A new home for Seattle's homeless

Those who read Jonathan Hiskes' October article in Mennonite Weekly Review or who otherwise know Seattle Mennonite Church will likely remember that the congregation runs a drop-in center for homeless people in its neighborhood, Lake City.

The Seattle Times reports that an apartment building, McDermott Place, opened in December in Lake City that gives preference to renters who are homeless and who have mental illnesses.

While the apartments will help only a portion of Lake City's homeless residents, for those residents the building's existence "is just huge — housing in the neighborhood they love and in the neighborhood they call home," Jonathan Neufeld, Seattle Mennonite community minister, told The Seattle Times.

It's great to see this positive development as Seattle Mennonite and others continue to offer aid in a way that upholds the dignity of their homeless neighbors. — Celeste Kennel-Shank