West Valley Connection 4/30

The following is text from a letter of thanks sent from the Reach Out Federal Way ministry:

April 9, 2010

Dear Reach Out Church Partners,

The homeless men of our community have been blessed by your participation in the Reach Out program this last winter. This team effort organized by and carried out mostly by members of community churches and their leadership is a visible sign of our unity in Good Faith. Thank you!

This winter the program served 46 men at one time or another. Of those men 17 were veterans. We are pleased to let you know that 6 men moved into temporary housing, 8 were reunited with family, 2 went to transitional housing and 8 are now in permanent housing. There have been many other signs of the men benefiting from the shelter and food, such as better grooming and more smiles.

We know that the men, who may not have progressed toward self-sufficiency, have at least had basic needs met in the coldest, darkest months of the year. Those of us who were at the shelter often heard so many words of appreciation from the men and those THANK YOUs belong to all who've been involved in this service in any way.

We've already begun preparing for next winter. As you know, our service the last two winters has been in partnership with Multi-Service Center. With their blessing, and the unanimous vote of our leadership group, we have reached an agreement with Catholic Community Services and will be an official program of CCS next winter. We are very thankful that MSC helped Reach Out get established in our community and we look forward to continuing a relationship with them for placement of men who become qualified for housing programs.

Catholic Community Services has many shelter programs in King County. Two of them are shelters in Kent (Home) and Renton (Arise) which are very similar to Reach Out. We believe our program will benefit from the expertise and experience CCS has in this field. CCS is already writing grants and petitioning the city and county on behalf of our program. They will also be able to provide more oversight of the program and counseling for the men in the program next winter.

As we organize for next winter we will keep you informed about fundraising events and scheduling via your outreach leader. We're hopeful that most, if not all, of the folks who served and helped raise funds of this winter's program will want to continue to participate. If there is any change in your outreach leadership, please let us know.

We want you to know that all you've done in terms of providing the shelter space, meal preparation and service, blankets, blanket care, facility care, moving assistance, financial support and prayers are the backbone of the Reach Out program. It would not exist without our community churches and service organizations making it possible with their generosity.

Words of gratitude were heard at the shelter every night!

At this time we'd like to share the appreciation with you in the words of one man who was frequently heard saying with great enthusiasm,

"THANK YOU SO VERY VERY MUCH!"

Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have regarding Reach Out and our plans for Winter 2010-2011.

With sincere appreciation,
Willa Gaines
Reach Out Church Coordinator
253-838-4081