Help us support the essential work of Teen Feed by participating in our Spring Matching Campaign! With YOUR help, we can reach our fundraising goal. Any amount helps.
Donate now and Swansons Nursery will match the first $5,000 in donations!
About Teen Feed
For over 35 years Teen Feed has offered homeless youth a hot, nutritious meal 365 days a year, plus essential support to find housing, job training, and health care. Here are some of their stories:
Chantal and her brother Storm
Chantal is 14, and her favorite food is canned peaches. She and her 18-year-old brother Storm began camping in Ravenna Park full-time when their mom committed suicide, to avoid another foster home. Teen Feed’s backpack teams brought daily soup and sandwiches for weeks before Storm told them he loved Eddie Vedder. The team invited him to a meal Teen Feed where a volunteer Advocate became a trusted guide and encouraged him to access job training and housing resources. Yesterday Storm played “Society” on the piano at our nightly meal to a round of loud applause. He has no formal training. He is beginning the process of obtaining legal custody of his sister. “I didn’t trust anybody until Teen Feed, and I didn’t know where to go.”
Dania
Dania is 210 days sober. A sexual assault by a relative sparked Dania’s journey to the street. She came to Teen Feed for addiction support and safe housing. Despite all that, she just began a database training program and she returns to Teen Feed dinners to share her success. She stays on a couch with a tribal family member, but it’s a vulnerable time in her recovery, so recently her staff contact Jerred, also a tribal member, introduced her to our YMCA mental health partnership at the dinner program. They provide her with 2 months of support and independent housing. That springboard has allowed her to continue to move forward on her journey. Dania wants to enroll in a vulnerable youth guardian program this May. “I’m safe when I’m here, and I can take that with me when I go. Thank you – you saved my life…”
Tah
Backpack teams dropped off maps to Teen Feed and Tah, encouraged by his homeless friend Ed, came in looking for educational resources. Tah is American Somoan, and soon after a stepfather moved his family to Seattle, they fought and he lived on the streets. His English is poor. Teen Feed organized translation services, supplied a backpack and clothing, and organized a place at the Roots Shelter. He is training in construction through an internship we facilitated. Even though he earns his own money, he stays at the shelter to best leverage dollars and save. Teen Feed keeps his bag of markers at meals, labeled with his name by his favorite advocate Jeeane, allowing him to create vibrant “pe’a” and “malu” on youth arms, a comforting cultural symbol. Tah comes to the meal every night. “Teen Feed is my home.”
Enrico
Enrico is a nonbinary Spanish-speaking youth recently out of an abusive relationship with an extensive history of sexual abuse. He regards a cucumber as a fruit, not a vegetable, and will argue the point. He has housing but comes to Teen Feed meals to play UNO with Advocate Marcell, who recently helped him enroll in trauma counseling. Marcell recently arranged a job interview with Amazon for Enrico. That’s the power of the Teen Feed network. “Teen Feed takes me as I am, and that means I don’t have to defend myself. In a way, it makes me accountable to myself, not to anybody else.”
Malik
Malik attends UW and wants to become a personal trainer. His favorite volunteer advocate, Faris, is a middle-aged dad type and he likes that. “I always had a good relationship with my dad.” Rashid started his journey at dinner. Because he is Islamic he needed a place thoughtful about his dietary restrictions and sensitive and welcoming to cultural diversity. Teen Feed has vegan and non-pork choices at meals. Malik lives with 8 other students in a crowded flat so he loves getting out of the house. “I’d rather come here. Teen Feed just listens better.”
Every donation makes a difference! Even as little as $5 provides a healthy meal to a young person, plus the vital connections they need to help rebuild their life off the street.
$50 provides a nutritious, home-cooked meal to 6 young people.
$100 provides a young person with a week of meals, shelter, a mailing address, and a WA State Identification card.
$250 ensures access to meals and basic needs items for up to 40 young people.
$1,500 provides 6 months of one-on-one support coordination for a young person transitioning off the streets.
$5,000 provides 500 meals - enough to cover one full week of meal programs for homeless and at-risk young people.
Gifts are fully tax-deductible. No goods or services were exchanged with the donor for any part of this contribution. Teen Feed is a 501c3 nonprofit organization EIN Tax ID 94-3034862.
Learn more at www.teenfeed.org