Grace Lutheran Church Creates Hopefor Others

Grace Lutheran Church beganholding worship servicesalmost 70 years ago, beforethe city of Bellevue was evenincorporated. Over the years,there were many memoriescreated through friendships,weddings, births, baptismsand funerals. The church’srelationship in the communitygrew deep roots with localorganizations to includeCongregations for theHomeless, The Sophia Way,LifeWire, Matthew House,Lutheran CounselingNetwork, and Congregations for Kids. To these and many otherorganizations, Grace Lutheran gave time, money, meals, and hope.

In recent years, Grace Lutheran was faced with hard questionsabout their sustainability, so the church council formed a task forceto work through the process of determining the best steps movingforward. After a thoughtful process, church members ultimatelychose to sell the church property and use the assets of that sale tocontinue their long legacy of giving back to the community. Guidedby feedback from the congregation, they chose to emphasizehelping the most vulnerable in the community by making an impacton the homeless and affordable housing crisis on the Eastside.

After 70 years, Grace Lutheran held its last worship service onSunday, March 3, 2019, and gave a major farewell gift to over 25community institutions and nonprofit organizations. In an interviewwith Imagine Housing, Grace Lutheran Committee Members GailD’Alessio, Marcia Bodin and Howard Johnson said, “We didsomething that helped. And that’s what matters. We’re grateful thatwe were able to do as much as we did.”

Earlier this year, Imagine Housing was extremely blessed to receivea generous gift of one million dollars from Grace Lutheran Church.The gift has inspired a new name for an Imagine Housing property,which will soon be called Grace Place. There are not enough wordsto describe our gratitude to Grace Lutheran Church and theirmembers. Their generosity and compassion will affect the lives of somany who are in need within our community.

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Save the Date!

July 13: LGBTQ Allyshipwill host its inauguralLGBTQ+ North SeattleHousing Fair from from11am to 3pm at MapleLeaf Lutheran Church. Theevent program will includeNorth Seattle resources,an intergenerationalLGBTQ+ panel, LGBTQrenters’ rights training,community artistperformance, andcommunity networkingopportunities.

July 18: Sign up forLunch & Learn at ImagineHousing's Velocitycommunity in Kirkland,

https://one.bidpal.net/raisetheroof/welcomehttps://imaginehousing.org/get-involved/events/lunch-learn-with-imagine-housing/https://imaginehousing.org/get-involved/donate/https://imaginehousing.org/why-housing-matters/https://www.facebook.com/imagineHousing/https://twitter.com/imaginehousinghttps://www.instagram.com/imaginehousing/https://www.linkedin.com/company/imagine-housinghttp://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-3110312http://allyship.org/event/lgbtq-north-seattle-housing-fair/https://imaginehousing.org/get-involved/events/lunch-learn-with-imagine-housing/

In the church's closing days in early June, Grace Lutheran organizeda gifting event to distribute their last remaining furniture andkitchen items to the community. A new Imagine Housing residentwho was formerly homeless came to the gifting event and churchmembers were thrilled to be able to provide dishes at no cost forher and her children to use in their new affordable home. Eventhrough this last chapter in the life of their church, Grace Lutheranmembers have been inspired to help. They hope their story mightinspire other organizations in similar circumstances to find solutionsto help those in need.

Thank You 30Bellevue Bed Donors

We want to give a huge shout out to our community of donors andsupporters who have helped us so much already at 30Bellevue, ournewest community for families and individuals. Our residents areextremely grateful to the individual donors and to Microsoft RealEstate Services, who stepped forward with a sizable grant, toensure that each new household has new beds, bedding and ahandmade quilt made by St. Luke’s congregation.

Make Some Noise for AffordableHousing!

Thursday, July 18 from11:45 am to 1:00 pm.(See article in mainnewsletter for moreinformation.)

Oct 2: Tickets are on salenow for Raise the Roof!Make some noise foraffordable housing at thisfun-filled eventWednesday, October 2nd. (See article in mainnewsletter for moreinformation.)

https://one.bidpal.net/raisetheroof/welcome

Join us for a fun-filled event with great people, music, food andlibations! Enjoy creative, exciting appetizers and desserts fromsome of our favorite chefs and restaurants in the community—allaccompanied by tastings from amazing wineries, distilleries andbreweries.

VIP tickets include a Whiskey 101 Class & Tasting presented by JohnHowie Steak’s “Spirit Director” Tim Lodahl. This 60 minute class willinclude the opportunity to taste some of the best whiskeys in town!

Proceeds will support our Imagine 1000 goal of serving 2,400people in 1,000 affordable homes by 2022.

Tickets are on sale!

Sponsored by:

Thank you to our fabulous partners for the evening! Stay tuned, as more are being added each day.

https://one.bidpal.net/raisetheroof

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Like us on Facebook and join the conversation! Get updates oncurrent events in affordable housing, volunteer opportunities andphoto updates from Imagine Housing.

Come Have Lunch with Us

Each quarter, Imagine Housing hosts lunch at Velocity, our award-winning community in Kirkland, for people to becomemore informed about the housing affordability crisis in King County.

Register here to join us for the next Imagine Housing Lunch & Learnto be held on Thursday, July 18, 2019 from 11:45 AM-1:00 PM.

This short educational lunch program offers an overview ofour mission, programs, goals, and most importantly, how you canhelp. We promise you'll learn a lot, meet other like-minded peopleand get more connected to the Eastside.

https://www.facebook.com/ImagineHousing/https://www.facebook.com/ImagineHousing/https://imaginehousing.org/get-involved/events/lunch-learn-with-imagine-housing/