We took a risk at our annual Vision House Luncheon. 

We wanted our guests to understand homelessness viscerally, not just intellectually. So we brought in local actors, many from Bellevue Christian School, to show us what homelessness really looks like. 

Six hundred attendees interacted with live exhibits of homelessness: a family living in a car, their belongings spilling out of the trunk, a teddy bear on the dashboard. A mom and her kids surfing from couch to couch. A hungry teenager struggling to focus at school. All situations that unhoused King County families navigate every day.

After opening our guests’ eyes to the reality of homelessness, Reverend Eugene Cho asked them to open their hearts. 

Rev. Cho is President and CEO of Bread for the World, a nationwide Christian advocacy organization working to end hunger. He is an award-winning author, holds various advocacy leadership roles focused on hunger and poverty, and pastored local churches for almost 30 years. 

Rev. Cho was also our keynote speaker—and wow, were we inspired. He talked about treating people experiencing homelessness as human beings, not statistics to reduce. He reminded us that change happens at the local level: in our churches, at our kitchen tables. He invited us not to surrender to cynicism, but to be people of action.

When the reverend introduced Bri Baines, our Director of Family Transitions, the insights continued. Bri shared about her work with families in crisis. She told stories of parents who arrive exhausted, traumatized, and uncertain. But when they have a place to do their laundry, a gas card, a shower before work, maybe a night of safety, they can relax and breathe. When someone has been living in survival mode and can finally rest for even 15 minutes, she told the audience, that’s everything. 

Let’s See What $833,000 Can Do

In one afternoon, 600 luncheon guests raised $833,000 to help provide nights of safety for the families in Vision House, the cost of the year of permanent housing, and to help end family homelessness in our community. They heard our call to action and decided our mission matters because these families matter. 

Will you join them?