Our mission: Serving People In Need.
We do this by providing free meal services, vocational training, a drop in center, resources, information,
and community meeting space for all.
Thanks for reading SPIN news! In this issue:
Volunteer Profile: Susan Ho - A Message From Our Founder - Partner Profile: St. Stephens Episcopal Church
We do this by providing free meal services, vocational training, a drop in center, resources, information,
and community meeting space for all.
Thanks for reading SPIN news! In this issue:
Volunteer Profile: Susan Ho - A Message From Our Founder - Partner Profile: St. Stephens Episcopal Church
SPIN Volunteer Profile: Susan Ho
“Four years… minus, about… a month.”
Susan Ho has been showing up every Tuesday since she met SPIN Cafe founder Vivian Rogers-Decker.
Susan, sharing a smile at left with SPIN’s Mary Amerson, says the doors had just opened four years ago when "I attended an open house at SPIN, met Vivian, and within two weeks I was volunteering.”
She's been there every week since, unless she’s out of town. Four years is a huge commitment. But Susan’s resolve is just as strong as the day she started. In fact, she feels richer for the experience.
“I get so much more in return than I put in,” she says. “I can’t even imagine what must be happening” when people end up experiencing homelessness. “Everyone has a different story” about how they ended up with no place to stay. “There's as many stories as there are people.” When she gets a chance to talk to people, real people, look in their eyes and hear those stories, Susan said she’s happy our community is finally stepping up and realizing homeless people are our neighbors.
Lately, Susan has been recruiting volunteers for The Haven, a new overnight shelter in Oak Harbor. She is shocked, every year, to hear the numbers climbing after the annual Point In Time count of people experiencing homelessness right here on Whidbey. Hundreds of people, without a secure place to stay, live among us, and it just makes her more determined to make a difference.
SPIN's Mary Amerson suggested featuring Susan in this newsletter. "Susan is a wonderful volunteer at SPIN Café," says Mary. "She has made a huge contribution to what we do; she is empathetic, genuine, and above all supportive to our guests. All of us at SPIN appreciate everything Susan does to make a difference in our guests' lives.
A few weeks ago, Susan was serving dinner at SPIN, and "a young man came in, maybe twenty years old. He ate his meal but didn’t really talk to anyone. We hadn’t seen him before. After he ate, he hung around a bit until there weren’t many people left, and he asked, so politely, if any of us knew of a place he could stay that night.”
Again Susan said, “I can’t even imagine. Without a roof over his head, he must be in survival mode every day.” Susan wonders how anyone can pull themselves back from that situation when it’s already hard to find a job if someone is clean and well dressed; how hard must it be when that young man wakes up after a long cold night and can’t even get a shower or a hot cup of coffee?
SPIN Café, Susan said, “gets people to a different place, a better place. And I’m glad if I can help just a little bit.”
“Four years… minus, about… a month.”
Susan Ho has been showing up every Tuesday since she met SPIN Cafe founder Vivian Rogers-Decker.
Susan, sharing a smile at left with SPIN’s Mary Amerson, says the doors had just opened four years ago when "I attended an open house at SPIN, met Vivian, and within two weeks I was volunteering.”
She's been there every week since, unless she’s out of town. Four years is a huge commitment. But Susan’s resolve is just as strong as the day she started. In fact, she feels richer for the experience.
“I get so much more in return than I put in,” she says. “I can’t even imagine what must be happening” when people end up experiencing homelessness. “Everyone has a different story” about how they ended up with no place to stay. “There's as many stories as there are people.” When she gets a chance to talk to people, real people, look in their eyes and hear those stories, Susan said she’s happy our community is finally stepping up and realizing homeless people are our neighbors.
Lately, Susan has been recruiting volunteers for The Haven, a new overnight shelter in Oak Harbor. She is shocked, every year, to hear the numbers climbing after the annual Point In Time count of people experiencing homelessness right here on Whidbey. Hundreds of people, without a secure place to stay, live among us, and it just makes her more determined to make a difference.
SPIN's Mary Amerson suggested featuring Susan in this newsletter. "Susan is a wonderful volunteer at SPIN Café," says Mary. "She has made a huge contribution to what we do; she is empathetic, genuine, and above all supportive to our guests. All of us at SPIN appreciate everything Susan does to make a difference in our guests' lives.
A few weeks ago, Susan was serving dinner at SPIN, and "a young man came in, maybe twenty years old. He ate his meal but didn’t really talk to anyone. We hadn’t seen him before. After he ate, he hung around a bit until there weren’t many people left, and he asked, so politely, if any of us knew of a place he could stay that night.”
Again Susan said, “I can’t even imagine. Without a roof over his head, he must be in survival mode every day.” Susan wonders how anyone can pull themselves back from that situation when it’s already hard to find a job if someone is clean and well dressed; how hard must it be when that young man wakes up after a long cold night and can’t even get a shower or a hot cup of coffee?
SPIN Café, Susan said, “gets people to a different place, a better place. And I’m glad if I can help just a little bit.”
A note from Vivian Hello friends, Thank you for your ongoing support for SPIN Cafe! Exciting things are happening here on North Whidbey that make me so proud to be a part of this community. The Haven is keeping people safe from the elements overnight. Law enforcement and social services are teaming up to help people move out of opioid dependency. And SPIN Cafe continues to serve increasing numbers of guests. What does this mean? It means we all have more work to do. That includes finding a new place for SPIN, a permanent place where we can continue to serve our community in a space that allows us to prepare meals, offer guests a safe place in the daytime, and possibly even achieve our founding goal of laundry and shower services on site for people in need. Thanks to our capital fund committee, there's now a way for you to be a part of that effort. We need to raise $100,000 in cash and pledges. That's a huge step but we continue to believe we can make it happen. Thanks again for everything you've done for us. - Vivian Rogers Decker Founder and President Spin Cafe Share our news on facebook! Tweet us to your feed! Forward our news to a friend! |
Sponsor Profile:
St. Stephens Episcopal Church SPIN Cafe would like to recognize St. Stephen's Church for their continuous support, doing "small things regularly" to assist our mission. Rev. Rilla Barrett, St. Stephen's Priest-in-Charge, readily admits "SPIN is a favorite of ours" when parishioners share what they have with their neighbors. Rev. Barrett volunteers serving dinners when she can, as do members of the church. St. Stephen's is known for their creative ways of raising donations for SPIN and numerous other causes around town. At a Valentine's Day "Love Song Singalong," donations went to SPIN for every dedication and request to the piano player. Clever! Many thanks from SPIN Cafe to our friends at St. Stephen's. Strong community partnerships allow us to welcome our guests and serve them well. Come visit us. We'd love to meet you and we can always use your donations of coffee, tea, cocoa, and lemonade. Thank you! Spin Cafe is located at: 658 SE Bayshore Drive Next to the Oak Harbor bus station. We need your help! Donate via Paypal or
Mail a check: PO Box 2438 Oak Harbor WA 98277 |