Shared Bread
Shared Bread is a ministry of our church that supports individuals living within the Kent School District boundaries.
Our primary focus is on offering financial assistance to prevent evictions and to prevent utilities (including heat and electricity) from being shut off. People are eligible for assistance once every 12 months. We typically assist around 600 individuals per year. We have volunteers on Mondays who schedule interviews for clients to take place the following Wednesday by phone.
Shared Bread Corner
Picture a rainy, chilly, and cloudy day in the Pacific NW. An elderly lady living on social security alone, standing outside an apartment complex with an attached oxygen tank at her side. No family or close friends coming to the rescue. She had been locked out of her apartment by the authorities and had no place to go. The story she shares doesn’t include all the details. Did she ignore all the pay or vacate notices? Did she not see the final eviction date?
Imagining her situation, the first thing one envisions is how awful it is. This cannot be happening in our country. One does not need to know all the details. One needs to know they happened right here in our community, and the potential is there when rent or mortgage payments fall way behind.
Shared Bread was initially designed to help other charities put together rental assistance to keep families, veterans, people with disabilities, seniors, and children in housing, and, if the need was for power, lights, or water, keep them flowing. We have certainly grown over the years.
Today, our country and our community are facing a housing crisis. We are also seeing unmet food needs. Many of our local charities, which receive government grants, are presently out of funds. A client we recently helped stated that Multi-Services would not have funding infusions until February of 2026. The Salvation Army is out of funds until January 2026, and when we called for our evicted senior, they stated they were at quota for housing and had a waiting list.
We have been asked to do more with our lean-and-mean program as rents climb, and we have helped people in our congregation meet urgent needs. Need continues year-round, but our funding balance has been challenged more frequently and by a broader range of needs. We simply do not close our doors or answer the need by asking people to call back in 2026.
So this year, if you are able and wish to help our emergency assistance program, pick up a gift tag from the Giving Tree in the narthex and write a check, use the Shared Bread envelope in the pews, or find the QR code on our donation page at kentmethodist.com, and select Shared Bread.
Keep all our team and volunteers who run our program in your prayers, and we wish to thank each and every one of you for your generosity throughout the year. My personal wish is that each of you find Joy, Peace, and Love in each waking morning.
The Shared Bread Team
Kent UMC reaches $1 million milestone for assistance program
Kent United Methodist Church is celebrating a remarkable milestone! Over the past 25 years, the church's Shared Bread Program has surpassed $1 million in donations, providing vital rent and utility assistance to local families in need. Discover how this community-driven initiative continues to make a difference.