“There’s so much need going on. I can’t just sit on the sideline.” Let’s go back to before Paul started volunteering at the Edmonds College Food Pantry to make sure his classmates had enough to eat. Before he began serving at the Lynnwood Hygiene Center – a converted emissions testing site – to ensure the homeless had access to showers, toiletries, and food. Before he went back to school and enrolled at Edmonds College, to become a Substance Abuse Counselor. Let’s go back to the summer of 2018. Before that, Paul had a career as an auto mechanic. But, a busted ankle left him in a wheelchair that summer. He’d struggled with alcohol before, but with no structure to those long days, why not take a drink? He couldn’t work – and maybe would never be a mechanic again – and was worried about losing his place in Lake Stevens, so he called 211. The operator connected him to VOA Prevention Navigator Anne Hoffman. “She has been super. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have been able to make it.” Anne helped find rental assistance for Paul, first from one source than another. “It’s turned my world around,” says Paul. “I feel blessed because of all the people who supported me.”

“Awful.” That’s how Melissa envisions her fate without 2-1-1. For those who don’t have anyone else turn to, those three digits are a lifeline. Tears of gratitude flow as she tells about the call that lifted her out of the fear and uncertainty she never could have predicted as this year began. Melissa loved her job as a Trader Joe’s crew member. Setting up store displays, handing out food samples, and “doing anything else that needed to be done” for seven years allowed her to contribute to a 401(k) and retirement plan. Taking a chance, she cashed those out, left Trader Joe’s, and fulfilled a lifelong dream of starting her own business. Melissa Lynn’s Permanent Cosmetics specialized in cosmetic eyebrow tattooing. However, as business slowed, she returned to Trader Joe’s to have more income stability as a single mom and briefly stayed in her mother’s one-bedroom apartment. Three generations made the best of it. “We blew up an air mattress every night to sleep,” Melissa says with a chuckle. This year started full of promise. Then, schools closed. She had little choice but to quit her job to stay home and care for her 10-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter. Melissa collected unemployment, cleaned houses, and supplemented with child support payments. It still wasn’t enough. Helplessly watching income dry up over the summer, a fateful encounter in August with another Edmonds mom changed everything. “She told me about 2-1-1 and food assistance, so I could get an EBT card.” Brandi, who Melissa calls an angel, was on the other end of the line. Brandi quickly connected Melissa with Sue, a Fair Housing Counselor who specializes in landlord-tenant relations at the VOA Dispute Resolution Center, and Sue was able to secure three months of housing, seeing Melissa’s family through to the end of this year. Melissa has now extended her home to her mom, and three generations are still making the best of it. Looking forward to post-pandemic life, Melissa will emerge as a lash technician and hairstylist, making people feel beautiful and confident once more. Volunteering is also in her future, extending a hand to single mothers facing similar circumstances, paying forward the generosity she received through that late-summer call to 2-1-1. Instead of despair, “You have hope,” she declares. “You have options. You have people to help you. Just make the effort to reach out.”

For Diana and her boyfriend Christian, movies are a holiday tradition, always in a theater. Last Christmas it was Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Go back through the holidays, and you’ll find Avengers, Wonder Woman, Deadpool, and even Jumanji, on New Years Day in 2018. This year it’ll be Wonder Woman: 1984, streaming in their apartment. An apartment they weren’t sure they’d be able to keep. “If Robin hadn’t called me, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through.” Diana works, but Christian hasn’t had steady work and his mom, Maria, is unable to work. For the first time in their lives, they visited the food bank for Thanksgiving, and they were falling behind on rent. One day, their property manager connected Diana with VOAWW. That’s when she met Robin, an Early Resolution Specialist with VOA. “Robin answers every time I call. She answers all of my texts. I didn’t expect that.” Robin connected Diana with rental assistance to pay for two months in back rent. When Diana found out, “It was just incredible.....I cried.” “What I would like to share most is that there are always helpers out there. I think Mr. Rogers put it best: ‘Always look for the helpers.’ There should be no shame or guilt with asking for help, no matter how much or how long you need it. Our hope with our little family is that we can repay this back in the future in some way.” “Although we may not ever get to meet Robin in person, we are so grateful for her efforts! Thank you so much for all you do!”

Meet the VOA Western Washington Executive Team Leadership Volunteers of America Western Washington has a dynamic leadership team with a breadth of experience and a passion for serving others. Board Members Executive Team Kristi Myers, CFRE Interim CEO & Chief Operations Officer John Ng Chief Financial Officer Levi Van Dyke Chief Behavioral Health Officer Nelia Viloria Director of Executive Affairs Dixie Behn Vice President of Infrastructure Claire Danielson Vice President of Finance/Controller Kristin Ely Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Olga Fedorovski Vice President of Human Resources Jessica Moore, CFRE Vice President of Development Amanda Etchey Executive Director, Integrated Community Services Brenda Priest Executive Director, Personal Support Services Cory Armstrong-Hoss Executive Director, Senior Services Galina Volchkova Executive Director, Housing Services John Glennon Executive Director, Hunger Prevention Services Rena Fitzgerald Executive Director, Behavioral Health Robin Hoover Executive Director, ECEAP Services Rick Schoentrup Executive Director, Dispute Resolution Center

Our Board of Directors sets strategic priorities, provides fiduciary oversight, acts as advocates for and ambassadors of VOA Western Washington. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Our Board of Directors sets strategic priorities, provides fiduciary oversight, acts as advocates for – and ambassadors of – VOA Western Washington, and oversees our President/CEO. BOARD CHAIR Suzan Sturholm President/Owner All Things HR PROPERTIES BOARD CHAIR Shannon Testa Director of Operations Lease Crutcher Lewis GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE CHAIR Stephen Zimmerman President (Retired) Crane Aerospace Aimee Do President / Owner / Liaison Administrator Vietnam Education Fund and Mercy House of St. Pius X Church in Mountlake Terrace Todd Henrichsen AVP - Compliance Global Atlantic Financial Group Mark Hulst Owner Skagit Cellars Bryan P. O'Connor Attorney/Principal Jackson Lewis PC Lori Schlindwein Vice President, Service Lines Wells Fargo Bank Amit Singh, Ph.D. President Edmonds College Kirstin Tyner Vice President Coastal Community Bank Brenda White VP Local Government & External Affairs Snohomish County PUD Ross Angeledes Owner Odyssey Coins & Collectibles Lisa Janicki Business Owner Retired Skagit County Commissioner

VOA Western Washington ministers to the needs of the community by providing food, shelter, and crisis support. Mission Statement We put faith into action by providing compassionate human services that empower individuals and strengthen communities. VOA aspires to create a world in which every person lives a life of emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being, filled with hope. The VOA Western Washington Story Our Name In the days of our founding in 1896, a "volunteer" was anyone who was committed to a mission or cause. Our name signified that the organization was comprised of people who had chosen to spend their lives helping others. Today, our services are delivered through a partnership of professional staff, volunteers and other community supporters. Volunteers are instrumental in every aspect of our ministry of service and help us reach thousands more people than we could with staff alone. Founding The Volunteers of America movement spread to Western Washington in 1898, just two years after founders Ballington and Maud Booth proclaimed in New York that they would "go where we are needed and do whatever came to hand." Teaching people how to lead self-sufficient lives has been a cornerstone principle in this evolving organization. As the Booths were charting the organization's national history, for many years locally, Volunteers of America developed its community-based programs separately at two affiliate locations in Seattle and Everett. In 1999, these affiliates merged into what is now known as VOA Western Washington and responds to more than 316,000 requests for assistance each year. Responding to needs in Western Washington Volunteers of America was an evangelical presence in Seattle in 1898. After becoming incorporated in 1912 as Volunteers of America of Washington, the organization's work gradually evolved into a social service agency. Volunteers of America Northwest Washington began in Everett in 1915 and operated as an outpost of the Seattle-based affiliate, offering early programs that centered on the Men's Rehabilitation Center and thrift stores. By 1927, services expanded to meet the area's growing needs, and the outpost became a separate branch of National Volunteers of America. Between 1927 and 1978, this chapter grew to include several new programs including a Sunday school, youth programs, and Camp Volasuca, a summer camp in Sultan. In 1971 and 1974, through many local partnerships, new camp facilities were built including a large and small A-frame and a bathhouse. In 1985, the national office granted a charter to begin to operate as a Washington State nonprofit corporation. Our Ministry of Service VOA is a movement of faith in action, an ecumenical community of faith united in service to God and to humanity. Our Christian spiritual foundation truly sets Volunteers of America apart from most other human services organizations. Compassion, healing, and hope motivate us. These building blocks of our faith have led us to create programs and services that go to the heart of our community's needs, serving our most vulnerable neighbors. Need a logo? Please reach out to our Marketing and Communications team at communications@voaww.org and we would be happy to assist!