So many of the stories I hear at Everett Gospel Mission hit close to home. As I look into the eyes of our guests, I realize how easily we could trade places.
What happened to Bonnie* could happen to me someday. It could have happened to my own mother just as easily.
Bonnie is one of the sweetest little old ladies to ever come into the Mission. She lives off a tightly-fixed income and is grateful for everything she has. She loves the Lord and has a soft spot for animals.
Although she doesn’t have a lot of savings, she makes do. She has always been able to get enough to eat and keep a roof over her head. But one day her house caught fire.
Fleeing for her life, Bonnie didn’t have time to grab her belongings. Within hours, her home and everything she owned was a pile of ashes.
“I was in shock,” she says. “I had never been homeless.”
Bonnie, like many of us, never thought something like this would happen to her. But when it did, friends like you were there. Your prayers and donations helped Bonnie pick up the pieces.
Caring partners like you provided hot food, safe shelter and donated clothes and other items so that Bonnie could rebuild her life.
“Everything has been replaced,” Bonnie says with a face radiating her joy.
Today, Bonnie has been resettled in a senior living apartment. She is most thrilled by her new companion — a chihuahua puppy — who puts a smile on her face when she looks at him or takes him for a walk in her new neighborhood.
Bonnie’s story, while unique, isn’t all that different from a lot of people your prayers and support have helped. Many of the more than 2,300 unsheltered people in Snohomish County didn’t plan to become homeless. It just happened to them.
They aren’t alcoholics or drug addicts. In fact, 44% of them even have jobs.
Circumstances beyond their control led them to the Mission. They need our help to rise from the ashes and rebuild their lives.
The Mission is your compassion made visible. Your support is the way to restore not only what people have lost, but their hope, too. God is using you to change lives!
Thank you and God Bless You!
Sylvia
*Name changed for her privacy.
