On February 17, 2017, Hopelink opened a new, 12,000-square-foot integrated service center in Shoreline, Washington, as part of a more substantial community resource – The Ronald Commons. A partnership between Compass Housing Alliance, Hopelink, and the Ronald Methodist Church, the commons strive to offer homeless, disabled, and low-income families fully-integrated facilities that can meet their immediate housing, food, and family needs while providing a safe, nurturing environment.
The Hopelink Integrated Service Center features a large grocery store food bank; support services for adult education, career and family development, energy assistance and financial planning; and programs intended to provide less fortunate families with the tools and resources to exit poverty permanently.
Along with Hopelink’s service center, the Ronald Commons is home to 60 affordable apartments for homeless and low-income families, as well as a playground, walking path, and community spaces.
Hopelink is a non-profit organization devoted to serving homeless and low-income families throughout King and Snohomish Counties by offering food, transportation, adult education, financial assistance, employment services, energy assistance, family development, and housing to provide stability and the skills and tools for families and individuals to rise out of poverty for good.
The new facility provides Hopelink with a larger, improved services center to help more people. It acts as a model for future, comprehensive partnerships between organizations to provide aid to the less fortunate and hopefully, one day, end poverty and homeless in the Pacific Northwest.
“The Ronald Commons represent how partnerships can change lives and make better communities,” Wesley Bergquist, Project Manager for OAC Services, said. “You have three major non-profits who have come together and created a place where people can get help with housing, food, safety, and education – the essential needs to pull themselves out of poverty. I’m proud to have been part of this project, and thankful I live in a place where organizations like this can create community resources that do so much.”
OAC was selected by Hopelink to provide project, construction, and development management services for this unique project. During the project, OAC’s services supported Hopelink’s fundraising, and grant and funding applications. They included collaborating with representatives from Hopelink, Compass Housing Alliance, and the Ronald Methodist Church.