Over 40 people gathered at the Lifeway Church in Federal Way for a Joint Church Summit on Homelessness on March 11.

“We all have a common goal — to minister to the homeless,” said event facilitator George Houston from the Federal Way Church of the Nazarene. The event featured representatives from at least 26 churches in Federal Way who all provide services to unhoused people in the community in some way.

One by one, representatives shared what they do and what they need. Many provide food at least once a week. Others offer counseling, allow safe parking, create and pass out hygiene kits, and even offer housing and rehabilitation programs.

Some focus on specific populations. Jesus is God Ministries works with people who have been victims of sex trafficking and also work with recently incarcerated people. The Brooklake Church often helps refugees. Lifeway Church works with Twin Lakes Elementary and Federal Way Public Schools.

One goal of the summit is to create a database of resources and help small groups coordinate with one another to meet the needs of the people they serve. A survey provided to participants asked them to list outreach programs, community care services, specific populations served, and any needs or gaps that they need help filling.

During the event, resource matches were already evident. In one instance, Pua Tulafale of New Beginning Lighthouse said their church has plenty of volunteers, but sometimes has trouble tracking down unhoused people to serve.

“We don’t know where to go, we don’t know where to start,” Tulafale said.

Several other church representatives said their big need is volunteer power, and that they know where unhoused people tend to congregate in Federal Way, showing a possible perfect fit with Tulafale’s church.

Another congregation representative mentioned the surprising barrier of the lack of encampments in Federal Way. This can be a barrier because it is harder to track people down and build relationships with unhoused people who are constantly being told to move along.

This vital piece of relationship building and connection was expressed by many speakers, including Chris Thomas, who represented SOMA Federal Way and Dope Church in Tacoma. He also did prison ministry with the Union Gospel Mission for 12 years and said that for him, “rather than focusing on behavior, we want to focus on belonging.”

He said a good question for congregations to ask themselves is “how can churches help people belong in community?”

At Good Shepard Episcopal Church, Anna Lynn said they practice “radical hospitality” by having meals with unhoused community members with a similar goal of connection.

“We like them to feel very welcome there because there are not many places that welcome them,” Lynn said.

Their church is near a forested area, and while Lynn said they do what they can, one of their needs is shelter and housing referrals.

“It’s heartbreaking to feed them on Saturday and then watch them go out into the woods at 3 p.m.,” Lynn said.

City and government collaboration

Pastor George Houston expressed a frustration with the lack of collaboration with the city.

“There was only one mention of churches in the mayor’s report and it was to park vehicles overnight,” Houston said. The report he referred to was a Federal Way Joint Task Force on Homelessness report published in 2018 that outlined steps the city had determined were needed to address homelessness in the city.

One of these barriers with working with governmental organizations is the mandate that resources be offered without a religious caveat, which multiple speakers also expressed frustration with.

Some church groups focus more on sharing their messages around faith along with their resource work. Others focus on “being like Jesus and letting them find their way to him on their own,” as one pastor said.

Another challenge is just knowing how to respond, and that even emergency responders who help often have nowhere to go.

Kathleen Parks has been doing this work for a long time. She was part of the group that formed the Federal Way Community Caregiving Network back in the late 1980s when Federal Way was “swamped with hungry people.”

Parks said that network started with similar conversations to those being had at the recent Summit, with community members asking each other “what are you doing” and “how can we do better together.”

Parks highlighted the complexity of the situation.

“I’m terribly terribly grateful for the Federal Way Police,” she said, especially when they respond to stop fires that have damaged the building in the past. At the same time, she feels for the people lighting the fires who often are “just trying to heat a can of beans.”

The police also don’t usually have the tools they need to assist unhoused people in crisis either, Parks said, explaining that “they’re loaded up with equipment, none of which is very helpful to that person.”

Another pastor who works with emergency responders is Jason Fors, who is the executive pastor at the Church for All. Their church started in Kent where it has been for the past three years, but is having its first service in Federal Way on Easter Sunday. Fors is also the staff chaplain for South King Fire and the Kent Police Department, meaning he is called to perform rites for fentanyl deaths.

“Their desire for fentanyl is greater than oxygen, water or food,” said Fors, adding that it is a situation that “I’ve never seen in my 25 years as a medic.”

“My heart just cries out for people,” Fors said.

Lynn Orsby of St. Vincent DePaul Parish was part of the original group that advocated for Day Center in Federal Way. She said “it was just meant to be the beginning” and that “the need is still growing,” for services like those that the Day Center provides.

Orsby encouraged people to attend the Federal Way City Council meeting on March 19 where guests from the Urban League will share an update about the Health Through Housing initiative that will eventually turn a Federal Way hotel into housing.

“Vote with your feet,” Orsby said of the importance of showing up to city conversations in order to be heard.

“You have motivation … it’s good to put that motivation in a direction,” Ravon Johnson from Union Gospel Ministry said to help close out the event. He encouraged the attendees to “outline what would Federal Way look like if there were no homeless people … then ask, what do people need? What do we have available? And how do we work together to implement it?”

Pastor Pua Tulafale from New Beginnings Church. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / The Mirror

Kathleen Parks of Calvary Lutheran Church. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / The Mirror

Over 40 people from dozens of churches in Federal Way gathered on March 11 to discuss how to help solve the homelessness crisis in Federal Way and South King County. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / The Mirror