773 

Ms. Jeannie Falls 
Executive Director 

Programs

Pike Market Senior Center & Food Bank Programs

Of five primary programs, our most front-line services are the Meals Program, the Social Services Program. These programs are facing increased demand as job opportunities remain scarce and as our population ages. Clients turn to PMSC-FB to meet basic needs like nutrition and to seek housing options and benefits to which they may be entitled, like food stamps. PMSC-FB is increasingly serving as a safety net that protects our community's most vulnerable older adults and families.

The Meals Program serves two free meals every day to seniors. Each meal meets 1/3 of the daily nutritional requirement of persons 55+ and features fresh ingredients. The meals are served in a friendly environment and have earned a reputation for being delicious. The Meals Program is the heart of the Senior Center and serves as a magnet for our other helpful programs.

The Pike Market Food Bank provides free groceries without any age restrictions. Expanding the selection to meet growing demand is a key goal for 2013.

The Social Services Program provides long term, individualized case management for low-income and homeless older adults as they seek affordable housing and government/veterans benefits, apply for food stamps, and search for affordable or free medical care.

To meet demand, PMSC-FB is seeking to increase its capacity to protect homeless and low-income seniors and families by providing free, nutritious food, social services and more.

Recent Successes and Current Challenges

Demand on our Meals and Social Services programs has skyrocketed in recent years. We are seeing more - and more needy - clients than ever. From 2010 to 2013, the clientele has grown by 23%, we served 52% more free meals and handled a massive 86% more social work cases.

To help stretch our budget, PMSC-FB has developed a relationship with the Goat Hill Giving Garden, an organic community garden tended by employees of King County. PMSC-FB is the recipient of the garden’s harvest which provides fresh ingredients for our Meals Program and organic produce for distribution at the Food Bank. This successful partnership has inspired further community relationships that stretch our budget and boost our ability to provide services. We also partner with Oxbow Farms to add more fresh produce to our meals and to share at the Food Bank.

Thanks to community support, we were able to add another social worker to our staff in 2011. Even with this added capacity, our Social Services Program is still struggling to keep up with the growing caseload.

Evaluation


Pike Market Senior Center and Downtown Food Bank (Center) serves low-income and homeless senior adults residing within or near the Pike Place Market area.

Proven Success
They are serving 28% more clients in 2012 than they served two years ago and expect to be serving  more in the next year. It is becoming difficult to find physical space for more clients and they have filled up all available staff space. 

Finding nutritious food for clients of the Pike Market Food Bank is a challenge. They launched the “Healthy Food for All” campaign this summer to raise money to allow the Food Bank to triple its food purchasing budget to $20,000 in 2013. The higher budget will ensure that healthy items are available. “Healthy Food for All” also increases the Meals Program food budget and will allow them to serve more fresh produce and lean proteins in their breakfasts and lunches.

Collaboration
Culturally appropriate meals are served to match the diversity of their patrons.  They collaborate closely with The Seattle Food Committee, Meals Partnership Coalition and the Washington Food Coalition.  They are also working with community partners to develop a self-sustaining giving garden that can provide produce to support the meal program and the food bank.

Financial Health
They are in a stable financial position.  They increased revenue and have kept expenses low and are  slowly rebuilding their cash reserves.  The City has increased funding to their Meals Program and they submitted a proposal under the recent homelessness prevention/intervention campaign. PMSC-FB will expand public outreach work by partnering with both the Market Foundation and the Pike Place Market PDA, leveraging their outreach capacities to raise public awareness of their work. Their annual Figgy Pudding Street Corner Caroling Competition is on an upward trajectory for the last three years and they are raising more money than they ever have before.

Sustainability
The leadership of the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority (PDA) is making the Market’s human services agencies a top priority. In the next 12 months, the PDA will be underway on the construction of a waiting room for the Food Bank. A waiting room represents a huge step forward in client dignity. Today, clients line up outside the Food Bank for hours before it opens. The Food Bank will also be installing a community-created mural in the next few months. Painted by Food Bank clients and other members of the Market community, the mural will raise awareness of this essential human service.

They continue to pursue making PMSC-FB a nationally accredited senior center. This process will result in updated policies and procedures and gather the agency’s vital information in one place. With staff focusing on serving clients, Board leadership on this project is a huge opportunity to increase organizational efficiency without taking staff time away from direct services.

Grant History with The Seattle Foundation:

Grants Awarded through The Seattle Foundation Grantmaking Program:

DateAmountPurpose
3/10/2013 $10,000.00provide general operating support.
3/10/2012 $10,000.00support general operating expenses.
6/10/2010 $20,000.00support general operating expenses.
3/10/2008 $30,000.00support general operating expenses.
6/12/2003 $15,000.00support the construction of the "LaSalle Hotel Addition" for the new Senior Center.

Financials

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