Monthly
news & updates
September | 2019
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Upcoming Events
Fall festivities and more!
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Holiday Gift Giving Guide
Cold weather clothing, emergency motel stays, and Adopt a Family Program.
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Community Cares
It takes a village.
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Immediate Needs
Housing and homelessness in the news.
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Real Lives, Real Impact
Client impact story.
Volunteer Spotlight
Celebrating the call to serve.
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Contributor Circle
A list of this month's Lydia Place contributors.
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Lydia Place Annual Cider Press
Thursday, October 10th
4PM - 7PM
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Join us in the bounty of the season in our Gladstone Garden as we celebrate our 30th Anniversary at our Annual Cider Press! All Lydia Place supporters (neighbors, volunteers, donors, partners) and families we serve are welcome.
We will have fall fun festivities and tasty treats, apple cider straight from the press, and live music.
This event is FREE and open to the entire community. Please RSVP by October 3rd!
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Humor for Housing at The Upfront Theatre
Wednesday, November 6th
6:30PM - 8:30PM (doors at 5:30PM)
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Help raise awareness and funds for families experiencing homelessness at the 4th Annual Humor for Housing presented by Team Pysden at Caliber Home Loans. You're guaranteed to feel good with this exclusive evening filled with improv, hors d’oeuvres, and libations at The Upfront Theatre in Downtown Bellingham. All proceeds benefit Lydia Place programs and services!
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As we trade in our sea salt covered sandals for our favorite flannel and begin to relish in the beautiful colors of our PNW Fall, we must remember the change in season may not hold the same festive, nostalgic feeling for all of our neighbors.
As the days begin getting shorter, and the nights colder, we know far too many families experiencing homelessness in our community are worrying about where they are going to sleep when it’s too cold for a tent or their car, and how they are going to be able to provide essential cold weather clothing for their kiddos-let alone, the atmosphere of joy other families experience during the holiday season.
With this in mind, we invite you to join us in spreading joy and giving the gift hope to the
families we serve through one of the following meaningful modes of giving listed in our 2019 Holiday Gift Giving Guide.
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Community Cares features individuals and businesses who coordinated a drive and/or donated 100% of proceeds in order to fulfill an immediate Lydia Place need.
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Community Cares: Village Books
Thank you to Village Books for choosing Lydia Place for their Round It Up Program this June-August. Not only did the program raise funds for essential programs and services, it also provided a platform for us to spread awareness about families experiencing homelessness in our community.
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Community Cares: Social Fabric Side Walk Sale
This year at Social Fabric's 3rd Annual Clean-Out-Your-Closet Sidewalk Sale, shoppers had the option to donate 10% of their purchases to a local nonprofit. Thanks to Social Fabric's ongoing support of Lydia Place, and their philanthropic shopper fan base, at total of $2,192.95 was raised for Lydia Place programs and services!
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Community Cares: Purple Friday at Trampoline Zone
Thank you to everyone came to Trampoline Zone on Purple Friday to jump for Lydia Place families. A special thank you to Trampoline Zone for continuing to support individuals and families experiencing homelessness in our community through this family favorite cause!
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Community Cares: CTK Diaper Drive
Thanks to Wendy and the generous hearts of the CTK Community for choosing Lydia Place as one of the many local nonprofits to receive much needed 2-5 diapers and Pull-Ups from your August diaper drive! Their congregation donated 375 boxes of diapers last month, that's roughly 38,000 diapers for the kiddos in our community!
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If you or your business is interested in raising funds or hosting a drive in support of Lydia Place we'd love to hear about it! Please contact our Community Engagement Coordinator, Rita Thames at ritat@lydiaplace.org to learn which needs make the biggest impact for our families.
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Immediate Need: Volunteer Support for October 8th
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Generations Forward is a community initiative focused on improving the well-being of children through improving overall family well-being. From the beginning, Generations Forward has prioritized including parents in all phases of the work. For many parents, though, involvement rests upon the availability of child care. By volunteering your time, you can ensure that parents can play a central role in improving our community.
We are looking for a small group of dedicated volunteers who will be available to provide supervised child play activities at meetings while their parents participate in setting priorities and action planning. Meetings are typically 2-3 hours each and parents will be on-site during the entirety of the meeting. For more details and to sign up, please click the button below.
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Susan left an abusive relationship and an environment that was unhealthy and unsafe. She decided it was time for a change in her and her 10 year-old daughter, Jane, lives. She was ready. This is how her and Jane, found their way to Whatcom County.
Susan had a strong work history and had no doubt she would be able to find work and then secure an apartment for her and Jane. In the meantime, she planned on staying with acquaintances in the area. She did find work through a temp agency. When the paychecks were coming in, she gave money to her friends she was staying with to help with utilities and rent while also putting money aside for her and Jane’s future home.
However, finding their own housing proved to be a much more difficult task than anticipated. Unexpectedly she had a few expenses after experiencing a couple of setbacks, including her car breaking down and an injury that forced her to stop working for a few weeks. It was already difficult to save money for rent after her car troubles and the injury, but now it proved even more difficult to try to save for an apartment.
More time passed, and Susan knew she was putting her friend’s housing in jeopardy as their lease only allowed guests for a limited amount of time. It was time for another change, but this time, with even less choices.
She made a call: she and Jane would have to reside in their car.
“Couch surfing and staying in the car was hard for me, but it was so bad for my daughter,” Susan said. “She is at the age when friends and socializing are so important. And I knew she was embarrassed about how we were living — it broke my heart.”
After a long time on the waiting list for housing at the Opportunity Council, Susan and Jane were referred to an opening at one of Lydia Place’s properties.
Finally, after seemingly unending months of instability, they had a small place to call their own. And with that security, Susan worked consistently and went from a temporary employee to a full time staff member. Within a couple of months she was even promoted to a supervisory position. Now she’s able to put money away each month and will soon have enough saved to into an apartment of her own. Now her and Jane are improving so much, each day.
“Our relationship has improved so much in the past few months,” she said. “She’s excited to go to school now, and I’m excited to go to work. It’s been a long time since we had that.”
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Volunteer Spotlight: D.A. Davidson Day of Giving 2019
Thank you to the incredible team of associates at our local D.A. Davidson for choosing Lydia Place as their annual D.A. Davidson Day of Giving recipient. The team rolled up their sleeves and helped Lydia Place freshen up some of the communal areas in one of our Campus Housing Program locations!
Click here to see more of D.A. Davidson's volunteerism in action.
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Attention Lydia Place Monthly Contributors
You may update expired credit card details via our Financial Manager, Judy Wayt at 360.671.7663 ext 2003 or by filling out a new online donation form with your new credit card information
here.
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Thank you to the following businesses and individuals who generously gave in September.
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David Beaumier, Michael & Mary Brunt, Tony Casale, Cheryl Buck Inc, Karen & Richard Clark, Sue Ann Croft, The J. Christopher Donahue & Ann C. Donahue Charitable Fund, Pamela E. Englett, Steve Forbes, Audrey E. Gravley, The Hafer Family Foundation, Lisa Heezen, Amy Johnson, Ann Lackland, Tom Laughlin, Sonja Lee, Kathleen McQuaide, Heather Michel, Patti Morgan, Marilyn Moullen, Shenandoah Myrick, Nina Nancarrow, Network for Good, Debbie Parker, Melanie Pysden, B.W. Radtke, Kari Severns, Karla Slusher, Delores Starcher, Sterling Rentals 1 LLC, Scott L Thomson, Jeffery Y. Tom, Mary Wynstra
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