Thanksgiving Day Benefit Class

Class Description

Who Mary's Place serves : Racism and homelessness are inextricably linked. Black and Indigenous Americans are significantly more likely to experience homelessness. In King County, only 6% of people identify as Black and .9% as Native American, yet 45% of our families experiencing homelessness at Mary's Place are Black and 2% Native American. The disproportionality is staggering. We cannot address homelessness without first addressing the underlying structural racism. High rates of homelessness among people of color are driven by systemic racism, as seen in the inequities of health care, and systemic oppression that limits economic opportunity and sustains the wealth gap – exacerbating the impact of our region's affordable housing crisis. Include gentrification, continued impacts of redlining, rent increases, the high cost of living, and the lack of affordable housing, and it's not surprising that nearly 90% of our guests at Mary's Place are from communities of color, while people of color make up just 35% of the population of King County.