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Team combines diverse skills to create beds for residents of the Interfaith Family Shelter

By M.L. Dehm

SCBJ Freelance Writer

As this years Leadership Snohomish County program draws to a successful close, course graduates are able to look back on their project work with pride.

The purpose of the program is to develop leadership skills, raise community awareness and build networking relationships.

One of the best examples of this years projects is illustrated by the team that worked with the Interfaith Family Shelter in Everett.

The five team members brought diverse skills and represented diverse companies and organizations, including Stacy Vance, United Way of Snohomish County; Robert Waddle, Kimberly-Clark; Keith Kubie, Boeing; Heather Coleman, Providence Regional Medical Center, and Lori Cummings from the City of Everett.

I think part of the reason it came together so quickly was because you had five leaders on the team that were committed to working together, said Vance, the teams spokesperson. Everyone was focused on the main objective.

According to Vance, each team member was happy to share his or her particular area of expertise as well as be responsible for completing certain tasks.

But the first thing they had to do was to communicate with Interfaith Family Shelter to find out the area of greatest need.

For the team members, this meant learning more about what makes the Interfaith Family Shelter special. It is one of the very few shelters where homeless families are able to stay together.

In a typical shelter, men and teenage boys are housed separately from women and younger children. Separation of families can add another dimension of misery for the homeless. That is something that Interfaith would like to spare them.

However, the great need for space for homeless families means that the 10 rooms of the shelter are always full and trying to find enough beds for large families is a challenge.

This is where the Leadership Snohomish County team decided to help. The team planned and built three-tier bunk beds for the rooms. Each bottom bunk was a full-size bed for the parents. The smaller upper bunks would be suitable for the children.

This bed configuration not only slept more people but also left more living space in the small rooms.

After identifying an area of need and a way to fill that need, the team then began to divide up the tasks.

They worked with the Interfaith bookkeeper to create a donation solicitation letter to raise funds for the project, researched materials and made plans for construction.

With materials delivered and tools in hand, the team built the beds, painted them, installed mattresses and bought linens.

Three rooms were completed during the Leadership Snohomish County program. The team left a plan so other businesses and groups in the future can step in and refurbish additional rooms if they are willing.

There are homeless families in our community and the nine or ten families that we serve at any one time are just a small fraction of the families in need, said Interfaith Association executive director Mary Ellen Wood.

The power that our Leadership Snohomish County team had was bringing their expertise, their commitment and their willingness to become more informed on an issue that is not comfortable (to recognize), she said.

Wood hopes that businesses or groups will step in where the class was obliged to leave off, whether it is completing more custom beds or assisting in some other way, however small.

For Vance and her teammates, the experience was rewarding. They not only discovered strength in themselves, they also learned what a big difference people can make when they work together on a common goal for their community.