63,000 square foot shelter with private rooms
allows for effective social distancing during unprecedented time,
providing a “home for now” for more than 1,000 family members
annually and offering new model for the future of family shelter
space design
Mary’s Place Family Center in The Regrade—part
of Amazon’s more than $100 million commitment to Mary’s Place — is
a first-of-its-kind family shelter with intentional design features
to foster health and wellness for Mary’s Place families
Mary’s Place and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced today that the
Mary’s Place Family Center in The Regrade, a one-of-a-kind,
permanent family shelter built inside an Amazon office building
with capacity for up to 200 moms, dads, and children experiencing
homelessness each night, is now open. The shelter, which began
housing families at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in Seattle,
is expected to support more than 1,000 family members per year.
Mary’s Place Family Center in The Regrade increased Mary’s Place’s
overall shelter capacity in King County by 40%. It is the largest
family shelter in Washington state at 63,000 square feet and is
nestled within the heart of Amazon’s downtown Seattle
headquarters.
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The eight-floor shelter began welcoming families in March, and
the timing of its opening was critical for families experiencing
homelessness during the COVID-19 outbreak. The unique design, which
includes private rooms, enables Mary’s Place to provide safe,
dignified, and socially distanced accommodation, and the shelter’s
durability allows for extensive deep cleaning practices. The
facility has tripled the size of the Mary’s Place Popsicle Place
program, which provides shelter and support for families
experiencing homelessness with medically-fragile children. The
shelter is also safely supporting Babies Best Start, a Mary’s Place
program for expecting and new moms and their babies.
“At Mary’s Place Family Center in The Regrade, our kids are able
to safely finish school – our employees watch children for extended
hours to support working parents who lost access to childcare – and
moms and dads are able to search for new jobs on new laptops,”
explained Marty Hartman, Executive Director of Mary’s Place. “This
new shelter, opening when it did, has been our saving grace. It was
our neighbors at Amazon who recognized what we needed before we
ever realized it, and this space ensures we don’t have to return
families to homelessness during this unprecedented and trying time.
I always knew this shelter would be a beacon of light in the
community, and the critical support we’ve received from our
neighbors at Amazon and beyond has been life-saving ever since this
pandemic began.”
Born from a unique partnership between Amazon and Mary’s Place,
Mary’s Place Family Center in The Regrade opened just as vulnerable
communities, such as the elderly, low-income families, and families
with members with certain pre-existing conditions, were impacted
disproportionately by the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition to new
families seeking shelter, Mary’s Place moved some of its most
vulnerable families out of other smaller congregate shelters and
into The Regrade, including children with muscular dystrophy,
babies waiting on cleft palate and ear reconstruction surgeries,
older adults aged 60+, and many other families with high-risk
individuals. Nearly one-third of families staying at Mary's Place
have family members who are at high-risk for contracting the virus.
The family center’s intentional layout and dedicated onsite health
services have made it a safe space for families experiencing
homelessness to practice social distancing with access to medical
support and isolation, if needed. In addition, Amazon purchased
critical items for the shelter to give its guests and frontline
staff more peace of mind about their health and safety during the
COVID-19 outbreak, including face protectors, ear thermometers,
medicines, and more.
“The opening of this facility helps to fill a critical gap – a
place for families where they can find safety, access to services,
and begin the process of finding stable permanent housing. I am
appreciative of businesses such as Amazon, who are stepping up to
help those in need and continuing to build a stronger sense of
community,” said Washington Governor Jay Inslee. “Amazon’s
partnership with Mary’s Place helps bring families in from the cold
and rain and helps them find a sense of hope for the future.”
“No family facing an emergency should feel they are without a
place to go,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “This new
emergency shelter will serve hundreds of parents and kids, and
provide pathways to permanent homes. The partnership between Mary’s
Place and Amazon exemplifies the collaborative solutions between
community organizations and local businesses that will help solve
the homelessness crisis in our region and serve our community
during the pandemic.”
“Now more than ever we need strong partnerships and support for
our service providers to help sustain our most vulnerable through
this public health emergency. The opening of the new Mary's Place
shelter came at a crucial moment, helping to mitigate the spread of
COVID-19 and saving lives," said Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.
"Mary’s Place and Amazon are using their unique resources and
skills to address the crisis of families with children living
outside, during this unprecedented time.”
“I’ve long been excited for this shelter to open, but I never
could have imagined how critical the timing would be. I’m so glad
we could provide this safe and dignified space to Mary’s Place
that’s a “home for now” for many,” said John Schoettler, Vice
President, Amazon Global Real Estate and Facilities. “During a time
when it’s so easy to feel isolated and disconnected, I want
everyone at Mary’s Place – the moms, dads, children, and incredible
staff – to know that we are in this together, and they are not
alone.”
To provide Mary’s Place guests privacy, the new shelter is
separated from Amazon’s offices with its own private entrances and
acoustical isolation. Additional features include: a large dining
room for social distancing, an industrial kitchen with commercial
cooking equipment that will serve the entire Mary’s Place
organization, space for Amazon’s legal team to provide pro bono
support – both in person and now virtually – recreation spaces for
children and teens, and more. The proximity of the shelter to
downtown Seattle will help families overcome barriers to housing
through direct access to community services, mass transit,
healthcare and hospital systems, and more.
Amid COVID-19, the unique setup and design of the Mary’s Place
Family Center in The Regrade has served as inspiration for future
Mary’s Place shelters. Mary’s Place recently secured a new
temporary shelter in Seattle’s Central District with ample space
for social distancing, isolation, or quarantine if needed. Read
more about Mary’s Place’s swift and expansive response to COVID-19
across their shelter network here.
About Mary’s Place
Mary’s Place believes that no one’s child should sleep outside.
They provide safe, inclusive shelter and services to support women,
children and families on their journey out of homelessness. Mary's
Place operates seven family night shelters and a day center for
single women experiencing homelessness that offer employment,
housing, and wellness resources. More info is available at
marysplaceseattle.org.
About Amazon in the Community
Amazon is committed to helping more children and young adults,
especially those from underrepresented and underserved communities,
have the resources and skills they need to build their best future.
Amazon focuses on building long-term, innovative, and high impact
programs that leverage Amazon’s unique assets and culture.
Initiatives include Amazon Future Engineer, designed to inspire and
excite tens of thousands of children and young adults from
underserved and underrepresented communities each year to try
computer science, as well as programs that support immediate needs,
including addressing family homelessness through donations and
housing a homeless shelter in its Seattle headquarters, as well as
global relief efforts for people in need following natural
disasters. Read more about how Amazon is providing support for
communities, partners, employees, and customers amid COVID-19
here.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather
than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to
operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews,
1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment
by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets,
Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and
services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit
amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
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