The photo shows a volunteer at the West Seattle Helpline with a full call sheet, working hard to help hotline callers who need short-term rent assistance. The Helpline’s executive director Chris Langeler says summer is usually a slow season for the nonprofit, which works to help prevent families in short-term financial crises – but not this year, so they’re hoping you can help:

With Seattle’s rents rising faster than anywhere in the country, West Seattle families with limited income are being hit the hardest. Households that were once financially stable are having their budgets squeezed as the rent eats up more of each paycheck — now they are living on the edge, one crisis away from dangerous consequences.

At the West Seattle Helpline, this means more calls on our Hotline asking for urgent help, larger overdue bills, threats of eviction, and higher stakes for families recovering from an unexpected hardship. In July 2015, the average amount needed for a rent assistance request was $609 per household. Last month (July 2016), that number was $939 –over 50% higher, and more than $300 extra needed per family to prevent an eviction.

In 2016, we have helped more local families per month than at any point in our history. However, just like our neighbors, we’re having a hard time keeping up with the unusually high need. We need to raise an additional $3,000 in the month of August to be able to provide assistance to families who need us. We do not want to turn a single family away.

We hope our wonderful West Seattle community can chip in and help us be there for all of our neighbors in need. Thank you to everyone for their support and for making West Seattle so special. Click here to help.