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"You are not alone"

The more trauma you’ve experienced, the more important it is to hear these words on your path to recovery. That’s why we’ve grown our Peer Pathfinder team to serve more people in need.

The tight-knit team of Substance Use Disorder Peer Specialists, who have experienced substance use disorders and homelessness in their own lives, reaches out to people who have recently overdosed to provide harm reduction strategies and resources, and encourage people to stay hopeful, motivated, and future-oriented.

Through consistent outreach efforts—going directly to wherever clients are—they can reach people who are unlikely to visit traditional service providers. Many people won’t engage right away, so team members visit repeatedly and share their own stories to build rapport and trust.

The team connects people to substance use disorder treatment, including Medication-Assisted Treatment, helps to place people in housing and connects them to income, health care and food benefits.

Peer Counselors on the Pathfinder team and on other teams across the agency are an integral part of DESC’s work, and a big reason we succeed in meeting people where they are. Thank you for supporting programs like this every day.

Through the end of the year, online gifts of $1,500 or more will be matched at 100%, doubling the impact of your gift!

To see the progress that DESC's clients were able to make because of your support, check out our latest Annual Report.

Gifts of $1,500 or more that are made online between December 3-31 will be matched by generous DESC donors up to $84,000

Happy Holidays from DESC!

Only a snowman belongs outside in the cold.

Thanks for bringing your neighbors inside during the holidays and year-round!

Need a thoughtful holiday gift for the person who has everything? Donate to DESC in honor of a loved one and we'll let them know!

Click the button below and check the box next to 'Dedicate my donation in honor or in memory of someone' in order to add a special message.

Or show your support by purchasing a shirt, sweater, tote bag or mug from our online store!

Through the end of the year, online gifts of $1,500 or more will be matched at 100%, doubling the impact of your gift!

To see the progress that DESC's clients were able to make because of your support, check out our latest Annual Report.

Gifts of $1,500 or more that are made online between December 3-31 will be matched by generous DESC donors up to $84,000

Happy New Year! 

2020 is going to be a big year for DESC:

• We'll open the first phase of Hobson Place in Rainier Valley, ending homelessness for 85 people.
• We'll also begin construction on the second phase of Hobson Place, which will include a state-of-the-art health clinic to serve clients and members of the surrounding community.
• We're hosting the Housing First Partners Conference in our own backyard for the first time, bringing Housing First supporters and service providers from across the globe to discuss innovations and best practices.
• And we'll continue to advocate on behalf of our clients at the city, county, state and federal levels to make sure everyone has a safe place to call home.

We can't do this without you. Make a donation today to help us ring in 2020 with a bang.

And for the next few hours, you can be a huge part of starting 2020 off right!

We're $36,000 away from unlocking our matching fund goal. Will you help us cross the finish line?

Until midnight on 12/31, online gifts of $1,500 or more will be matched at 100%, doubling the impact of your gift!

To see the progress that DESC's clients were able to make because of your support, check out our latest Annual Report.

Gifts of $1,500 or more that are made online between December 3-31 will be matched by generous DESC donors up to $84,000

Thank you for supporting housing and health in 2019!

Thanks to the generosity of people like you, we were able to unlock all of the $84,000 in matching funds! This support will provide housing, healthcare and emergency shelter in 2020. Thanks to everyone who made a gift  in 2019!

Thanks to you, DESC was able to transition more than 400 people from homelessness to housing last year. We'll open a new building this summer, providing even more supportive housing for those who need it most.

Save the Date for Gimme Shelter 2020!

This year's benefit concert will happen on Thursday, April 16th at the Triple Door Seattle! Billy Joe Huels and the Dusty 45s will perform, along with an amazing lineup of local artists. Tickets will be available soon.

HFPC is Coming to Seattle!

The Housing First Partners Conference (HFPC) is a biennial conference co-presented by DESC and Pathways Housing First. It was launched in 2012 to further the conversation among practitioners about Housing First as a proven model for ending homelessness. Since then, Housing First has been implemented across the country, and the HFPC serves as an opportunity to share innovations and best practices among service providers.

This year, for the first time, we're bringing the HFPC to Seattle! 

If you'd like to learn more, check out www.hfpartnersconference.com. Registration is currently closed, but a wait list is available on the conference website.

Save the Date for Gimme Shelter 2020!

This year's benefit concert will happen on Thursday, April 16th at the Triple Door Seattle! Billy Joe Huels and the Dusty 45s will perform, along with an amazing lineup of local artists.

Tickets will be available soon.

Get Your Tickets for Gimme Shelter Today!

Join us on Thursday, April 16th for Gimme Shelter 2020! This exciting event will feature music from hometown favorites, The Dusty 45s.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the concert beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets start at $50 each. Get them while they last!

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors!

Advocate Level

Be part of the party, and the solution to homelessness, by joining us for our first virtual fundraising event, Gimme Shelter!

It''s free to attend this Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. PST.

Gimme Shelter 2020 is our 12th Annual concert event featuring the fantastic Billy Joe Huels and the Dusty 45s. This year will be unique, as the band will perform from the rooftop of DESC''s Aurora House. 

You won''t want to miss the last number where he lights his trumpet on fire. You have to see it for yourself!

Gimme Shelter is only possible because of our generous sponsors.

Champion Level

Advocate Level

Supporter Level

Leader Level

A reason for hope in a difficult time

The pace of work has not let up at DESC. COVID continues to present risks to people experiencing homelessness, and we remain on the front line of this crisis. Read this update about how things have changed since our first client was diagnosed with COVID earlier this month.

More than two dozen of our clients have been diagnosed with COVID, and sadly, two have died from the virus. But, we’re seeing that our efforts are helping us avoid worse outcomes, and keep thousands of people safe each day. We’re also learning how new ways to prevent COVID are teaching us about ways to improve our region’s response to homelessness at the same time.

Our staff and our many community partners are sustaining efforts that seemed so daunting a few weeks ago. As we look ahead to what is likely to be the “new normal” for months to come, we’re grateful for a community that cares so deeply.

The situation is continually evolving, and our focus remains on providing the best care for clients at this time. Can you help us?

Thanks to our generous donors we have matched over $57,000 of donations already for GiveBIG early giving!

GiveBIG starts in less than a week but early giving is happening now, give today to make sure your gift is matched!

Give Early for GiveBIG!

A recent point-in-time count showed that 11,199 people continue to experience homelessness in King County. 

DESC is now providing shelter to more than 500 people around the clock, safe, supportive housing for nearly 1,400 people, and has increased meal services by 3,000 meals a day due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these adults are only able to use extremely low-barrier shelters and housing with robust supportive services due to mental illnesses, substance use disorders or the concurrence of both. 

To help DESC address these new challenges please give early for GiveBIG!

Thanks to generous donors, your gift to support survival services will be matched at 100% up to a total of $88,000!

We''ve raised more than $15,000 already - help us max out the match! 

We are also seeking donations of tents, sleeping bags, and hygiene items for clients. These needed items include: shampoo, razors, bar soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, adult incontinence underwear, hand warmers and other items that can be donated directly here. 

A Home for Health

We''re almost ready to open the first phase of our newest building, Hobson Place! Eighty-five people who are experiencing homelessness will be welcomed into their new homes just in time for winter. We hope you''ll join us at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7 for a virtual opening event featuring a tour of the new building. Stay tuned after the event for a conversation with Daniel Malone, Nicole Macri and other DESC leaders.

Hobson Place, named for our former Executive Director, the late Bill Hobson, will include a total of 177 new homes when complete. It will also have a clinic that will serve our on-site tenants and 10,000 other community members each year.  

With the Clinic at Hobson Place, DESC and Harborview Medical Center will establish the first local full-scale clinic specifically designed to meet the complex needs of people living with disabilities who have experienced the longest periods of homelessness.

Will you be a Key to Health for our clients?

Join us in building this clinic and celebrating our clients by contributing to the "Keys to Health" mosaic for the clinic entrance. Donations of $100, $250, $500 or $1,000 will be represented by an etched tile with your name or dedication. Your one-time gift will live on and inspire clinic visitors for years to come. 

All donations to this fund will be used to pay for start-up and operating costs for the Clinic at Hobson Place. Reach out to Don Rupp at drupp@desc.org for more information today, or stay tuned for more information about this opportunity.

Save the Date for DESC''s 12th Annual Gimme Shelter Event!

Gimme Shelter is only possible because of our generous sponsors! 

Gimme Shelter will be taking place virtually this year, an RSVP link will be going out soon!

For an update on DESC''s response to COVID-19 follow the link below.

Adopt an Apartment at Hobson Place!

Phase one of our newest supportive housing building, Hobson Place, is almost finished! We are looking for generous people like you to furnish each of the 85 new apartments so we''ll be ready to welcome people inside this fall. 

Each apartment will come furnished with a bed, table, chairs and a dresser.  Will you help DESC''s newest tenants by buying the bedding, kitchen, bathroom and cleaning items that make a house a home? 

There are two ways to adopt an apartment: 

No-Shop Adopt: You provide $250 and set up an appointment time during the week of October 3 to come to Hobson Place. The building will not yet be occupied so social distancing will be possible. Your kit will be in front of your adopted apartment door and you can use the items to decorate the apartment. 

Sponsor: You provide $250 and we shop and decorate for you, sending you a photo when we’ve finished.  

Email Donations@desc.org to adopt an apartment. Indicate in the subject line whether you would like to No-Shop Adopt or Sponsor an Apartment. 

Adopting apartments is one of the most fun ways to give to DESC. It''s an upbeat day for your family that tangibly shows the end of homelessness for a vulnerable person. I hope you will join us either in person or online! Reach out to Volunteer and InKind Gifts Manager Olivia Jelensky at ojelensky@desc.org with questions.  

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*Any donations received beyond the amount needed to furnish 85 apartments at Hobson Place will be applied toward Move-In Kits for new residents at other DESC Permanent Supportive Housing sites.

Updates from the Front Lines

The COVID-19 emergency continues to present evolving challenges to all of us at DESC, but I’m proud to share that we continue to rise to these challenges thanks to our incredibly dedicated team of employees and our many partners in the community.

Late last week, we were notified that a DESC client had a confirmed positive COVID-19 test in one of our shelters. Since then, we have learned of four more clients who had confirmed positive tests. We are ensuring infected individuals can isolate and get appropriate care. We’re also closely monitoring staff and clients who had close contact with the individuals with positive tests.

Fortunately, we put in place many preventative measures and a robust response protocol in anticipation of this inevitable circumstance. DESC’s new COVID Response Team of existing medical and program staff provided rapid support to staff and clients, and coordinated closely with King County Public Health to do a thorough assessment and make sure all clients and staff are cared for.

We hope we will avoid having a large amount of COVID illness at DESC, and the actions of everyone at DESC are helping us avoid the worst outcomes. Staff across our programs have been vigilant in protecting our clients and one another every day. Through it all, we continue to provide essential care to thousands of people in our community living with serious disabilities who have experienced homelessness.

New this week, we are relocating 200 shelter guests from our largest congregate settings into a hotel in Renton. Providing individual rooms will help people more effectively distance from others and reduce the risk of exposure to the virus. We anticipate these moves will happen by the end of the week. Read more in the King County news release.

Thankfully, we received immense community support for our exponential increase to our meals program. Thanks to donations from people like you, support from OSL and Northwest Harvest, and tremendous in-kind support from Farestart, we’re able to provide three meals per day to every client in our care for the immediate future. We’re proud to be in a community that cares about our clients’ needs.

Elsewhere in our community, however, thousands of people are still living unsheltered. Given the deplorable living conditions unsheltered people already deal with, we are gravely concerned about their health and safety. Our outreach teams are on the front lines in providing basic support for people while they are outside, and we’re trying to do more to help bring more people indoors and into individual spaces where they can appropriately distance from others. So many supports that unsheltered people rely on are suddenly unavailable, including dry spaces indoors at places like libraries and friendly businesses, and their circumstances are even more desperate than they were just a month ago. We''re advocating to leaders at the city and county level to help, and hope to expand access to hotel/motel spaces and other shelter spaces that will help protect them. We’re so grateful for the cooperation we’ve already seen in these endeavors, but more must be done to protect our region’s most vulnerable people.

Many people have asked if there’s anything you can do. Right now, we have the volunteers that we need to make masks, deliver food and supplies, and otherwise support our response efforts. Additionally, we’re trying to reduce the number of people who go in and out of our client spaces so we can limit potential virus transmission chains.

On the other hand, our expenses have increased more than $300,000 per month in response to the COVID-19 emergency. Everything from additional cleaning supplies, to new technology for remote work, to paying staff for COVID-related absences, to transitioning to multiple new locations to reduce the risk of exposure. All of it comes at significant financial cost. Very generous support from wonderful partners and community members is keeping us afloat for now and we know we will only get through this crisis together.

Thank you for your continued support of our important work.

Check out Daniel''s piece in the Seattle Times

During the pandemic we''ve moved hundreds of clients from crowded shelters into hotel rooms. It''s had an amazing impact on their lives. Read more about this effort and why we don''t ever want to go back.

You can also get the latest information on our ongoing efforts to stay at the Red Lion in Renton at Publicola or the Seattle Times.

Make your year-end gift today!

DESC’s clients are some of our society’s most vulnerable and marginalized people, living with tremendous challenges including extreme poverty, mental illness and other disabilities. Your gifts help bring them inside and provide life-changing wrap around services. Until the end of the year, a group of donors is matching gifts of $1,500+ at 100% (up to $105,000), doubling the impact of your donation!

It''s finally here! Our 2019 Annual Report is available online

The report highlights the scope and impact of our work last year and features a letter from Daniel about the challenges and opportunities of 2020.

Good news! Our hotel-based shelter model can continue through August

An important part of DESC’s response to COVID-19 has been moving guests of our shelters from crowded rooms filled with bunkbeds into individual hotel rooms. This change has led to results we are proud to celebrate! We have not had any COVID cases in any DESC facilities for seven weeks, and none ever in our hotel-based emergency housing settings.  Clients at the hotel are showing less stress, better health, and are more optimistic about the future.

After advocacy from DESC and our partners, King County has announced that our clients can continue to socially distance in these hotel rooms through August 31. Read more about our program at the Red Lion and it''s impact on our clients.

Make a gift today

We can’t do it without YOU!

Support DESC’s programs to help our clients stay housed and cared for during the pandemic.

Building better crisis response systems

When people have their basic needs met (like housing!) they are far less likely to go into crisis and draw the attention of a law enforcement response.  We share more of our lessons learned from decades of serving marginalized people and working on crisis response here.

Advocate Today for More Housing in King County!

Today is your chance to raise your voice for affordable homes and access to health care that our community urgently needs.  Please call your state lawmakers today and ask them to vote YES on HB 2948! This bill would bring vital resources that we need to house and help our neighbors. A sample script is below.

Thanks for all that you do to support DESC!

Draft Script:

I am a constituent in Representative __________''s district.  I am calling to urge the Representative to vote Yes on HB 2948 and ensure a strong and historic supplemental budget. Businesses, local governments, labor, and community advocates continue to be engaged in this conversation.  We can’t tell people who are struggling now to wait another year. Please help pass progressive and county-wide revenue to start taking our response to the homelessness crisis to scale to match the urgent need.

Thank You for Your Generosity!

Wow, thank you! Because of supporters like you we raised more than $240,000 during GiveBIG! Your donations will be used to purchase extra food to help our clients and tenants self-isolate and keep themselves safe.

Thank you for your continued support. Our clients are safer and healthier today because of you!

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We''ve been working with a class of students at UW Bothell to design a survey for our supporters. I hope you''ll take a moment and give us some insight into what you find compelling about DESC. This will help us to communicate and raise funds more effectively. Your responses are anonymous and will not be seen by anyone at DESC.