Who We Serve

The West Seattle Helpline’s primary focus is assisting the working poor of our community.  These are families or individuals whose household income falls below the poverty level and who often live paycheck to paycheck in order to meet their basic needs. Unexpected events, such as unemployment, creates a significant financial burden, resulting in the horrific choice of not paying for the rent, heat or water in order to pay for food or medicine. The West Seattle Helpline assists these families and individuals by providing financial aid, a referral system designed to demonstrate verified needs with available resources, clothing, school supplies for children, and bus passes. The goal is to minimize the negative impact of unexpected circumstances on families.

The Helpline plays a unique role in our community because we assist families and individuals that have a one-time emergency assistance need and find themselves facing financial hardships that they have been able to overcome.  If we can provide some financial assistance, we can help community members get back on track and recover from the negative impact of unexpected circumstances such as homelessness, hunger, and hopelessness.  Every call received by the Helpline is returned by a volunteer trained to assess the need, while providing guidance regarding alternative solutions.

At the same time, we serve the role of assisting community members in supporting their fellow neighbors. By creating a culture of "neighbors helping neighbors" since 1989. Individuals, businesses, and churches within the West Seattle Community have become empowered to understand and support one another.