Better Together: How Corporate Partnerships Impact Hopelink’s Work
Levi O’Tool, Hopelink Development Officer, Corporate Relations
Hopelink was founded in 1971 as the Multiservice Center of King County and has been serving the community since. Although our programming has developed beyond employment resources to include housing assistance, food access, transportation services, and more, Hopelink’s focus has remained on assisting those in need.
We advance our mission through comprehensive services, advocacy for equitable opportunities for all, and impactful partnerships. Providing comprehensive services means offering wrap around programming that both build basic stability and equip people to exit poverty. Advocacy means working to address the root causes of the issues facing our community. But what do impactful partnerships mean? Oftentimes, it’s financial support of our programs or greatest need funding. However, partnerships oftentimes go further, integrating with our work and are crucial to what we do in the community.
Shared Mission, Shared Impact
Many of our partnerships are mission-aligned and go beyond support for a specific campaign or event.
For example, our partnership with Fred Hutch Cancer Center revolves around their belief and Community Health Needs Assessment (PDF) findings that “Houselessness and lack of affordable housing” and “unequal access to traditional foods, nutritional resources and places to stay physically active” negatively impact our community and the Fred Hutch patient population.
Working with Fred Hutch Cancer Center on our End Summer Hunger campaign, we are proud to highlight their Cook for Your Life program. Founded in 2007 by three-time cancer survivor Ann Ogden Gaffney, this program started in earnest, providing free in-person cooking classes for cancer patients and survivors. Ann’s classes eventually became the extensive online resource you see today, offering healthy recipes and nutrition tips to people touched by cancer all around the world. Their accessible and approachable recipes, like the Asian Style Cabbage Slaw, don’t just benefit patients but also clients of Hopelink’s no cost food markets looking for inspiration on how to use their groceries
Doing What They Do Best
On the other hand, many of our partnerships help businesses use their existing resources to engage with our mission.
On a near-monthly basis, Peet’s Coffee in Redmond donates fresh brewed coffee to our housing sites, and it has been a meaningful opportunity for the residents to connect with Hopelink staff and their neighbors. Alongside their donation, Peet’s has also included coupons for free drinks at their cafe, and we’ve been excited to share this in our community facing email newsletter, celebrating our investment in a business that invests in Hopelink.
Expanding Our Reach
Simultaneously, we maintain a number of partnerships that focus on a shared community. Sky Nursery has served gardeners in the Shoreline community and surrounding area since Seattleites Irene and Jim Landry opened Richmond Highlands Feed Store in 1953. The now sprawling center offers garden staples, unique collectors’ varieties, and everything in between. With a large community of fruit and vegetable growers, Sky Nursery has been kind enough to let us table in their greenhouse at the Dahlia Show, the Winter Makers’ Market, and several other events, where we encourage horticulturists to donate excess produce to Hopelink Food Markets.
Working Together
Hopelink cannot meet the growing demand for assistance (PDF) within our communities alone. It’s on all of us to work together. Many of our neighbors live just one small change of circumstance away from needing help. Whether you’re ready to make a financial contribution, have a product or a service you’re willing to share, or are looking for ways to support your own audience, please reach out. We can work together to make a difference.