Shirley was 45 years old when she lost her job. She was already struggling when her health deteriorated. Soon, she discovered that she needed brain surgery, which affected short and long-term memory. People treated her “like I was garbage they wanted to throw away.”

It took several weeks for her to gather the courage to walk into Mary’s Place. By this point, she had already retreated so far inside herself that it was hard to even speak. Shirley tells us the people at Mary’s Place were patient, kind, and knew exactly what she needed to get back on her feet. Step by step, she was able to find housing.

Soon thereafter, Shirley was diagnosed with diabetes. Thanks to a nurse at Mary’s Place, she was able to learn how to manage her condition and get on with living. “Mary’s Place respects and honors me, and teaches every woman you can get bitter, or you can get better.”

Shirley is doing well now, living on her own, but says, “Mary’s Place will always be my home, even though I have my own home now.”  When volunteers come in to help (and sometimes paint fingernails, as in this picture), she loves to sit down and share.

Thank you for showing Shirley that she has a home no matter where her life takes her.

Amina has lived in the United States for ten years since leaving Eritrea, her home country. She worked in the fishing industry in Alaska, where she met the father of her daughter. He left while Amina was pregnant. “There was no one who came to the hospital with me when she was born.” Katie was delivered by C-section, which made it difficult for Amina to return to work.

Trying to support Katie as a single mother, Amina found jobs–in a grocery store bakery, at a day care–while always hoping to make enough money to keep them both under a roof in a hotel. The cold and lack of opportunities drove Amina to try for a fresh start in Seattle. She and Katie, now four years old, moved in January 2013. Here, they have been staying in Mary’s Place Emergency Family Shelter.

Through it all, one of the hardest things has been living without the support of a community. “This isn’t the way it is in my country,” Amina says. “It’s really hard when you don’t have anyone.” She has found a friend in another mother at the shelter who is also from Eritrea, and helps the entire community by translating in Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, Amharic, Tigrinya, Tigre, and Blin.

Still, she struggles with not knowing what’s coming next. “Every day, my daughter asks me what’s happening, what are we doing. I have to find things to tell her and ways to be strong for her.”

Thank you all for helping Amina be strong for Katie. Their lives are still very uncertain, so they aren’t ready to have pictures of their faces published, but they wanted you to see life “in their shoes” and let you know how much you’ve helped.

Devastated from a fire that destroyed her family’s apartment and hospitalized her for a month, Linda did not know where to turn. She said, “I think I was in shock from the fire and just didn’t know what to do.” For the first time in her life, Linda had no home to offer shelter — she was frantic because she has a teenage daughter named Holly. Sadly, right after the fire, Linda also lost her section 8 housing, which meant she could not afford other housing.

For the past year, couch-surfing with friends and sometimes strangers became the new norm for Linda and Holly. Life was hard — at one home where she stayed, Linda was robbed of what little money she had left. Linda said after being robbed that she was, “tired and desperate for any sort of safe place to stay.” That’s when Linda sought help from Mary’s Place.

Mary’s Place was able to put Linda and her daughter in their rotating family shelter four months ago. What’s more, Linda’s life improved dramatically this week as an attorney secured section 8 housing for her pro bono. What a dream come true for this homeless family! Linda is now full of hope as she looks for a new home for her family. When Linda was asked what Mary’s Place means to her, her eyes filled with tears as she replied, “Mary’s Place means love and compassion–­that’s it, especially love…just so much love, so much love, that I am so grateful for.”

Thank you Molly, Lee, Thomas, Angela, Natalie, and Kelly for helping bring families the love that gets them through tough times.

When her boyfriend closed their door on her in 2010, Annie lost everything–her home, her relationship, and custody of her kids. Confused, hurting, and without housing, she sought help from various service providers with little success. Knowing that she would need to be employed to help herself, she started studying to be a medical assistant. While looking for a place to do her schoolwork during the day, she found Mary’s Place.

With the assistance and encouragement of Mary’s Place staff, Annie found a place two months later. She was able to graduate in as a medical assistant and begin looking for work. All the while she has been battling for custody of her children and it seems she is making steady positive progress.

But she doesn’t have to bear her burdens alone. At Mary’s Place Annie hasn’t just made friends, she has made a new extended family, a circle of supporting and loving folks. The staff at Mary’s Place have not just given her help and a chance at improving her housing situation, they have helped build community that enriches every part of her life.

Thank you for bringing the support that moves women past just surviving to thriving.

Shelly has been living on her own since she was 16 years old.  For 30 years – most of her adult life – she worked as a nursing assistant. However, after developing chronic back pain, she was no longer able to work. Selling her jewelry paid her rent for the year after she lost her job, and she was able to live with her daughter and other family members for a while after that. But with no income and no way to pay rent, Shelly soon found herself heading to the Salvation Army women’s shelter.

She could spend nights at the shelter, but she could only go there at 6 pm and needed to leave by 10 am. When she asked the YWCA where she could go during the day, they referred her to Mary’s Place. Here Shelly found a safe environment to spend her days.

At Mary’s Place, Shelly can use a phone and a fax machine. She participates in support groups, gets help finding clothing, and can see a nurse and get vitamins.  Shelly’s goal is to get social security so she can get into housing. She meets weekly with an advocate who helps her with the application process.

“There is no place like Mary’s Place,” Shelly says. “Thanks to the very supportive people here, I feel comfortable and safe.”

Thank you for the peace you provide to Shelly.

When Missy opened the door to Mary’s Place with her 8-month-old baby girl and 2-year-old son, she was looking to make a new life for herself and her children.  She wanted to go back to school and find a job so she could support her family on her own. However, with two small children to care for and nowhere to go, she first had to find safe shelter.

Mary’s Place stepped up with a new program: an overnight family shelter hosted at area faith communities. Missy and her kids were the first family to stay at the new shelter, sharing dinner with the volunteers there and building community with the other families. After two long months of searching, Missy found a placement in a family shelter through the YWCA which led to two-year transitional housing. With a stable place to stay, she is back in school, building skills so she can find a job and sustain permanent housing.

She comes back to Mary’s Place every few days to find resources and say hello to staff and other families. She makes a point of sitting with other moms going through the family shelter.  She explains, “I know I can show others that it gets better.  I say, ‘Look at me!  If I can do it, you can do it.'”

Thank you for giving Missy the opportunity to be the mom she knew she could be.

For the past ten years, Rosalyn and her family have been living paycheck to paycheck. When they lost their last apartment they had no place to go, so they had to move into their van. “The hardest part was that the kids couldn’t tell their friends where they live and can’t have them over for play-dates.”

While her husband goes to work with the van, Rosalyn and the kids come to Mary’s Place almost every day except when going their homeschool center. Her children are bright and curious. The older sister spends hours helping her little brother learn to read.

“At first Mary’s Place was just a place to go, but I have continued coming here for ten years. Even when we have had temporary apartments and places to stay I still come to help out and see my friends. Mary’s Place is kind of like the family I never had. I hope that my children grow up to know compassion, and they learn that at Mary’s Place. We see all kinds of people and they know that everybody is the same. Mary’s Place has always been there for my kids. There are not many family shelters in Seattle and Mary’s Place takes both my kids in every day.”

In March, Rosalyn and her family were accepted into a two-year transitional program, housing that offers affordable rent and a support system for the family.  After eight months in their van, the entire family is grateful to finally have a place to call home.  While brother and sister are still getting used to having their own rooms, mom and dad are enjoying setting up house again.

Thank you for giving the support that gets moms and their families through their toughest times.

Janice was addicted to drugs when she first visited Mary’s Place, and thought she had found an easier way to keep living on the streets. But after the staff made it clear they expected more from her, Janice discovered Mary’s Place was there to support her – but not enable her.

Since receiving help with her addiction, Janice has emerged as a volunteer leader at Mary’s Place, regularly managing the front desk. She feels pride, purpose and respect, and believes “you can do better when you know better.” Janice has been clean and sober for five years.

Thank you for helping Janice find respect and self-worth.

Rhonda says volunteering at Mary’s Place has been her “best medication.” She has faith that one day she will be ready to live on her own again. Until then she continues helping other women make positive transitions the way she has at Mary’s Place.

Thank you for supporting a community that has given Rhonda hope and space for recovery.

Doll came to Mary’s Place after she had been undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer.  She had been finishing her degree to become a medical assistant and doing her externship at Harborview when she got her cancer diagnosis.

A friend who used to work for Mary’s Place told her how supportive the women were there, that it was a place you could share your worries and talk to other women going through hard times. Doll couldn’t work when she was having chemo and radiation, but she did have enough energy to visit Mary’s Place.

At Mary’s Place, she could lay down on one of the rest beds, where she could recuperate but still know she wasn’t alone.  She also learned that Bastyr University has an instructor and naturopathic students that come to Mary’s Place to meet with women.  Doll was eager to try some holistic approaches to boosting her immune system and quickly started working with the visiting naturopaths from Bastyr. She also liked sharing in the group meetings. “I just think there are so many uplifting things here. We’re all women. We all have issues. Some may struggle with drugs or alcohol, others are homeless and lonely, but we all find people to talk to at Mary’s Place.”

Thank you for bringing Doll hope in the midst of struggles.