The Queen Anne Helpline has been in our midst for 22 years. Many Queen Anne residents, businesses and churches know it well and give generously of their time, money and other resources. But new neighbors are always arriving, and may not know about the Helpline's good works. For their benefit, but also to nudge those of us who need reminding, we'd like to reintroduce an old friend of our community.
Queen Anne is one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Seattle, but people in need live here, too. According to the latest figures from the Helpline, there are 964 low-income units on Queen Anne, ranging from beds in a homeless shelter to single-family households receiving rent assistance. That means that well over 964 people in this neighborhood are in need.
The Helpline dates back to May 1982. The late Dick Rhodes, then owner of Thriftway (now Metropolitan Market), had met with four other community leaders earlier that year to discuss the growing needs of low-income residents on Queen Anne. A larger community meeting followed, a steering committee was formed, and finally the Helpline came into being as a local social-service agency serving Zip codes 98109 and 98119.
One of the Helpline's earliest volunteers was Patricia Sobeck. She soon became the organization's director, its only paid employee for 16 years until an assistant director was hired. This year Suzanne McCallum stepped into that position.
Sobeck and McCallum are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the office. They determine disbursements to clients, coordinate fundraising with other agencies and oversee volunteers.
The Helpline started as a phone referral service but gradually expanded its offerings as donations increased. They are now a conduit through which a wide variety of services are made available to those who need them.
Funds are provided to people who have suffered job loss or reduction in hours, critical illness such as cancer, debilitating old age, accidents or unexpected expenses and are facing imminent eviction or utilities cut-off as a result.
Clients never receive money directly. The Helpline advocates for them with their landlords or utilities companies and pays those creditors the amounts negotiated. The agency shares rental assistance costs with local parishes as well as other charitable organizations.
Within a year of the agency's founding, the clothing bank was initiated. That department of the Helpline has grown tremendously: in 2003 it served 1,366 people.
McCallum recalls her first day on the job, back in February. "A scraggly young man came in, wearing dirty jeans, and said, 'I have a job interview. Can you help me?'
"He found a nice suit, shirt and tie in the clothing bank," she continues. "He went into our bathroom and transformed himself into a fine-looking job applicant.
"I was impressed," she says, "not only with the change I saw but that the Helpline enabled it."
Bus tickets are provided to clients who have job interviews or need extra tickets until their first payday.
In 1987 a continuing-education program was initiated for young, single mothers. The Helpline provides assistance with rent, childcare, tuition and books while the client attends college or job training. "Many of these young women go on to lead successful lives," says Sobeck. "One has even earned a Ph.D."
Children, too, receive help in their education. In 1997 a tutoring program in reading was initiated for students in the reduced lunch programs at Coe and Hay elementary schools.
The Helpline has voucher arrangements with several local merchants for groceries, pharmaceuticals and gasoline, and referrals are made to food banks. Vouchers are also available to clients for an extended three-nights stay at City Team Ministries, a homeless shelter on 15th.
Some clients are overwhelmed when dealing with governmental social service agencies. The Helpline makes phone calls on their behalf and, with their experience, cuts through the red tape.
Some callers don't live on Queen Anne, but Sobeck and McCallum know what services are available elsewhere in Seattle. "We're able to give them a good reference," says Sobeck, "not the run-around."
For ongoing situations in which clients repeatedly mismanage their money, the Helpline refers them to the Lutheran Compass Center's Housing Retention Program. The program teaches people how to budget and how to follow apartment rules. "Sometimes we make taking the Housing Retention Program a condition of receiving help from us," says McCallum.
The holidays are especially busy times, not surprisingly, with the agency coordinating several major events. There are donors and recipients of Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets to be matched up, "giving trees" are set up at stores throughout Queen Anne, and the Helpline's "Adopt-a-Family" brings holiday cheer to families who might otherwise not have it. About 65 children attend a Christmas party each year at the Helpline office. They have their picture taken with Santa and receive stockings full of donated gifts.
Throughout the Helpline's Web site - www.queenannehelpline.org - the word "volunteers" is capitalized. The organization has many loyal volunteers but always needs more.
Every year, about six work-study students from Seattle Pacific University work at the Helpline, and a dozen or so volunteers have regular shifts in the office every week. As many as 75 people pitch in at special events throughout the year, like the Fun Run in July or the Christmas tree lot.
Twelve people serve on the board of directors. They are responsible for overall policy, including periodically reviewing fiscal reports and annually reviewing the bylaws.
Currently there are two openings on the board. As are all volunteers, board members must be devoted to helping others. They must be willing and able to commit the time required for meetings and organizational activities, and to represent the Helpline in the community. Special or professional skills are appreciated but not required.
Watch for board member Sarah Stanley's monthly updates about the Helpline in the Queen Anne News.
Helpline founder Dick Rhodes died last year, but he is remembered as once having said, "I knew we could help people if we just let our neighbors know the need." The Helpline exists to assist those in need, but that would not be possible if Sobeck and McCallum didn't also spend time letting neighbors know the need, by coordinating several fundraising events.
The first fundraising technique put into use was the placement of coin jars at checkout counters in stores. They are still there. The amount taken in is not insignificant - up to $2,500 per year.
Also in the 1980s, the Food Festival and Fun Run were initiated. The Food Festival was eventually combined with the auction (see below). As many as 400 people participate in the Crown of Queen Anne Fun Run/Walk, a 5K "race." Entrance fees and profits from the sale of T-shirts are donated to the Helpline.
In the 1990s, the Helpline began to participate in the United Way, send a brochure to all Queen Anne households by direct mail in November and sell Christmas trees.
The agency's biggest fundraising event of the year, almost singlehandedly organized by volunteer Donna Hegstrom, is its auction. This year's will be held Sunday, Oct. 17, starting at 5 p.m. at the Sheraton Hotel downtown. If you haven't already made a reservation, do! The cause is worthy, many wonderful objects, services and trips are available to the highest bidder, the food is delicious - and it's tax-deductible.
If you are a merchant, call the Helpline to see how you can participate. Besides monetary donations, some merchants make more creative ones as well.
Queen Anne Mail & Dispatch, which houses Undies & Outies, donated 100 pairs of discontinued designer shoes to the Helpline's clothing bank. Orthodontist Zeeny Teja regularly donates personal-hygiene products to the clothing bank - and not just toothbrushes and toothpaste. Windermere Real Estate renovated the apartment of a woman with multiple sclerosis (it was hazardous for her to live there as is), and IBM helped the same woman by donating a laptop computer adapted for her use.
"The federal government no longer provides a social safety net," says McCallum. That makes the work of the Helpline still more critical. Homelessness is a crisis of national and even broader proportions, but the Helpline is getting people on their feet the only way it can be done: one by one. Spreading the practice of thinking globally and acting locally, they have supported and guided the establishment of Helplines in Magnolia, West Seattle and North Seattle.
Bob Hope once said, "If you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble." Keep your heart healthy by donating used clothing and light household items, money or time to the Queen Anne Helpline. The Helpline's logo is a telephone overlaid with open hands holding a pumping heart. Give them a ring.
The Queen Anne Helpline is at 311 W. McGraw St. (upstairs). Phone 282-1540.
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