Spruce Street Open House Honors Donors

Pioneer celebrated the opening of Spruce Street Inn’s new outdoor recreational space. The outdoor space will provide youth who are residing at the center with a healthy outlet to play games, get exercise and fresh air, and another option to work out their anger and anxiety.

Spruce Street Inn fills an important need for vulnerable youth in our community who are experiencing a crisis. The center offers services for up to 18 youth and is one of a few select programs in Seattle that provides services to “street youth,” chronic runaways, and commercially sexually exploited children.

The center was created as a result of the 1995 “Becca Bill” to increase protection for children, and to provide better tools for parents and law enforcement to manage at-risk youth. The bill created safe facilities where runaway teens could be detained for up to 15 days while efforts to reunite the youth with their families or a suitable placement could be found.

Generous donations to fund this project came from:

• Boeing Employees Community Fund
• Brooks Kolb, Landscape Architect
• D.V. and Ida J. McEachern Charitable Trust
• Jack Fleischmann
• Muckleshoot Tribe
• Norcliffe Foundation

Our youngest donor, Jack Fleischmann (pictured), generously donated his Bar Mitzvah monetary gifts to this project. We sincerely thank Jack and all the donors who helped to contribute to the well-being of the youth we serve.