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About The Sophia Way Our mission is to help end homelessness in East King County, Washington, by providing supportive services, overnight shelter, and one-bedroom apartments to women as they transition from homelessness to permanent housing and an independent, stable life. Currently, we are the only staffed overnight shelter for single adult women on the Eastside.
We aim to offer the tools, guidance, and housing that homeless women need to make sustainable changes in their lives. Created by faith groups throughout the Eastside, The Sophia Way is our way of partnering with the community to achieve the shared goal of ending homelessness as part of King County’s 10-Year Plan. The Sophia Way sits under the umbrella of the Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council, which has supported Congregations for the Homeless, serving men in transition for the past 14 years and functioning as the Eastside’s only shelter for single homeless men. The Sophia Way does not discriminate based on religion, age, color, race, sexual orientation, or national origin. The Sophia Way offers women a structured path to independent living. Clients follow these steps:
Our shelter is open from 7 pm-7 am every day of the year and is staffed at all times. On weekdays, it is housed at Bellevue First Congregational Church and on weekends, it moves to host churches. At both locations women have access to laundry facilities, showers, computers, phones and more. Volunteers furnish meals and supplies.
Our approach to serving clients differs from other shelters: we serve an intimate group of eight women, and are thus able to maximize the attention given to each woman, who is truly treated as an individual. Our staff knows each client well, and can respond and provide resources customized to her needs and situation. Our small size also enables us to build a stronger community within the shelter. We aim to provide each woman in our shelter permanent housing as rapidly as possible, offering rental subsidies and continuing case management. Our goal is for each client to become more self-sufficient over time through increased income sources, greater self-confidence, and a robust support network. In 2009, 16 women moved into their own housing. Of these, 8 now support themselves independently, 4 with full-time jobs.
Our Managing Committee oversees The Sophia Way mission and values. As a working group, its members also play key roles in fundraising, operations, housing, and more. At present, the members come from the founding faith organizations; we seek additional members from the Eastside community.
Members (from left to right) are:
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© The Sophia Way
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Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council |
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We
started The Sophia Way in December 2008 to serve the one group of people
who had been almost entirely overlooked — adult women on their own,
without children or partners. We knew that homeless women existed in our
community, but were hidden — riding buses all night or sleeping in their
cars. Some traveled to large shelters in Seattle, but most needed to
remain on the Eastside to get to work or hold onto their support
network. We deemed it unacceptable that, in an area as affluent as ours,
these women had no safe place stay or reliable path to housing. So we
created The Sophia Way.
Each client receives
one-on-one, practical training in the life skills needed after being
homeless. Weekly classes are taught by experts from the community
and cover a range of topics related to housing and independent living
(such as nutrition, budgeting, credit ratings, and rental leases). 
Carol,
the first participant to move into her own apartment says, “I was so
overjoyed to finally have a place where I could call my very own
apartment to come home to. I had tears of relief and joy in my eyes and
I am so grateful for all those who organized and planned to put my
apartment together with furnishings and all the wonderful items that
make it a beautiful place for me to live.”
