Patrice moved to Seattle with her family in the first grade. Living almost her entire life in the neighborhoods of South Seattle, she wanted to be more involved in the community once she started raising a family of her own. Patrice began volunteering for the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County, eventually leading to full time employment. Twenty-seven years later Patrice is still passionately employed with the Boys and Girls club, currently fulfilling the Nutrition Coordinator position.
The trouble began for Patrice when she received a call from her landlord letting her know they were selling the spacious five bedroom home in Columbia City where she lived with her youngest daughter and 6 year-old grandson. She did not consider what a hardship moving would be in the rapid redevelopment climate of Seattle and suddenly found herself homeless for the first time in her life. It took five months before Patrice was able to find her next home. During this time she wasn’t able to afford storage for all of her home furnishings and had to give most of them away before she was able to get settled again. “I had no bed, no heat, nothing really, I was starting all over, and everything seemed to be happening at once.” Patrice recalled how she felt learning that her new home was heated by oil and she wasn’t able to pay the high up-front costs for a home delivery service to fill the empty tank.
Patrice reached out to the City of Seattle for help and was referred to Byrd Barr Place. She applied but learned that with her full time job she was just above the income eligibility guidelines to qualify for help. “So I felt very blessed when Haley called to let me know there was another program called Bridge the Gap that could help me during this hard time.” Patrice said, reflecting on the program manager of the Energy Assistance Program, who kept her in mind and coordinated $325 dollars’ worth of oil to be sent to Patrice’s home during this year’s very cold winter. Now, thanks to generous donors, Patrice is able to focus on her family instead of an empty oil drum. She has gotten her daughter a job at the Boys and Girls Club and is exploring funding to support her daughter in furthering education to become a dental assistance.
