God's Li'l Acre is a hygiene and community kitchen program in the Lake City Neighborhood of Seattle. As of February 2019, we began receiving City of Seattle Funding to expand hours of operation to be open from 9am - 4pm. Morning or afternoon volunteers are welcome, with a particular interest in volunteers from NE Seattle. If volunteers live in the area served by the day center, neighborly relationships and connections with people experiencing homelessness carry over into everyday interactions - in which we are no longer strangers to one another.
Activities at GLA include: personal storage, community kitchen, clothing depot, laundry, showers, phone, mail distribution, internet, resources, referral and companionship. The number of guests who visit GLA range from 50-60 people. Guests generally range in age from 35-60 years, who are typically single male from a variety of backgrounds. Many guests could be described as chronically homeless with numerous challenges that make it difficult to find housing and employment. Although challenges may include disability, anger management, experiences of abuse, broken relationships, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental illnesses; volunteers and staff at GLA seek to affirm the creativity, resiliency, generosity, skills, assets and giftedness of each person. The center becomes a place of peace and respite amidst the chaos of peoples lives. In the dynamic of comings and goings of people, the staff of volunteers, interns and community ministers are witness to many experiences of grace. The center practices modalities of person-centred, trauma-informed companionship with persons experiencing homelessness.
