We hear this every day from families who are overwhelmed as they struggle to find the assistance they need. Try as they might, as one Dad put it, “You keep knocking on the wrong door because you just don’t know.” 

One of our in-person specialists, Rachel, met Jacob and his family in Alderwood at a community center outreach event. Jacob recently moved to the United States and was looking for employment. He was also hoping to find support for his family during the transition, but was noticeably confused by what he needed to do to get healthcare for his young children. So, Rachel sat down with Jacob and helped him enroll his children in Washington Apple Health. She then suggested a community health center near their home that would take Apple Health and provided sliding scale services for him and his wife. Additionally, Rachel connected Jacob to the Lynnwood Food Bank for fresh food and signed him up for Orca LIFT, a reduced bus fare program on Sound Transit, to help him get to job interviews.

Jacob is just one of the thousands of clients we are directly supporting in King and Snohomish Counties. Every day we meet many more “Jacobs” who need help with immediate and long-term support and services.