September 1, 2025

Service & Outreach September 2025 Newsletter

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Service & Outreach

September News & Updates

Scarves for Angeline’s, YWCA food bank repaving, AFEDJ update, More tiny homes, Sharing skills like Frank did

Like to knit? Make a scarf for the women of Angeline’s!

The knitters of All Threads recently celebrated another handknit scarf by Joan Melin. Joan’s scarf is Number 25 of the 100 scarves the group is making for the gift bags Epiphany provides at Christmas for the YWCA’s Angeline’s Day Center for Women. If you would like to knit a scarf, please do! All Threads meets Thursday mornings 10:00 to noon in the Christie House Library. Contact Audrey Seale (206-669-3995) for details.

Epiphany helps put the YWCA Food Bank on firmer footing

When the YWCA needed help with a small capital project for the Central Area Food Bank in Madrona, they reached out to one of the food bank’s oldest supporters—Epiphany.

The food bank’s uneven and cracked paving presented hazards for both volunteers and the growing number of walk-in clients, many of whom navigate with canes, walkers, or baby strollers. People had tripped and fallen, and the motorized pallet truck (which Epiphany also funded a few years ago!) would get stuck in the cracks and uneven spots. Poor drainage often left standing water in the rainy season. The YWCA recognized it needed to resurface the area before someone got seriously injured, but there was no money in its strained operating budget to cover the expected cost of more than $48,000.

With reserved Have a Heart funds, Epiphany’s Service & Outreach Group could contribute a significant lead gift of $15,000 toward the project, which was completed in August. The pictures show the good results of our gift.

Before: Different levels, uneven paving. After: One smooth, hard surface with good drainage and no trip hazards!

AFEDJ: Our financial support is vital

By Holly Boone

American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem (AFEDJ) recently released a Donor Impact Report and its 2024 Annual Report. I am sharing these reports because Epiphany has supported AFEDJ since 2014, mostly benefiting the Jerusalem Princess Basma Centre for Disabled Children and for Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza.

The reports describe what our financial support makes possible for the people who rely on the humanitarian institutions of the Diocese of Jerusalem. News from across the Diocese and especially Gaza is almost unbearably grim. Archbishop Hosam Naoum says that without AFEDJ’s financial lifeline, many critically needed institutions in the Diocese would cease to exist.

Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza has been attacked numerous times since the war began in October 7, 2023. Most recently, an armed outlaw group invaded the hospital demanding treatment for an injured comrade. Read about the latest attack here. The hospital continues to care for more than 200 inpatients and treat an additional 600–700 daily.

Materials for one tiny home cost about $4500. This is where the money goes.

More Tiny Home Villages Opening Soon

By Jenny Cummins

First the good news from Barb Oliver, Director of Operations at Sound Foundations NW:

It looks as if the tiny home village drought is coming to an end. Already this year, Sound Foundations NW has participated in three tiny home village dedications: Eagle Village, Rosie’s Village 2, and Kingfisher Village in Tacoma. The next village in King County will be Olympic Hills Village, a 47-home village located in Lake City. LIHI is also planning one village near downtown and two more villages in King County THIS YEAR! Next year, LIHI has planned at least two more tiny home villages in King County.

Over the past four years, Epiphany parishioners have steadfastly supported the work of Sound Foundations. Parishioners have donated $77,000 for building materials, enough to build 18 houses—almost a village! In addition, I estimate that we have provided close to 3000 volunteer hours hammering and sawing and drilling and screwing and caulking and painting and roofing.

Tiny homes become part of a larger, village community managed by the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI). Each village has common areas including kitchen, bathrooms and laundry facilities. Living in a Tiny Home Village represents the first step off the streets for a homeless person who now can have a safe, dry, and warm home with a door that LOCKS. The median length of stay for a tiny home resident is 114 days. That means that up to three people per year transition into a tiny home and then on to a better life. Sound Foundations designs and builds tiny homes to last 20 years, so each little home has the potential to help up to sixty people!

Some in our community have given enough money to build an entire tiny home, including Alice Foreman, Steve Faust, K and John Robinson, and the Women’s Retreat Group. Each of you can help build a tiny home through your donations at next year’s Have a Heart—please put Sunday, February 1, your calendar!—or by joining Epiphany’s building crew on the fourth Saturday of each month. If you have any questions please reach out to Pete Melin or Jenny Cummins (jennycummins@gmail.com).

Do you have a skill you could share like Frank did?

Before he passed away in August, parishioner Frank Klaus generously offered his formidable teaching and negotiation skills to the YWCA’s Femme2Stem Program. In two online workshops, Frank taught how to negotiate pay, one of a series of courses empowering women and girls.

Might Frank’s example give other parishioners a good idea?

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. — Voltaire

Things to do soon

Every Tuesday and Wednesday: Prep and pack food bags for the YWCA Food Bank in Madrona or deliver food to clients’ homes.

Saturday, September 20, 7:00–10:00 pm: Serve dinner to guests at the Operation Nightwatch Dispatch Center.

Thursday, September 18, 11:30 am–2:00 pm: Serve lunch at Angeline’s Day Center for Women in Belltown.

Saturday, September 20, 9:30 am–Noon: Prepare meals for Operation Sack Lunch Serves (OSL Serves) for shelters and people experiencing homelessness in the greater Seattle area.

Thursday, September 25, 6:30–8:30 pm: Prepare a meal for young people on the streets at a church in the University District.

Saturday, September 28, 9:00 am–3:00 pm: Build tiny homes at Sound Foundations NW in south Seattle.

Wednesday, October 8, 12:45–4:00 pm: Prepare dinners at Ronald McDonald House for families with a sick child at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Contact Amanda to volunteer for any of these activities.

Volunteer Opportunities

Ronald McDonald House, Sand Point

Dates vary, 12:45–4:00 PM

Prepare dinners for families with a sick child at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

YWCA Central Area Food Bank, Madrona

Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Prep and pack food bags Tuesday or Wednesday morning or deliver groceries to clients’ homes Wednesday afternoon.

YWCA Angeline’s Day Center for Women, Belltown

Third Thursday of the month, 11:30 AM–2:00 PM

Serve lunch to women using Angeline’s drop-in services for the homeless.

OSL Serves, Georgetown Third Saturdays, 9:30 am–Noon: Prep nutritious meals for people needing assistance throughout Seattle.

Operation Nightwatch Nightly Meal, Nightwatch Dispatch Center

Third Saturday of odd-numbered months, 7:00–10:00 PM

Epiphany’s night to cook and serve food to 150 or so clients before they head for various city shelters for the night.

Teen Feed, UCC Church, University District

Fourth Thursday, January–October, 6:30–8:30 PM

Epiphany’s crew makes enchiladas for young people living on the streets.

Tiny Home Build, Sound Foundations, South Seattle

Fourth Saturdays, 9:00 AM–3:00 PM

Swing a hammer with Epiphany friends building tiny homes, proven stopovers for people moving from the streets to permanent housing.

To get involved, please contact Amanda.