February 2024 Newsletter
You are cordially invited to a
BENEFIT CONCERT FOR UNITED CHURCHES EMERGENCY FUND
In Celebration of Rev. Jo Gustafson’s 20th Anniversary as Executive Director
Saturday March 16, 2 PM
Haller Lake United Methodist Church
13055 1st Avenue NE Seattle, WA 98125
Featuring...
Haller Lake United Methodist Church Choir
First United Methodist Church Choir
Richmond Beach United Church of Christ Choir
Sammamish Hills Lutheran Church Choir
A solo performance by Jo Gustafson
Dance, An Irish sing-along, and more!
Free admission. All are welcome. Donations gladly accepted at the door or in advance (ucef-seattle.org/donate).
A Message from the Board
Congratulations and our deepest, heartfelt thanks to Jo Gustafson for her 20 years of service as Director of UCEF. It is fair to say that UCEF would not be what it is today without Jo’s tireless dedication over these two decades. It is no exaggeration to say that Jo has touched thousands of lives during her time at UCEF. Thank you, Jo.
We hope to see you at our celebration at Haller Lake United Methodist Church on March 16th, 2PM. It promises to be a fun and uplifting event. See above for additional details.
If you can’t attend, please consider giving a special donation in honor of Jo’s anniversary! In January, we changed to a new service for processing online donations, enabling several new options for giving. We’re most excited about the addition of a texting option. Simply text UCEF to 44-321. You will be sent a link to a webpage that will allow you to donate via multiple options. Transaction fees apply. Explore other giving options at our website, ucef-seattle.org.
See you March 16th!
From the Director’s Desk
It is hard to believe this is my 20th year at UCEF! So many changes for us and the world around us in that time. In my first couple years, we had twelve volunteers, with two people doing intakes each day we were open. We provided funding for men in homeless shelters as well as work boots, glasses, storage units, bus tickets, snack packs, hygiene kits and occasional help with medicines. In January 2006, there were just under 2000 homeless counted in Seattle. At that time, we gave $50 for rent, utilities, or deposits.
At our peak, we had 25 churches contributing to our fund. We held an annual donor breakfast to ask them how best we could steward the money they gave us. They talked of empowering instead of enabling. We refined the services we provided to be more in keeping with our mission statement. As the number of homeless increased and the number of churches closed, we continued to simplify and hone our services to best address the increase in demand and the loss in funding. The 10-year plan to end homelessness came and went.
And then we were hit with Covid-19. So many people lost their jobs and their lives. We had to move the business to my apartment for the health and safety of both volunteers and clients. Once again, we had to simplify our service, since I was the only one to talk to clients. All business was and still is conducted over the phone and email only. And last I heard, there were over 15,000 homeless counted in Seattle. Today, we give $250 to help with rent, utilities, or deposit- one time only, and that gets matched by 2-3 other agencies. Still, the demand continues to grow.
To mark this 20 year milestone in my life, we are celebrating with a fundraiser/concert on 3/16/2024 at 2PM to be held at Haller Lake United Methodist Church. I hope you will come and share in this special time with me and bring your family and friends. As always, we thank you for your continued support and pray that we are here to provide some homelessness prevention for another 20 years!
May God’s grace be with you,
Jo Gustafson
UCEF 2023 Summary
In 2023, we helped 578 people, including 145 children, spread across Northeast Seattle. 88% of our financial assistance went to rent, with the rest helping with move-in and utilities. Overall, we provided $71,213 in direct assistance. While the stereotype is that people who need help are on government assistance or homeless, 37% of our 2023 clients were employed. Rising rents put increasing pressure on already thin margins, making the need for UCEF all that much greater.