Fundraiser raises $420,000 for homeless families

John Camerer, Vision House Director of Operations and Co-founder, Ally Svenson, Co-founder of MOD Pizza, Melissa Gehrig, Executive Director, and Bill Northey, board president, pose for a photo during the May 15 fundraiser event.

Guests and event sponsors at Vision House’s No Homeless Kids Benefit Luncheon helped exceed fundraising expectations by raising $420,000 for local homeless families.

This event, held at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, raised more money by far for homeless families than any event previously held by Vision House. All proceeds will go toward providing crucial transitional housing and support services for homeless parents and children served by Vision House’s Renton and Shoreline locations.

Guest speaker, Ally Svenson, Co-founder of MOD Pizza, spoke last Tuesday, May 15th, about how they too address local homelessness. She resonated strongly with guests especially when she stated 

“We refer to what we are doing as enlightened capitalism, meaning we’re proud to be unapologetically for profit, but whose purpose it is to make a positive social impact.” 

Over 550 guests attended the event and heard from a former Vision House resident, who spoke about her experiences in recovering from family homelessness.

This event was sponsored by Clint and Shelly Morse; Toyota of Renton; Conner Homes; Dunn Lumber; Facebook Seattle; The Mosaic Company; Red Hat; First Choice Health; Rick and Marilyn Wong; Spectrum Controls; Brighton Jones, LLC; Ballard Industrial; Crossroads Bible Church; Fischer Plumbing, Inc.; Grass CPA and Associates; Lil’ Jon Restaurant; Sprague Israel Giles, Inc.; Tito’s Handmade VODKA; Cardinal Heating and A/C, Inc; Madigan Security Consulting and Investigations; Seattle Seahawks; 425 Magazine; The SnapBar; Bellden Café; and Jan Domek Photography.

Vision House is a non-profit organization providing transitional housing, child care and support services to homeless families. Since its beginning in 1990, the faith-based organization has served more than 1,200 homeless children, women, and men, each receiving the support they need for achieving independence and self-sufficiency. Headquartered in Renton, the agency currently owns and operates 36 units of debt-free housing and two child care facilities in Shoreline and Renton with ten more housing units scheduled to be constructed at the Shoreline location later this year.