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Vine Maple Place 

Description

Vine Maple Place is a grassroots organization that began when the churches in Maple Valley joined together with the community to address the growing crisis of family homelessness in King County. We focus our financial and volunteer resources on helping single mothers and fathers and their children break the vicious cycle of homelessness. We believe we must help these families build lives of hope, stability and greater self-sufficiency in order to ensure the future health of our communities.

Mission Statement

Vine Maple Place helps homeless families with children build lives of hope, stability, and greater self-sufficiency by providing them with transitional housing and support services.

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Vine Maple Place
PO Box 1092 
Maple Valley 
WA
98038-1092 
(425) 432-2119 

Ms. Colleen Starr 
Executive Director 

Programs

Vine Maple Place Programs

Transitional Housing
We own 14 apartment units and lease 2 additional offsite units for the purpose of providing safe, warm, stable housing for homeless families with children. These families come to us having lived in shelters and in their cars, or often "couch-surfing" at friends and family, or even having lived in a storage unit. When they move into their 2 bedroom apartment, it is fully furnished with furniture, linens, kitchen utensils, books, toys, and even food. We want these families to feel safe, loved and cared for as soon as they arrive!

Case Management & Support Services
We immediately begin working with the family to develop a Family Transition Plan. The parent meets with a case manager at least weekly to set and implement goals in the areas of housing, employment, financial stability, and life skills. The parent also meets with a Financial Coach and a mentor who helps and encourages them. Weekly Life Skills classes teach parenting skills, money management, healthy relationships, job skills, nutrition, and other life skills. Volunteers help with tutoring, car repairs, haircuts, and much more.

Child Advocacy
Children get only one childhood. It is our desire that every child have a safe, stable place in which to grow and thrive. Our full time Child Advocate focuses on ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of our children by meeting with them both individually and weekly as a group. We coordinate services for the children through the schools and social services, representing their needs at all times. Weekly Life Skills classes teach children how to deal with change, difficult situations, healthy relationships, and much more. A Children's Hope Fund provides scholarships for sports, music, dance, camps, and other activities not normally affordable for the family.

Recent Successes and Current Challenges

We are most excited about our new Family Services Center.  This building project added 800 sq. feet to our office space so that we can have our family support services and office administration in one space. Before our addition we were utilizing one of the adjacent 2 bedroom apartments for case management and children's services.  Not only does our Family Service Center greatly increase our efficiencies, it also frees up a home that can be used to house a family.

Beyond our ongoing need for unrestricted operating income, our greatest need is for additional units to house more families. The tightening economy has increased the number of those in need. Last year VMP received calls representing over 2,900 parents and children desperately seeking housing and help. Our greatest desire is to increase our ability to help families in need.

Evaluation


Vine Maple Place helps homeless families with children build lives of hope, stability, and greater self-sufficiency by providing them with transitional housing and support services.

Financial Health
Vine Maple Place is in excellent financial health with no organizational debt and a strong base of supporters. A new development director was recently hired to oversee a diversified fundraising plan empahsizing long term relationship building with donors.

Leadership
Vine Maple Place is the leader in low income housing in Maple Valley. Established in 2000 out of a community identified need for housing, Vine Maple Place is currently the only development for homeless families within a ten mile radius of Maple Valley. The organization’s leadership team and Board of Directors have recongized a greatly increasing need and are conducting a feasibility study regarding expanding their current housing stock.

Best practices
Vine Maple Place not only provides transitional housing for families fleeing crisis, but also places a strong emphasis on equipping the family with tools and resources they need to be self sufficient after leaving the program. This inludes skill building through developing a personalized family transition plan, financial literacy training, healthy relationships, parenting skills and working with the children’s advocate.

Grant History with The Seattle Foundation:

Grants Awarded through The Seattle Foundation Grantmaking Program:

DateAmountPurpose
3/10/2012 $10,000.00support general operating expenses.
12/10/2009 $10,000.00support general operating expenses.
10/18/2007 $10,000.00support general operating expenses.

Financials

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