In the third to last row of a chapel in Bellevue, a young woman sits struggling with her two year-old daughter and 16-month-old son. She looks nearly indistinguishable from the other families sitting around her, attending children as they try to listen to the speaker at the pulpit. Two years ago, that woman, Casi Jackson, was living on the street, a single mother with another child on the way. She had escaped domestic violence, but still struggled with the vices of a life born in a jail, bouncing through foster homes and a teenage pregnancy. Today she has an apartment, has just started college and – most important to her – is able to care for her two children in a stable environment that she lacked as a youth. This is Casi’s story
Forty-six years ago, Carol Voelleger was a young mom of three, looking for a safe, fun vacation spot for her family. After a bad experience at a public park, her husband suggested Ensign Ranch, a 320-acre property about two hours outside Seattle.
When Sheri Kenyon was asked to create quilts for terminally ill children at Mary Bridge Hospital in Tacoma, she had no idea she was taking part in an effort organized by Bellevue resident, Carla Jensen. For nearly 30 years, Jensen has provided food, clothing, organizing donations and giving service to multiple charitable organizations.
