Millionair Club Charity

In 1920 Seattle businessman, Martin G. Johanson, watched from the window of his Pioneer Square office as the line for a local soup kitchen grew longer every day. The men standing in the cold waiting for a hot bowl of soup had lost their jobs due to the national economic downturn after World War I and were desperate for help. Johanson believed the men in line wanted not just a meal, but a chance to earn back their dignity. He rallied friends to that cause and, six months later in March 1921, opened doors to the Millionair Club Charity in a borrowed basement in Pioneer Square. Since that day, the Millionair Club Charity has provided jobs, hot meals and other essential support services to men and women in the greater Seattle area. Nine decades later, throughout Seattle's history of economic boom and bust, the Millionair Club Charity has been constant for the ever-present homeless and unemployed. The charity is named for the way it made Johanson feel — "like a millionaire." But he dropped the "e" because he believed you don't need to be rich to help.

We help those experiencing homelessness, unemployment and underemployment get placed in temporary and permanent jobs, as well as provide the vital support services they need to be successful at work, including meals, showers, laundry, vision care and transitional housing.