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
Once you get evicted from an apartment or house, it gets harder to find more suitable housing. A bad credit report follows you. You find very little affordable rent, period. Now your new place wants first month’s rent, an equal damage deposit, and a deposit down for utilities. That is why it is so important to stop evictions before they happen. It's important to keep the cost manageable and, of course, stop the emotional toll on the individual or family.
We do just that every week. We change lives and outcomes from traumatic events. Our emergency assistance program, Shared Bread, does just that.
Your continual help and prayers make it possible.
Single-mom households, refugees and immigrants with often hardly any income, seniors, and people facing one-time emergencies that found them with very few resources.
Rent, mortgages, power, and water bills do not stop when many of us are enjoying our beautiful summer.
Thank you for caring for your neighbors.
Shared Bread Team
Leslie, Pat, & Rhonda
Shared Bread in 2025
We gave out $95,093.12.
We received 3 grants.
We had 2 major gifts given by members.
We helped Auburn Methodist Church with an assistance request.
We met with both Coeur d'Alene Methodist and Fairwood Methodist, who wanted to model their programs after ours.
In January 2025, we reached our million-dollar mark after 20 years of giving.
We helped 5 members of our congregation.
We did a presentation to the Covington Kiwanis.
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.