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
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.
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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” (Photo: Business Wire)
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.
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StarbucksAlisha Damodaran, 206-318-7100press@Starbucks.com
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