November 2022 Newsletter
Mark Your Calendars: Rain City Symphony Fall Concert on Nov 30th—a UCEF Fundraiser
Rain City Symphony is back this year, presenting their fall concert on November 30th, 7:30 pm, at St Andrews Episcopal Church (111 NE 80th Street, Seattle). The Rain City Symphony is conducted by Dr. Theresa Metzger Howe. The concert will feature works by Brahms, Borodin, Tchaikovsky, and of course a Christmas Carol Medley.
Admission to the show is free, and during the show the Symphony will be taking donations for UCEF. Masks are required at the event. We are grateful to the Symphony for their support.
You can learn more about Rain City Symphony at www.raincitysymphony.org. Hope to see you there!
An Update from the Board
As we prepare for Thanksgiving and the Christmas season, we on the board find ourselves thankful and reflective.
We are thankful for new volunteers (Minola, David, and Ruth) and we welcome a new board member, Sophie Heeter.
We are thankful for recent grants from the Windermere Foundation, University Presbyterian Church, Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, and Blessed Sacrament / St. Vincent DePaul. These contributions, coupled with existing support, are helping us serve more families in need. However, need remains very high. Pandemic rent protections are gone, and current economic conditions are pushing many area families to the brink. All local agencies are seeing record demand. Despite our recent grants, we continue to see more families per month than we can help.
With that in mind, we are thankful for you . Know that your donations, at whatever amount, make a big difference in the lives of those we serve. Please keep UCEF, and our clients, in your thoughts as the weather turns cold and grey. Thank you for your continued support!
Update on UCEF’s Search for a New Director
About this time last year, we announced that Jo Gustafson was planning to retire by 2023. In January, we started our search for a new director. The board reviewed our needs as an organization and created a job profile for what we were looking for in a new director. Our search committee reviewed resumes and interviewed six candidates, eventually narrowing that list down to two candidates. Those two each had a full interview with the board in August. These were great conversations!
As we completed these interviews, we got news from Jo— her plans had changed and she was now able to stay on as director indefinitely. After deliberation, the board happily “re-hired” Jo to stay on as our Executive Director! Jo has been the heart and soul of the organization for years, and we are thrilled to have her continue as our director. One need only read her message this month to know exactly why Jo remains the right person for this job.
It may seem odd to go through all this and end up where we started, but please be assured that we learned a lot about ourselves and our organization, and having done this, feel more focused and more prepared to move forward. Thank you to everyone who as supported us through this process, and thank you Jo!
From the Director’s Desk
As you now know, I have chosen not to retire at this time. When the moratorium against evictions was lifted, we, along with most of our fellow help agencies, were inundated with calls requesting help. As a result, I felt called to stay on, and I am most grateful to the board for allowing me to do so.
There is a new sense of panic in the calls I receive, unlike anything I’ve heard in the almost 20 years I’ve worked here. The pandemic exhausted resources that might have been available before. The housing shortage has spread far beyond Seattle. Where once people could relocate south or north, they no longer find availability in any kind of housing from Olympia up to Bellingham. Waitlists are 3-4 years. If you just received a 14-day notice to vacate, well…
In October, I heard from many clients that every agency like ours was out of money to help by the middle of the month, including us. This had never happened before. The board and I went to work and I am pleased to say that we were able to raise about $35,000. That’s still a long way from keeping up with the need. Most of the 14-day notices are going to low-income seniors and those for whom English is a second language, if spoken at all.
Let me give you a glimpse of the emotional toll of an eviction notice. First is the panic to look for another place to live. Endless calls and email searches turn up nothing. Families and friends are stretched and can’t offer any space. Some try to sell everything they can to pay off their debt. Some who have the good fortune to own a car, look for storage space to use until they can find a new home, figuring they can live in their car short-term. Those without a car end up walking away with the clothes on their backs and whatever they can carry or pack in a suitcase.
In the past, most of these folks have been able to stay in their homes with the help of agencies like UCEF. I understand why landlords who had gone years without collecting rent served the 14-day notices- they’d gone years without collecting rent from some and unable to evict because of the moratorium. I can even understand why a landlord would hope to cut their losses, evict a tenant who is thousands of dollars behind, and get someone new in their place. Still, there is no place for people to move to, and the numbers on the street are increasing everyday.
In spite of all of this, I am encouraged a little by those caring property managers with whom we interact. Recently, a manager told me that one of our clients had moved out without telling me, and this manager wanted to return our check so we could use it for someone else - someone who could stay in their home. There are a few churches we work with who have told me they will try to help someone too if they need more than what we can offer. I am grateful for these partnerships of caring individuals who truly want to help our clients.
As I said, the need continues to grow and so, once again, I am asking for your help so we can help others. Most just need a one-time bump before getting their first paycheck, or to make up for an unexpected death in the family, or loss of pay while recovering from Covid. We make our process as easy as possible because we recognize the terrible cost to the client- financially, emotionally, and spiritually. The winter months with their dark days and freezing temps are upon us. Now is the time we really need to keep people in their homes- safe, secure, and warm. Won’t you please help us?
Gratefully yours, Jo