Neighbor Helping Neighbor,
One Neighbor At A Time
Helpline House offers an umbrella of social services and invites the community to become part of the circle of giving and receiving help.
Founded in the 1960s as a food bank in response to the "war on poverty", this community-funded non-profit agency provides a full range of services: food bank, clothing bank, medical equipment for loan, social work advocacy and consultation and referrals to counseling.
Basic services are provided cost-free to those in need. Needs are defined broadly, and are not always financial.
Any community member in crisis or in need of social work consultation, volunteer opportunities or other service is welcome at Helpline House.
The coffee pot is always on.
Helpline is conveniently located in Winslow on Knechtel Way which is halfway between Winslow Way and High School Road. You can access Knechtel either from Erickson Avenue or Madison Avenue and will see our sign on the street as you drive down Knechtel Way.
Super Suppers !!
Time - 5:00pm
Super Suppers are held the last 5 weekdays of each month and are located at Eagle Harbor Congregational Church on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Super Suppers are held at St. Cecilia's Catholic Church on Wednesday.
Did you know that you can contribute to Helpline from this website with your credit card?
Check out the "Contribute" drop down menu at the top of this page.
This is a selection of problems faced by neighbors during the past 6 months (in their own words):
- Fled my home because of domestic violence
- Lost job recently and need help to pay my rent
- Homeless, dealing with abusive relationship, laid off from work, am at the end of my wits
- Got laid off, need help with groceries in order to pay for rent
- Loss of job and home, depression, need a plan
- Unemployed, way behind on rent and utilities
- Emergency housing for veteran
- Live in van, unemployed, need dry, warm place with kitchen and bathroom
- Nowhere to really go, nowhere to eat, cook, sleep or rest, poverty!
- Applied for disability, cannot work, have no or little income, need help with rent/utilities
Consider that in Washington State, the Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $919. In order to afford this level of rent and without paying more than 30% of income on housing, a household must earn $3,065 monthly or $36,775 annually.
What resources were mobilized by Helpline House?
During the first half of 2010 the Helpline House social work team responded to 301 housing problems from 149 households. Of these, 41 received an average of $400 in one-time rental assistance. What happens to these households once they move beyond the immediate crisis, and what resources were offered to the remaining 100+ households?
The strength of what we do is assessment. This consists of crisis management, coordination and advocacy with local, county, state and federal programs to maximize all available resources towards long term solutions and housing stability. Recent examples include:
- A new client has been recently separated from an abusive husband, stays with friends, no money, complex medical needs, mental health issues and addiction problems (relapse of alcoholism). Helped client with prioritizing issues and referral to the YWCA -Alive Program for counseling and legal advocacy, provided immediate financial assistance so that client could see her mental health provider and obtain her medications. We also offered assistance with application to Federal funds for short term financial, medical and food assistance. Goal: Client can remain in her temporary housing until a longer term plan has been established.
- A woman in her 70s with mental health issues moved into subsidized housing. We helped with transfer of her Medicaid Program coverage from another state so that she could access Kitsap Mental Health Geriatric Services. Also made a referral to a state housing agency to assist her in requesting a "reasonable accommodation" at her new apartment facility. These actions, along with assistance from our legal clinic, have helped stabilize her housing needs.
When neighbors come to Helpline House with a housing problem, the social work team offers an assessment of immediate crisis needs and provides access to local, county, state and federal emergency funds. This level of coordination and commitment to advocacy allows us to maximize all available resources towards longer term solutions.