Recently, my son and I had the chance to attend Boeing Family Day with a friend who works for the company.
I’ve lived in this community a long time. I know Boeing is important here. But walking the factory floor gave me a whole new appreciation for what that really means.
Standing next to these enormous airplanes, seeing where the work happens around us, and recognizing up close the engineering, skill and coordination required to build something that complex was incredible.
You can know Boeing is a big part of our local economy. It’s another thing to stand inside that factory and see the people who make it what it is.
Family day reminded me how deeply Boeing is woven into the life of our community.
More Than an Employer
Boeing recently opened its new 737 North production line in Everett, part of a $1 billion investment in the region and another chapter in a relationship between Boeing and the Puget Sound that stretches back generations.
A new production line in Everett
Investment in the region
Of connection to the Puget Sound
That investment matters. It means jobs, training, opportunities for local businesses and greater stability for families throughout our region.
But from where I sit at Everett Gospel Mission, Boeing’s impact has another dimension too.
We know Boeing through its people.
Some of the most faithful volunteers we have at egm have been Boeing employees. Boeing employees have been generous financial partners. Through the Boeing Employees Community Fund, employees have pooled their generosity and invested it back into organizations serving their neighbors.
We’ve experienced that partnership personally.
And we’re deeply grateful for it.
Related story Boeing Employees Help Make Transformation Possible at EGMWe Learned How Much the Relationship Mattered
A few years ago, when the Boeing Employees Community Fund paused its match, we felt it.
The financial impact was significant. I’d be less than truthful if I said it wasn’t scary.
But it also revealed something important: these relationships matter.
Community organizations like egm don’t do this work alone. Lasting transformation requires the participation of an entire community—nonprofits, churches, local government, businesses, volunteers, neighbors and employers who understand that the health of one part of our community affects all of us.
Nonprofits, churches and local government
Businesses, employers and volunteers
Neighbors showing up for one another
That belief is at the heart of how egm approaches poverty and homelessness.
Relationship is how transformation happens.
And the Boeing employees who have served, given and walked alongside us have been part of that shared work for years.
A Relationship That Is Growing
Since that difficult season, we’ve become more intentional about our relationship with Boeing.
We’ve welcomed Boeing executives to egm to see the work firsthand and talk together about homelessness and poverty in our community.
And we hope that relationship continues to grow.
We continue to pursue Employees Community Fund grants and opportunities to engage Boeing employees. We’re building relationships with leaders across the company. And we would love to see the partnership deepen over time—not replacing the remarkable generosity of Boeing employees, but building alongside it.
Get involved Learn more about partnership and service at egmWhat We Build Together
Walking through Boeing’s factory with my son, I kept thinking about how much has to come together to build an airplane.
No single person does it.
Thousands of people bring different skills. Systems have to work together. Quality matters. Details matter. And the work takes time.
Many people contributing what they know
Individual parts working together
Quality and details that cannot be rushed
There’s something in that picture that resonates with the work we do every day at egm.
Poverty and homelessness aren’t solved by one organization, one program, one donor or one good idea. Real transformation is relational, complex and built over time.
It requires a community willing to keep showing up.
That’s why I’m grateful Boeing is here.
I’m grateful for the enormous investment the company continues to make in Snohomish County and the Puget Sound. Today, I’m especially grateful for the Boeing employees who have chosen to invest themselves in their community—for the people who have volunteered at egm, given generously, served in leadership and cared about their neighbors.
You’ve already helped shape this work.
And to our friends throughout Boeing: there’s a place for you here.
We’d love to keep learning together, serving together and exploring what a deeper partnership could look like for the good of the community we all call home.
There’s a place for your experience, generosity and leadership here.
Explore how businesses, employees and community partners can participate in egm’s work.
Explore Partnership with egm