A place to call home: Starbucks, Mary’s Place team up to aid families experiencing homelessness

'That first night we slept in the car from 12 to 6 a.m.,' she said. 'At 7 a.m. we went to church and freshened up a bit, and then we went to Mary's Place.'

Mary's Place provides shelter and support services for women, children and families in King County. The non-profit provides not only a safe, warm place to sleep and nutritious meals, but also access to help finding housing, a job, or easier things, like getting a copy of ID required for work or to rent an apartment, said Marty Hartman, executive director of Mary's Place.

'Our goal is for families to be safe and warm tonight and to move into housing tomorrow,' she said.

Mary's Place has provided shelter and services to nearly 600 families so far this year, but with an estimated 2,300 families with children experiencing homelessness in King County, there's a staggering need. To help, Starbucks is partnering with Mary's Place for the No Child Sleeps Outside campaign with a goal of raising $2 million to open and operate another shelter for three years, helping 900 families find permanent housing. The Starbucks Foundation has contributed $250,000; customers can also donate through the Starbucks mobile app from Nov. 15-21 or at the website through December 31: starbucks.nochildsleepsoutside.org.

Six-year-old Treerindia Kaur looks through the window of her mother's car.

Like Kaur, many people are only one crisis away from becoming homeless, said Linda Mitchell, chief communications officer for Mary's Place. 'Forty-seven percent of people are not able to absorb a $400 emergency expense.'

Kaur said that when she arrived at Mary's Place, she had no idea what to expect. She'd never been homeless before. But from the moment she arrived, when she was offered tea from a staff worker, she felt welcomed.

Mary's Place is 'a place for people who are sleeping outside, in a car or in a tent to find food here. To find shelter here. To find everything here,' she said. 'I've never felt like I was left behind here.'

Kaur and her family have lived at Mary's Place for a year while she works full-time to pay off the debt from her eviction and get back into her own home. More than 70 percent of the adult residents at Mary's Place are working - sometimes two or three jobs, said Hartman. 'We know they all deeply love their children and would do anything for them,' she said.

Umlesh Kaur picks up her daughter Treerindia from school.

While parents are working, their children can go to Mary's Place Kids Club for everything from homework help to craft classes to Scouting meetings, birthday celebrations and more. 'It allows kids to be able to be kids and have fun, new experiences and to know they are not defined by where they live,' said Hartman.

Kaur dreams of the day when she can take her furniture out of storage and have a home to call her own again. But along the way, her family has learned the importance of helping others and coming together for a greater good.

'My children, when they came here, they learned how to become a part of a bigger family,' she said. 'That's what Mary's Place has done for them.'

After school Umlesh Kaur makes her daughters Treerindia, 6, left and Eriindia, 10, right, noodles before they head upstairs to Mary's Place Kids Club.