Kirkland residents can now get their caffeine fix and help make the holiday season a cheerier one for the area’s less fortunate, with The Sophia Way’s most recent campaign, “One For Sophia.”
The non-profit agency, which works to end homelessness in East King County, opened its newest location in October. The only staffed adult women shelter on the Eastside, Sophia’s Place is located at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Bellevue, and, along with the Eastside Winter Shelter, doubles the organization’s capacity to help. Providing services from subsidized housing to a companionship program, The Sophia Way helps single, adult women of all ages transition from homelessness to stable housing.
The way the campaign works is simple. While ordering at a participating café or restaurant, a patron can ask to “add one for Sophia.” They are then billed the according additional amount, but instead of receiving anything extra, the money is then donated directly to The Sophia Way. It costs the establishment nothing, and provides the entire community with a convenient and informal way to contribute.
“Basically, it’s the ability for someone to help at a price of a cup of coffee or appetizer or meal,” says Greg Olson, who helped in the campaign’s design. Instead of attending galas that cost hundreds of dollars per ticket, the public can now “contribute however and wherever they want.”
“Homelessness is really a community problem,” Olson explained. “It’s expressed at the individual level, but in reality it’s much bigger than that. This is why the ‘One For Sophia’ campaign gives the surrounding community a chance to contribute.”
And contribute they should, said Olson.
“For every one woman served (by The Sophia Way), there are 17 unserved. It’s an invisible problem until you start looking at it, and then it’s quite striking,” Olson said. “Most people don’t know or realize King County is the county with the largest disparity of wealth in the entire nation. Within that, the fastest-growing homeless population is adult women over 50 on the Eastside.”
However, with the help of The Sophia Way Executive Director Helen Leuzzi, that soon should change.
“She truly is making the world a better place,” Olson said. “Helen is very careful not to use the term homeless woman. The reason she doesn’t is because it labels the woman. No one is born a homeless woman. What she uses in its place is women experiencing homelessness. Now, it’s more hopeful. Now, you can get out – with the help of The Sophia Way.”
Participating establishments include St. James’s Espresso and 212 On Central Bistro and Bar in Kirkland, Cici Café in Seattle, and The Immortal Dog Bakery. A more comprehensive list will soon be available on The Sophia Way’s website (www.sophiaway.org), and emailed to those signed up to receive its newsletter. While the campaign is scheduled to go on through January, according to Olson, “We’ve had a couple of places say they’d like to continue on, and we have no reason to stop.”
