About Mary's Place Seattle
Since 1999, Mary’s Place has helped thousands of women and families move out of homelessness into more stable situations. Mary’s Place currently provides emergency shelter and wraparound services at two sites, in South Lake Union and temporarily in Downtown Seattle, pending the completion of their new Burien family shelter by mid-2027. The King County Family Emergency Intake Line, operated by Mary’s Place on behalf of the County, continues to get 40-50 calls a day from families asking for help. With shelters full every night, Mary’s Place is leaning into our mobile outreach and prevention programs to support as many families in need as possible.
William E Wockner's Impact
The grant from the William E. Wockner Foundation is being utilized for general operations, in support of Mary’s Place’s critical programs and services, including their approach to prevention, outreach, and shelter for families and children experiencing homelessness in the community. Overall, this past year has brought on many unique and unplanned variables, as the government and economy continue to fluctuate. Mary’s Place is seeing immense challenges around the increasing cost of living, and recent limitations on federal resources and benefits are negatively impacting both families and community health and human service provider partners across the region. The flexible funding provided by the William E. Wockner Foundation is critical in allowing us to adjust programs and services to best address the ever-changing needs of the families we serve.
Success Stats
Mary’s Place Outreach program is seeing that unhoused families face complex barriers when attempting to qualify for subsidized or low-income housing units. With an increasing income-wage gap, families often do not meet the qualification threshold of making two times the rent to qualify based on income, which severely restricts available housing options, even those specifically designated as low-income.
Additionally, King County’s Coordinated Entry system (central access for housing resources) currently has fewer resources available than the need requires, which leads to longer waiting periods and less certainty for housing placements. In the Prevention program, Mary’s Place is seeing families overburdened by rent, increasing evictions (up 66% since pre-pandemic levels), and utilities that are sometimes higher than rent for those with a subsidy. In this region, tax credit properties have very high rents and mostly cater to folks making 60%+ AMI, while most families served by Mary’s Place are at or below 30% AMI.
Since this grant began in February 2026 through the end of July 2026, Mary’s Place has served 905 families (3,095 individuals) through shelter, outreach, and prevention, including 1,794 children under the age of 18. In this same time frame, Mary’s Place has helped 243 families move directly from shelter or via mobile outreach into stable housing, and their Prevention team has provided critical financial assistance to help 257 families remain safely housed.