Laura Young
Executive director of St. Francis House. “After a 15-year-long career in real estate development and leasing, I yearned for more meaningful purpose in addition to my family life. Through skills I learned in the Archdiocese of Seattle’s Cabrini Ministry training program, I was able to transition my career toward the nonprofit sector.“
What causes are you most passionate about and why? I care deeply about keeping people housed who are working very hard to support their families and need to stretch their monthly budgets as far as possible. This is why I love what St. Francis House offers: clothing, household items and financial support to help these families do just that.
In what ways do you give back to the community? At St. Francis House, we provide clients with a sense of community, help them with their basic needs and serve them with dignity and respect. The compassion and grace we share with our clients is genuine, and I have the amazing opportunity to witness the profound effect it has on the people we serve.
If someone is new to nonprofit or volunteer work, how do you recommend they get started? I recommend they begin with a deep discernment over this calling and how they can personally prepare to be a compassionate presence to those in need. The absolutely most important thing I can stress is to really, really listen.
How can readers support your favorite causes? It’s easy to support St. Francis House through donating gently used clothing and household items, or financial contributions. At home, you can make small Ziploc bags of powdered laundry detergent, toiletry kits or individually wrapped sandwiches for our clients. Finally, we also are always recruiting new volunteers, especially in anticipation of our move into our new home that we will share with Plymouth Housing in June of 2022.