February

February at SYM

Cold Weather

Cold Weather has hit Seattle. What this means for the SYM Community is the work of survival is getting harder. When survival becomes paramount, it's difficult to look at factors that provide for coping and moving beyond circumstances. This week, a client was heard saying, "being homeless in cold weather is a full-time job". Indeed. Finding services that are open throughout the day that welcome your age-group, provide resources that keep you fed and warm is a full-time job.

When it gets below freezing at night, King County declares a severe weather emergency. This means that warming centers providing shelter are opened, but finding out what these are is not obvious. SYM is on the list of warming centers, which means we welcome any age-group during Drop-In hours. In the cold and windy weather, cardboard boxes are broken down for cover and protection, handwarmers are important to give a bit of warmth. Clients that are in transitional housing are opening doors for others that need shelter. And we show up Monday - Friday to open our doors and provide warmth, food and conversation at Breakfast Program, Drop-In Center and on outings. 

We are a community, and we take care of each other. 

Urgent Needs for Clients

* hand and toe warmers

* tents

* backpacks

* sleeping bags

* men's sweat pants

Use the button below to order, or bring in donations to our yellow bin located under the stairs at: UPC / 4540 15th Ave Ne / Seattle, WA  98105

Life at SYM in January:

Breakfast Program, Nails, and Aquarium!

Meal Team at SYM

Blog Post by Nancy Kenagy

Reflection from Nancy ---

When I retired from an elementary school teaching career in 2006, I found that there were many ways to fill my days with activities. Exercise, piano lessons, studying foreign languages and quilting were a few of them. A longtime friend asked me if I would like to help her fix a monthly lunch for the Street Youth Ministries Drop In program at UPC. I said yes, and until the spring of 2024 (with the exception of the Covid period) I prepared a monthly lunch for SYM.

Coming Up! 

Winter Bingo!

February 27, 2025 7-8:30pm

Ravenna Brewery

Buy Tickets Here!

Breakfast at Nine

April 26, 2025!

Palmer House / SYM

Save the Date for SYM's biggest fundraising event of the year!

SYM Winter Bingo

February 27, 2025

Ravenna Brewing

RSVP today for an evening of fun and giving to your community!

Bring a friend (or a few!) to come and play Bingo for a chance to win prizes donated by local businesses. 

Your ticket, donations and additional bingo card purchases support SYM fundraising efforts to continue to bring hope and healing to young people in the University District. 

Volunteer Opportunities

Breakfast Program - Contact Alyssa

Volunteers serve breakfast and provide a safe place for clients to hang out first thing in the morning. Volunteer Shift is 8:15 - 9:45 am, M-F

Need volunteers for Monday, Tuesday

Coffee Run - Contact Grace

Go out in a team to distribute coffee, oatmeal and other basic necessities in the University District. Volunteer shift is 9-10:15 am T-TH

Need volunteers for Wednesday

Drop-in Center (DI) - Contact Antonio

DI provides a warm place for clients to get a hot meal, check out the clothing area and more. Volunteer shift is 9:45 - 1:15, M-F

Need volunteers for Monday, Friday

Meal Team - Contact Tracy

Provide a hot meal to DI each day. Meals should be delivered by 10am. Food to fill our freezer and gift cards to restaurants are also welcome!

Admin - Contact Alyssa

Besides our need for volunteers in programs, we also need another volunteer for Admin Help! Come by the SYM office once / week for a couple hours to do some data entry, organizing, etc. 

THANK YOU to Onnuri Church!

On February 8th, We were honored to attend the Annual Gala for the Youth Department to share about SYM and homelessness in general. We enjoyed spending time in your church and thank you for your monetary support!

SYM by the numbers

Number of grateful clients: 

infinite

Number of burritos provided by Teen Feed:

2,000

Number of amazing interns at SYM!

2

Follow SYM on social media - get quick updates of all the happenings! Please like, comment, follow, and share to help us expand our visibility so we can reach more young people who need resources.

"Love life. Engage in it. Give it all you've got. Love it with a passion because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it."

- Maya Angelou