Stories of Community Support

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The Compassion of Poetry

Merna Ann Hecht, poet, storyteller, and arts and literacy educator, has partnered with Bread for the Journey of Seattle, Voices in Wartime Education Project, and Institute for Poetic Medicine to bring the power of language through poetry and narrative to immigrant students who have experienced war and conflict. As poet-in-residence at Foster High School, just south of Seattle, Merna has two goals for her students. The first is to provide a meaningful experience of how poetry and narrative writing can give honest expression and voice to their losses, their questions, their struggles and their hopes. The second is to provide opportunities within the larger community for showcasing the poetry of these young people — including community poetry readings, public radio broadcasts, and the publication of an anthology in hard copy. Bread for the Journey of Seattle is proud to have partnered with Merna and two other important organizations by contributing $1000 to fund this remarkable work.

Ministry of Presence

Mary's Place is a day center run by the Church of Mary Magdalene in Seattle. It is a refuge and sanctuary where countless numbers of homeless and formerly homeless women find support for their spirits, minds and bodies. For some years there has been a vision to create a support network for homeless women who have been hospitalized or imprisoned by training Spiritual Directors to become spiritual companions to women who have found themselves ill or incarcerated. Bread for the Journey of Seattle is delighted to fund the pilot project to expand the Church of Mary Magdalene Ministry of Presence. Funds will support a project coordinator to create and lead training and orientation for spiritual directors; to meet and make connections with hospital chaplains and transitional housing directors to find women who have been hospitalized; to meet with prospective spiritual directors and provide support; and to explore long-term funding possibilities to continue to grow this important work. Bread for the Journey of Seattle is delighted to grant $1000 toward this end.

LifeSPAN

In recent decades we have witnessed a remarkable upward trend in the longevity of people with developmental disabilities. For the first time, they are outliving their parents, but fewer than 50% of them have a viable plan for the future once their parents die. LifeSPAN supports families in Washington State in developing quality futures for their relatives with a developmental disability. Among other activities, LifeSPAN helps its client families establish networks of caring individuals who collectively help ensure a safe and secure existence over the entire lifetime of the disabled individual. Bread for the Journey of Seattle granted $1,275 to LifeSPAN for the purchase of a computer system that would support its long-term operation.

Practicing Philanthropy with Children and Families

One mission of Bread for the Journey of Seattle is to involve our children and families in the process of philanthropy, to make the abstract concepts of generosity, compassion and empathy real and tangible.  Our first family activity was focused on understanding the homeless in our community and was organized around assembling care packages for women at a local women's shelter.  Mary's Place is a thriving community focused on providing a safe space for women and their children. Women come together, not only to find their basic needs met, like meals and showers, but also their spiritual life and relationship with one another nourished.  It is a unique place that offers hope, love and an opportunity to build relationships based on trust.

Our family activity began Saturday morning with adults and children as we shared coffee, poetry and enthusiasm for our mission.  We gathered around a table to form an assembly line to fill 75 colorful packages, each with a non-perishable snack, feminine supplies, items for personal hygiene and an inspiring poem.  Even the youngest child in attendance, 1 ½ years old, found a place among us!  Gratified by the efficiency of our teamwork, we shared lunch together, and the women and children among us delivered packages, donations and ice cream to Mary's Place.   At first we found ourselves somewhat timid, but many of the women were happy to receive ice cream or a colorful bag, and we found ourselves relaxed and grateful to share the day with the women at Mary's Place. The supplies to fill the care packages cost $453 – an amount whose value far exceeded the dollars spent.

Young Shakespeare Workshop

Young Shakespeare Workshop (YSW) brings together Seattle-area students from all backgrounds and creates a community bound by love of the English language and the work of William Shakespeare. Among other things, YSW supports the work of high school language arts teachers whose classes are studying Shakespeare. Bread for the Journey of Seattle was pleased to fund a YSW residency at Seattle’s Cleveland High School with a grant of $500.

The Hero Project

The Hero Project brings professional arts training to students and teachers at Kimball Elementary, a diverse school in Beacon Hill with a large immigrant population. During the six-week residency, Shana Bestock — an actor, director, and teacher who is Artistic and Education Director of Seattle Public Theater — uses theater to help students gain language and teamwork skills. Students explore the worlds and achievements of significant cultural “heroes” such as Jackie Robinson, Sitting Bull, Langston Hughes, Cesar Chavez, and Rachel Carson. The program culminates in a final community sharing that brings together parents, students and staff in celebration of the students’ achievements. Bread for the Journey of Seattle was proud to contribute $500 to help fund this program.

Incarcerated Youth: Inspiring Empathy, Building Skills

Canine Connections has a program that allows incarcerated youth in Echo Glen — a high security juvenile corrections facility near Seattle — to rescue dogs from shelters, train them as service dogs, and operate and manage a boarding kennel. Through “patience, persistence, praise, and practice,” the kids train and socialize dogs rescued from “dog death row,” which are later adopted out into the larger community. The dogs help the kids learn to change their own behavior, and the kids discover their capacity to help others. Kids leave Echo Glen with a stronger sense of their own strengths and with newfound skills as dog trainers, groomers, kennel managers, vet technicians, and responsible pet owners. Bread for the Journey of Seattle gave $300 to Canine Connections in support of this remarkable program.

TeenHOPE

An organization serving homeless and at-risk youth in the greater Seattle area, TeenHOPE has three commendable programs: the Emergency Shelter, the Street Outreach Program, and the PeaceTable Mediation Program. They house, clothe and feed 170 young people each year. Additionally, the outreach program sends vans into the community three times per week to provide meals and simple care packages to teens who live out on the street. Bread for the Journey of Seattle was pleased to give TeenHOPE a $500 grant to fund a river rafting adventure for the shelter’s residents.

Mind Body Connection

Parkwood Elementary School is a beautifully diverse learning community just north of Seattle that believes dance can help students to make a visceral connection to the abstract concepts they are learning in class and develop a greater sense of physical space and motion. Toward this end, Parkwood has partnered with artist Eric Johnson to integrate dance and movement into the existing curriculum. Bread for the Journey of Seattle gave a grant of $135 to cover the costs of a visit by the artist to the annual school wide arts showcase, where he spoke to parents about the program and gave a demonstration lesson.

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