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Marguerite Butler is happy to talk – about herself, about her friends, about her hometown – but her gratitude is the first thing a stranger notices.

She’s grateful for SPiN Cafe, for the meals, for the companionship, for the times when she could get out of the cold at SPiN’s old location. She’s grateful for the Haven shelter, where she sleeps most nights. So grateful, in fact, that she’s the last to leave because she cleans the restroom every morning.

Most of all, she’s grateful for Compass Health in Coupeville, where she gets treatment for her struggles with bipolar disorder.

Butler grew up right here on North Whidbey Island. On a June day, she finishes a SPiN Cafe sack meal and saves a few bites in a ziplock bag – “for the squirrels.” With a smile, Butler relaxes on the grass by the restroom in Flintstone Park with her friend Jeanie. Jeanie grew up on Whidbey too, and at age 48 finds herself without a home. She spends nights at the Haven and days searching for a place to stay safe. She feels safe with her good friend Marguerite.

Butler glances at her buddy, and says they were two of the 24 guests at the Haven the night before.

“At least ten were women,” she says. “That’s important. It’s important that homeless women have a place to go.”

Marguerite has been living homeless since last fall, after retiring on disability from a career with the Postal Service. “I worked hard all my life. I started working for my dad’s business in Oak Harbor when I was eleven. I worked ever since. You think homeless people just need to get a job? I’ve had jobs and worked all that time, and here I am. Homeless.”

COVID has added tons of pressure. Asked if she’s on a list for housing, she says “they’re not even taking names! I can’t reach anybody, I don’t get called back. I spend so much time on the phone trying to get a place to live, my battery dies. And the pay phones around town are either gone or broken. And the library’s closed, so I can’t get on line to find resources that will get me off the street.”

Two Oak Harbor PD officers pull up to chat. One has known Marguerite for years.

“I’ve always wondered,” he asks her, grinning, “where’d you get that nickname?”

“What nickname?”

“Peachie. Why do people call you Peachie?”

Marguerite’s smile lights up her face. “Well, my daddy called me that when I was a little baby. I had peach fuzz all over my head.” The memory of a happy childhood on Whidbey Island has pulled her away from today’s struggles, just for a minute… thanks to a little friendly banter with a police officer.  

Peachie wants to find housing in Everett. It’s close to Seattle, where she has friends. The bus service is more regular. She stands a better chance of getting a place to live there. But Compass Health is keeping her here for now. “They’re such good people over there. They make sure I’m staying healthy, and they’re good advocates for me.”

“I’ll always call Whidbey Island home,” she says. “This is where I’m from. And for the people who say homeless folks just show up from out of town, looking for a handout…” Peachie glances at Jeanie again, a defiant catch rising in her voice. “…this is our home. And we are so grateful to our neighbors for standing up for us and keeping us alive.”

From Your SPiN Executive Director

SPiN Cafe’s feeding program has grown 250% since switching to sack meal distribution in March. Last month, May 2020, we served an amazing 527 meals at Flintstone Park on Bayshore Drive.

We are delighted to have seven local churches volunteer to make and distribute these vital meals to those in need in our community six days a week, Monday through Saturday. These volunteers donate over 500 hours per month in order to maintain our program. Our guests express their appreciation on a regular basis.

In addition, SPiN has reinstituted laundry services, enjoyed by over 40 guests per month. Our outreach to guests also has provided coordination of clothing and toiletry needs with Garage of Blessings, and we coordinate when needed with Island County Human Services for assistance with our guests’ needs.

We currently anticipate that our sack meal program will continue at least through September and possibly beyond. We appreciate the great commitment from the large number of volunteers who make this a success.

Passersby, and in some instances our guests themselves, donate money at Flintstone Park to keep this program going. It takes a strong and dedicated community to care for our vulnerable neighbors, and we are grateful to the citizens of Oak Harbor and all of Whidbey Island for standing behind our efforts.

Dear SPiN Cafe Supporter,

Please take a moment to review our quarterly newsletter.

We, on the SPiN Board, have worked with our staff in the last couple months to adapt to the Covid 19 situation and to focus on what we have done since the beginning…feed folks in need.

Things change but some things do not change…What does not change is the need for people to eat. We, at SPiN, have worked to continue our feeding program and we have done that well.

A simple idea: A few dollars enables us to make one more sandwich for one more sack lunch to serve one more of our homeless neighbors.

Imagine you do not have a washer and dryer…Our laundry service has been able to serve those that do not. We are also connecting folks to a shower program. These are seemingly small things but become huge to those in need.

I commend our staff, volunteers, and board members who all reach out to serve our neighbors in need. I appreciate them and thank them for their service.

In an effort to keep SPiN supporters and friends up to date on what we are doing, please be sure we have your email address, and ask your friends to share theirs with us. You can easily do that by sending them to spincafeoh@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Bob Wall
President, SPiN Board

A note from Tom Saunders:

Together with our fabulous volunteers and their churches, SPiN Cafe is now serving sack meals to our guests SIX DAYS A WEEK, from Monday through Saturday! The most recent to join our outstanding group is the Oak Harbor United Methodist Church. Janice Hayes and her team will be preparing meals and serving on Saturdays, beginning May 2nd. With the recent addition of Friday service beginning on May 1st, we have grown from serving three days a week on March 17th with 3 churches, to a total of 7 churches participating today. Dreams do come true!

SPiN Cafe sack meals are served beginning at 12:15 PM in front of Flintstone Park on Bayshore Drive in Oak Harbor. SPiN and our guests are deeply grateful to the seven churches participating: St. Stephen’s Episcopal, Church on the Rock, Christian Reformed, Living Word, Whidbey Presbyterian, Oak Harbor Lutheran, and Oak Harbor United Methodist.

I would like to thank everyone for their tremendous support and the efforts you have made to provide this essential need to members of our local community who are less fortunate. We are all thanked daily by each of them for the food provided. I would also like to thank Laurel Fagan for joining the SPiN Cafe team and coordinating this program on a daily basis. We are making our island a better place with each meal we serve.

To our Faith Community leaders, thank you for your guidance and prayers which has led us all together to this calling.

In Christ,

Tom Saunders
Spin Cafe Board Member
Executive Director (acting)

SPiN Cafe announced today that we will restart our laundry services this week, which is tremendous news. The program was on hold for over a month to protect the health of our guests and staff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Thursday, April 30, SPiN will provide washing and drying at no charge at the Dutch Maid Laundry, 75 S.E. Barrington Drive, in Oak Harbor.

This will be a weekly service, every Thursday from 6:30 – 9:30 AM. Guests will be asked to follow social distancing precautions on site.

Guests at our Flintstone Park lunch service are welcome to sign up for Thursday laundry with Laurel. This isn’t a requirement, just a way to let her know you’re coming.

SPiN’s laundry services will be extra helpful to overnight guests at the Haven shelter, who will be dropped off by the Haven’s bus right in front of the Dutch Maid if they need to wash their clothes. This will be an extra level of support and will provide a little dignity for these citizens, who have no reliable place of their own to sleep, and no other way to get their laundry done.

Many thanks to SPiN’s Laurel Fagan, who will host and assist our guests, and to Fran Stevens for putting the Haven bus schedule together.

Today’s announcement brings SPiN Cafe right back to our roots. As an advocate for local school kids whose families were struggling financially, SPiN founder Vivian Rogers-Decker saw the need for a place in our community where families wouldn’t have to choose between clean laundry and food or other crucial expenses.

Clean clothes, which most of us take for granted, lead to self confidence and dignity. And they might make it just a little easier to climb out of hard times. So clean clothes have been a part of what we do since the very beginning.

The laundry program is funded through donations, and we can always use your help. To support us, please donate here. Thank you to the many generous members of our community who make this vital part of our mission possible.