Aujamari Cook, a medical assistant and mother of two, found herself unexpectedly needing to move in late 2021, after the rented home in Renton where she had been staying with relatives was put up for sale. Pregnant with her second child, Cook managed to find an affordable Burien apartment big enough for the three of them, in a location that would work for Cook’s commute and the kids’ school and day care. But the costs associated with the move — deposits, first/last month’s rent, moving expenses — were overwhelming for Cook’s tight budget.
Trying to piece together some help, Cook thought of Wellspring Family Services, a longtime nonprofit helping Seattle families in crisis. Cook’s mother had, in fact, turned to Wellspring for help many years ago; Cook, a child at the time, didn’t know much about that situation but remembered the name, from long ago and from recent word-of-mouth. “I was told they could assist with moving costs, getting you situated into a new home,” she said. “I reached out to Wellspring and they moved very quickly.”
Cook wasn’t alone in her financial predicament: Recent data from the Federal Reserve Board showed that nearly one-third of Americans would not have cash to cover an unexpected $400 expense. Without Wellspring’s help, Cook said, she would have had to let the apartment go and try to find something with lower upfront costs — a challenge, in the Seattle area’s rental market. During a stressful and busy time — she had only recently begun full-time work as a certified medical assistant (graduating from Seattle Central College in November 2021), and her son was born just a few weeks before the family moved to the Burien apartment in January — the money for first/last months’ rent and deposits provided by Wellspring kept her stable. Now, she and her children (she also has a 7-year-old daughter) are in “a very good, level situation,” Cook said.
Wellspring assists families with housing services, counseling, a Family Store with free items for children up to 17 years, an Early Learning Program for preschool students experiencing homelessness, and other services. It works to end family homelessness by preventing it before it happens and intervening early when it does. In 2021, Wellspring assisted more than 41,000 people in its various programs, including 2,888 families specifically helped with housing. Wellspring is one of 13 nonprofit organizations benefiting from readers’ donations to The Seattle Times Fund for Those in Need.
Cobie Sparks-Howard, director of housing services at Wellspring, said Cook was an unusually “self-assisted” client, in that she came to Wellspring having already found an apartment for which she qualified. He said the agency has seen increasing numbers of stories like hers, exacerbated by the pandemic and by the recent lifting of the moratorium on evictions earlier this year. In 2019, Sparks-Howard said, Wellspring was serving about 60 people per month as part of an eviction prevention program; now it’s serving at least 60 people per week.
Peter Drury, Wellspring’s chief strategy officer, said the agency has seen a major leap in those who need help, but that had coincided with a dramatic increase in federal money in 2020 and 2021 due to the CARES Act coronavirus relief package and the American Rescue Plan stimulus package. The organization’s budget went from $15 million in 2019 to $30 million each in 2020, 2021 and 2022. But the current year has been tougher, with federal money tapering off and individual donors “feeling the pinch,” he said, and Wellspring is forecasting that its budget will be reduced to $24 million in 2023.
“It is harder and harder to raise funds,” Drury said, at a time when needs, and inflation, are increasing. Still, he added, the organization is “prepared to increase services if and as we secure increased funding.”
A story like Cook’s, Drury said, is a telling example of what Wellspring strives to do: provide money and services to keep people housed, avoiding the expense and trauma of homelessness. “If we help a family before they’re evicted, it’s way less expensive,” he said, noting that shelter might cost $100 a night or more, while staying housed might cost one-third of that. “The number one thing is that we’re trying to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place.”
Wellspring began in 1892 when the Rev. David C. Garrett of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church suggested a new organization that would unite several disparate charitable efforts in the city under one clearinghouse. Initially called the Bureau of Associated Charities, the organization sent “Friendly Visitors” — volunteers, with only a little training — to the homes of those in need, supplying them with needed fuel, blankets, food, clothing, housing assistance or temporary work.
Over the years, there have been numerous name changes and expansions, but “the thread has been the same,” said spokesperson Meg Roberts: “helping families in crisis — and often, that prevents homelessness.” Now in its 130th year, Wellspring currently has over 100 employees.
While its primary focus is on housing, Wellspring helps in other ways as well. The seasonal holiday gift drive has just ended, for which the organization collected some 1,700 toys, games and other gifts for the children of client families. On a recent December evening, Cook and her children visited the gift room, choosing a cotton-candy maker for Cook’s daughter and a rattle set for the baby.
And Wellspring has been instrumental in helping Cook with her education goals. Sparks-Howard said that when Cook applied to Wellspring having recently graduated from the medical assistant program, “it sounded like a perfect fit for a scholarship opportunity.” Cook was invited to apply for a Women’s University Club Women in Transition scholarship, and in February of this year received $10,000 toward further education. She is hoping to enter the surgical technician program at Seattle Central College and is currently enrolled in prerequisite classes (in addition to her full-time work at a local medical clinic). Though Cook said she is not yet sure exactly how much the full program will cost in total, she’s hopeful that the scholarship will cover all of it, allowing her to keep her focus on her classes rather than on debt and financial worries.
“I’ve always had a dream to work in health care,” said Cook, who grew up in Seattle and graduated from Rainier Beach High School. She began her career as a medical receptionist, then trained to become a phlebotomist, taking a position at the UW Medical Center. Working there during the pandemic, she was inspired to go to school to become a medical assistant, eager to have more direct patient contact and “be able to give back the care that I would want to receive for me and my children and my family members.”
Though the surgical technician program is competitive, Cook is hopeful that she’ll be able to enter next year after completing the prerequisite courses. She’d like to specialize in pediatric surgery. “Right now, the need is very high in pediatrics,” she said, “and being a mother myself I understand how important it is to have providers who can focus solely on your child while they’re on the operating table.”
Cook’s future looks bright, and she appreciates the role Wellspring played in helping her on her journey, calling the organization’s effect on her family’s well-being “miraculous.” “Without the help of Wellspring, I don’t think I would have been able to be in stable housing with my kids, in the time frame that I needed for our situation,” she said. With its help, Cook said, she can focus on her goal: “To be the best mom I can for my kids, and to be able to give them the home that they so much deserve.”