Facing Homelessness  is our partner organization that runs the Window of Kindness. It proposes that you “see our neighbors living unhoused through the eyes of love”; and, instead of turning your face away when you pass someone who seems to be experiencing homelessness, you JUST SAY HELLO.

You might consider:

• joining their board, especially if you have a background in accounting or finance, real estate or housing law, general contracting, engineering or architecture, social work or human services, and/or lived experience with homelessness.
• volunteering with the Window of Kindness in the U District, which means offering a listening ear and genuine conversation with visitors to the Window and checking what resources they most need or offering whatever is available that day at the Window (from hot food to tents to SFBC sleeping bags or socks)
• offering space in your yard so that their Block Project could build a sustainable fully-equipped home for someone experiencing homelessness and get a new neighbor without having to fill the role of landlord (Facing Homelessness does that and more)
• helping build those tiny homes (no experience necessary) … be like Jimmy Carter!

Seattle First Baptist Church hosts five bronze leaves in the sidewalk outside as part of the Fallen Leaves Project to memorialize a handful of the hundreds of human lives lost in Seattle every year to homelessness. You can educate yourself about the diverse life stories of your neighbors who have no homes by reading about them on the Leaves of Remembrance web site, and you can educate your friends and family by inviting them to join you for a field trip to visit SFBC’s leaves to leave a flower or light a candle or say a prayer.

Aurora Commons is a welcoming space for our unhoused neighbors to rest, prepare a meal, connect to resources and collectively create a healthy and vibrant community. We seek to be a space for authenticity and conversation, to bring the wider community to the table to learn from one another, to be transformed by one another, and to embrace one another.

Example Volunteer roles include: Art Classes, Building & Woodworking, Chaplain of Presence, Community Clean-up, Donation Closet Pickup/Drop-off, Errand Runner, Events Volunteer (Annual Benefit, Holiday Parties, etc…), Finance, Hair Stylists, Massage Therapists, Meal prep & delivery, People’s Librarian, Photography, Repairs/Handy Human, Special Occassion Baking/Cooking, Space Beautification (aka cleaning).

Go make genuine relationships.

Stay informed about legislative action you can take. Sign up for the newsletters of the Black Lives Matter Alliance of Washington and the Faith Action Network.