News

Shannon McLeod sensed a lull, and decided to do something about it.

When Oak Harbor’s Living Word Church put programs on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McLeod, the congregation’s Discipleship Pastor, saw members of the Legacy internship program facing isolation and searching for purpose.

“These are people in training for the ministry, and the stay-at-home orders have been hard because they’re used to having something to work on. They are young adults, not just adults, which I think makes it even harder to be isolated and stagnant. Even though they live in a group situation, they still faced that lack of motivation.”

With SPiN Cafe’s sack meal program, Pastor McLeod’s interns found a chunk of that purpose they needed. Through parishioner Gerry Fitzgerald, a regular volunteer at The Haven overnight shelter, McLeod connected with SPiN’s board member Tom Saunders.

“I was amazed,” says Saunders. “Shannon contacted me out of the blue, we discussed details on a Friday, and they were down here serving lunches on Monday.”

Pastor McLeod chuckles in agreement. “We jumped on it, and mobilized.” And now she sees the energy returning to her young interns. “They were commenting on how good it feels to get to be a part of such an important contributing factor for our community. They feel blessed to be a blessing.”

As to a relationship between Living Word and SPiN Cafe in the future, whatever a “new normal” looks like, Pastor McLeod takes a positive approach with a wait-and-see attitude. The church has a few local partners that they work with, and SPiN is “on our radar, so we need to hear what the needs are and continue to assess.”

And pray, of course.

For now, SPiN is grateful for the help, the service, and the blessing of Living Word’s interns.

To our guests and valued supporters,

Thanks to the warm generosity of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and the Church on the Rock, SPiN has been serving dinners three days a week, since this past December, at their locations.

Beginning this week, as a precautionary measure to limit the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19, those buildings are unavailable to us. We will make an announcement as soon as the threat of exposure is eliminated and the churches have reopened.

Meanwhile, the good news: sack meals will be available!

Continue reading “SPiN Cafe sack meals available now”

Dear guests, volunteers, and supporters of SPiN Cafe,

We’ve searched for over two months to locate a new place for our coffee shop and dinner service, since our landlord announced that we would need to vacate our long-time space on Bayshore by December 31.

The good news is that, in the midst of ongoing support from churches, pastors, and individuals from all over our local faith community, two amazing congregations in our city have stepped up to partner with us, agreeing to host midweek dinners beginning this week.

Continue reading “Churches to host SPiN meals”

SPiN Cafe is sorry to announce that Mark Martenson, SPiN’s Support Services Coordinator, is leaving the organization after three years of service to the community’s most vulnerable members.

“Mark has a knack for connecting with people who struggle. We will miss his creative and empathetic way of advocating for our guests living in the most challenging situations,” said SPiN founder and Executive Director Vivian Rogers Decker.

Mark was a passionate champion for SPiN’s guests, and an engaging teller of their daily success stories that go unnoticed by the public: The man released from prison who found a stable job and housing. The single mom who worked her way out of the shelter and into financial stability. The young, struggling couple who finally found their way off the street and into an apartment. 

“Sometimes, even the SPiN staff doesn’t hear the story,” Martenson said. “We’ll see a guest for a few weeks, then they stop coming in. We might hear a year later that they’re in solid employment and have a decent place to stay. As much as we emphasize dignity and respect in the way we work with our guests, it’s still not something people want to acknowledge: that they received free services. But there are hundreds of stories like this, just in my three years here.”

Mark’s position will be filled by Jayla Lawing, who graduated last month from Skagit Valley College.

Laken Sennett, recently featured in a SPiN article, will step in to fill the gap created by the changes. Tangiler London will continue as our Food Service Coordinator.

Best of luck to you, Mark, and we thank you for your service. 

Welcome and congratulations, Laken!