How to help

Every kind of help counts

Community members at the table may face a day when they can't cover a bill, find a ride, or sort out where they can stay. Start anywhere on this list, from five minutes to a few months.

Two volunteers behind a table of pan dulce, fruit, and juice, holding hand-painted Free Coffee and Café Gratis signs.

Needed now

What people need this week

We never post who a need is for. Offers of rent, parking, or housing come to us privately, never on this page.

Six levels

From a minute to a few months

Levels with a current need are highlighted.

  1. Give in a minute

    5 minutes

    Money buys coffee, food, and cups, and covers small emergencies like a tank of gas, a phone card, or a warm coat.

    Venmo @cafegratis

    We're not a 501(c)(3), so gifts aren't tax-deductible and we can't give a tax receipt.

  2. Stock the table

    An hour

    Bring pre-packaged snacks and drinks: conchas, mini mantecadas, Goldfish, Teddy Grahams, applesauce pouches, and juice boxes. Coffee, cups, and lids too. Or host a supply drive at your church, school, or office.

    Offer supplies

  3. Run an errand

    An afternoon

    A grocery run, a ride to an appointment, or picking up something a family can't get to. We match you with one specific errand.

    Offer an errand

  4. Cover a bill

    One time

    A month of rent, a utility bill, or a phone plan, often for a family whose earner was just detained. We connect you with what is needed.

    This fall, a mother whose husband was detained was facing eviction. We stepped in, and she's now being connected with a new home.

    Offer to cover a bill

  5. Lend a space

    Weeks to months

    A driveway, a garage, or a church or business lot where a detained person's car can sit safely for a few months, or room to store a family's belongings. How car help works.

    Offer a space

  6. Host someone in your home

    Months

    Sometimes a newly arrived person, or a family that lost its home after a detention, needs a room for a while. We're gathering a list of people who might be open to hosting. Adding your name doesn't commit you to anything.

    If a need comes up that fits, you'll have coaching from people who have hosted refugees in their own homes.

    World Relief Western Washington also runs a host home program with a background check and in-home training.

    I might host

After a detention

Help with a car left behind

More and more, people are detained when they show up for a required check-in. Many drove there, and their car is left in the lot. If it gets towed, impound fees add up every day.

Moving a car in time takes a few people:

  • Someone to find them. We first learn which detention center is holding the person, then reach them to ask permission to move the car.
  • A driver. Someone who can move the car once we have permission.
  • A place to park it. A driveway, a garage, or a church or business lot in a safe area, where it can stay for months if needed.

We never post whose car it is or where it is. Offers come to us privately.

Offer to help with a car

Paid work

Hire a community member

Many community members are skilled at painting, landscaping, construction, handyman work, house cleaning, or cooking family meals. Paying someone for good work is one of the most dignified ways to help.

Post a job with a short form. A table volunteer will contact you to confirm the details before we share your posting, and anyone interested contacts you directly. We keep no list of workers, so nothing stands between you and the person you hire.

You can also hire through Casa Latina, a Seattle worker center that sets fair wages and makes the match, with house cleaners in South King County too.

Post a jobHire through Casa Latina

Bring your people

Adopt a morning or afternoon with a team

A church, a workplace, a book club, or a group of neighbors can take one morning or afternoon a month, or more. Afternoons, 1 to 5 p.m., need people most: nobody on our list can cover them yet.

  • A team lead plus 1 to 3 volunteers staffs the table for a morning (9 a.m. to noon) or an afternoon (1 to 5 p.m.).
  • One team lead learns the ropes with us first, then recruits, trains, and schedules the team.
  • Teams can also fund their own coffee and snacks for the shifts they cover.
How teams work

Offer help

Tell us what you can give

Offers of supplies, errands, bills, a parking spot, a car, or a room go through a short private form. Only the table's organizers see it. Nothing you send is posted here, and filling it out commits you to nothing. Thank you for wanting to help.

Offer help privately

En español

Cómo ayudar

Hay muchas formas de ayudar: donar por Venmo o la lista de Amazon, traer bocadillos para la mesa, hacer un mandado, pagar una cuenta, prestar un lugar para estacionar un carro o, quizás algún día, recibir a alguien en su casa.

Este otoño, una madre cuyo esposo fue detenido estaba a punto de ser desalojada. La ayudamos, y ahora la estamos conectando con un nuevo hogar.

¿Necesita ayuda con pintura, jardinería, construcción o limpieza? Publique un trabajo y, después de que un voluntario confirme los detalles con usted, lo compartimos en la mesa, o contrate por medio de Casa Latina, que fija salarios justos.

Nunca publicamos para quién es cada necesidad. Las ofertas de renta, estacionamiento o vivienda llegan por un formulario privado.

Venmo @cafegratis Ofrecer ayuda Ser voluntario

No somos una organización 501(c)(3), así que las donaciones no son deducibles de impuestos y no podemos dar un recibo para los impuestos.