About Compass Center
Success Stories
Our Broad spectrum of services meets people where they are in the spectrum of need.
For one man, success is taking a shower, eating a hot meal, and sleeping in a warm bed at First Church shelter. For another woman, success is moving out of an emergency shelter and into the structured healthy environment of The Compass Cascade Women's Center. For some, success is taking the final step towards independence with a place of his or her own, meaningful work, and a support system of friends, family, and counselors - the rewards of a healthy life. These are true testaments to our success:
Gloria
After years of living on the streets, deeply embedded in a life of addiction, Gloria had an epiphany. Hospitalized and desperately ill, Gloria says that God took away her desire to drink. Now, clean and sober for almost four years, Gloria is known as the hardest working volunteer at The Compass Center's Client Services Office. More...
Elmer
Elmer moved to Seattle from New Orleans, trying to make a fresh start, and to get clean and sober. A promised job on a fishing boat proved illusive and finally with no money, no job, no prospects, he called The Compass Center. Elmer stayed at St. Paul's for seven weeks before moving into the Chavez House, one of The Compass Center's transitional houses. More...
Mary
A college student training for a career in alcohol and drug counseling and the mother of a thriving 14 year-old son, Mary embodies the resilience of the human spirit. When Mary was 7, her mother died. Shortly after, Mary became the victim of sexual abuse, which continued for several years. By age 11, she was already using drugs and alcohol. Three decades later, Mary's courageous recovery began. More...
Carol
Moving away from a life shattered by addiction and homelessness is rarely simple. A professional woman introduced to heroin in her 30's, and a victim of domestic violence, Carol had lost everything. When she came to The Compass Center, Carol had health problems, credit issues, no place to live, and was separated from her five children. More...
Ted
Although Ted is an Air Force veteran with an engineering degree from Penn State, most of his work life has been a hard-won existence, unloading warehouse trucks or working labor-ready jobs. After bouncing between his hometown in Pennsylvania, Phoenix and Delta Junction, Alaska, Ted ended up in a Seattle shelter with no money and no job. Two years later, with the help of the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Project (VVLP) and The Compass Center, Ted has finally found his life's calling: bringing computer technology to the under-served. More...
Shurvon
A dynamic, professional woman, Shurvon is the picture of health, enthusiasm, and spirit. Her story is dramatic proof that homelessness, and hopelessness, can happen to anyone. More...
Darren
On February 09, 2002 I was hiding under a bridge in Renton. The friend that I had been living with had thrown me out. I was homeless I was an alcoholic, a Meth Amphetamine Addict and was suffering from severe mental disease. In fact it was the first time that I had been outside in over a year. More...