King County Emergency Shelter Campaign for Homeless Families Gets More Than $3 Million Boost from Starbucks, Schultz Family Foundation, Microsoft, Dick’s Drive-In, Comcast, Alaska Airlines, Weyerhaeuser, Expedia, Key Bank Foundation
With family homelessness at a crisis point, King County’s business
leaders are joining an unprecedented employer-led effort to raise more
than $3 million to ensure “No Child Sleeps Outside”
Campaign benefiting Mary’s Place arrives for the first time in more
than 200 Starbucks® stores across King County, where Starbucks will
raise awareness and match customer donations up to an additional $1
million throughout the month of December
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Starbucks Foundation and Schultz Family Foundation announced today
their support of the annual No Child Sleeps Outside campaign by
Mary’s Place. Together with other businesses, they are joining an
unprecedented effort to mobilize the community, and contributing over $3
million to provide safe emergency shelter for the estimated 500
unsheltered families in King County, including hundreds of children. The
campaign also has the support of companies like Microsoft Corp., Dick’s
Drive-In, Comcast, Alaska Airlines, Weyerhaeuser, Expedia, Nordstrom,
Bank of America, Key Bank Foundation, Group Health, Seattle Mariners, as
well as the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Downtown
Seattle Association, which together represent thousands of Seattle
businesses.
Following a 20 percent jump in the homeless count last year, families
with young children are waiting months for emergency shelter, leaving
many sleeping on the streets, in cars and parks across the community.
This move by The Starbucks Foundation, Schultz Family Foundation,
Microsoft, and others supports an immediate expansion of Mary’s Place,
and responds to the critical, short-term need to bring unsheltered
families inside. Separately, the organizations also expressed support
for the mayor’s Pathways Home strategy, which addresses some of the
systemic problems contributing to the homeless crisis. It includes a
shift towards rapid rehousing (providing assistance and services to help
those experiencing homelessness to quickly find housing), funding for
expanded shelter hours at several shelters, and the creation of lockers
for the homeless. Recognizing that city and county reforms to provide
affordable housing will take months or years, supporters of the No
Child Sleeps Outside campaign believe it is critical to provide
immediate emergency shelter for hundreds of children.
“The 500 families with small children who are sleeping outside in King
County cannot wait for the promised reforms and housing that will take a
year or more,” said Howard Schultz, chairman and chief executive officer
of Starbucks and co-founder of the Schultz Family Foundation. “We need
to treat this daily tragedy with the same urgency that would follow any
natural disaster. This is a short-term but urgent humanitarian need, and
we are proud to join other Seattle employers in the No Child Sleeps
Outside campaign.”
Mary’s Place, which runs the annual No Child Sleeps Outside
campaign, is a 17-year-old emergency shelter organization with six
locations throughout the county that operates primarily with private
funding. Mary’s Place provides emergency shelter to nearly 40 percent of
families experiencing homelessness across King County – serving 115-120
families per night, and 400 families throughout the year. However, 20
families a day are still turned away because there is not enough
capacity at these shelters.
“King County is facing an unprecedented homelessness crisis and more
than 500 families are sleeping outside each night in places unfit for
habitation,” said Marty Hartman, executive director of Mary’s Place. “It
breaks our hearts to have to turn them away each day. We are so
incredibly grateful for the support of our business partners like
Starbucks, Microsoft, the Schultz Family Foundation, and so many others
who are making it possible for us to expand our services and bring more
families inside to warmth, safety, and stability.”
“No child should have to sleep outside at night. We must come together
as a community to address this vital need as a local imperative,” said
Brad Smith, Microsoft president. “We are pledging $1 million, including
$250,000 to Mary’s Place, to address homelessness across King County. We
will support partners throughout the area to pursue both short- and
long-term systemic solutions, including permanent housing.”
Starbucks Foundation to Match Customer Donations in more than 200
King County Stores in December
In addition to a $1 million financial contribution to the No Child
Sleeps Outside campaign, The Starbucks Foundation will match every
dollar donated by customers in participating King County Starbucks®
stores between December 1st and 31st, up to an
additional $1 million dollars to help shelter local families. The
Starbucks Foundation will also allocate an additional $250,000 to other
local nonprofits, including the United Way, YWCA, and Youth Care, that
connect homeless families and youth to job placement programs and other
critical services.
Howard and Sheri Schultz, co-founders of the Schultz Family Foundation,
are also personally contributing $1 million to Mary’s Place through the
Schultz Family Foundation to expand both shelter capacity and the
organization’s ability to move families into permanent housing. In
addition, the Schultz Family Foundation will continue to support other
Seattle homelessness organizations to reduce the number of unsheltered
youth and young adults.
About Mary’s Place
Mary’s Place empowers homeless women, children, and families to reclaim
their lives by providing shelter, nourishment, resources, healing, and
hope in a safe community. Mary’s Place operates six crisis response
family shelters providing refuge and community for 400 family members
experiencing homelessness. The organization focuses on an innovative
strategy of combining prevention, emergency shelter, and resources for
transition into housing to bring families out of homelessness. At their
Family Center, Mary’s Place provides shelter, services, and resources in
the same building. This allows families, together with their assigned
Housing & Wellness Advocates, to focus on individualized plans for
overcoming barriers and finding employment and stable housing. It does
all this cost effectively in loaned buildings that are empty and
awaiting development for just dollars per night.
About Starbucks
Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically
sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today, with
stores around the globe, the company is the premier roaster and retailer
of specialty coffee in the world. Through our unwavering commitment to
excellence and our guiding principles, we bring the unique Starbucks Experience
to life for every customer through every cup. To share in the
experience, please visit us in our stores or online at news.starbucks.com or www.starbucks.com.
About Schultz Family Foundation
The Schultz Family Foundation was co-founded in 1996 by Sheri Kersch
Schultz and her husband Howard Schultz, chairman and ceo of Starbucks
Coffee Company. Guided by a belief that an “inequality of opportunity”
is stifling America’s potential, the Foundation invests in innovative
programs and partnerships that unlock human potential, remove barriers
to success, and create new pathways to opportunity. The Schultz Family
Foundation currently supports two signature national initiatives: Onward
Youth and Onward Veterans. For more information, visit http://schultzfamilyfoundation.org or
follow us on Twitter @SchultzFamilyFd.
Contacts
Starbucks
Alisha Damodaran, 206-318-7100
press@Starbucks.com
