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Helpline in the news: Non profits struggled alongside clients during recession


Helpline House is thankful to Alion for sharing his story, including Helpline's support as he and his family rebounds from the Great Recession.

Editor's note: Ten years after the Great Recession, the Kitsap Sun is looking back how lives were changed and the ripples still felt today. Follow along in print and online at kitsapsun.com.

A decade ago, Allion Mansfield sat atop the real estate boom of the early 2000s. As a successful realtor living in Los Angeles, life was good.

Then came 2008. Then came the housing market crash.

“As banks kept closing, deals got harder to close,” he said. “I had built my life on the income I was receiving, and when the recession hit, I lost a ton of money in the stock market crash.”

He did what he could to reduce expenses, but eventually, he hit on hard times. He lost his home to foreclosure, his savings and his children’s college funds. He and his kids picked up the pieces and reluctantly moved back in with Mansfield's mother back on Bainbridge Island.

As a single parent, he scraped by through minimum wage jobs, working late shifts while his mom took care of his kids. After paying the bills, he didn’t have much left. In need of help, he turned to Helpline House, a social services agency on Bainbridge.

“It’s like oxygen,” he said, “just to know I wasn’t carrying the burden by myself, that there (were) resources available, that there (were) people who could point me in the right direction if they couldn’t help me.”

Mansfield was just one among the swell of those who in the years following the recession were forced to turn to turn to social services agencies and nonprofits, which themselves struggled during those strained times. In that surge, they saw a cross-section of society.

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Helpline House Social Services

Home of the Bainbridge Turkey Trot, an Island Thanksgiving Morning Fundraiser Tradition!

Social Service

Monday - Friday

9 AM - 5 PM

Food Bank Services *** NEW DAYS***
Schedule starts Memorial Day

Tuesday - Friday, Closed Mondays

Same hours: 10 AM - 4 PM

Location:

901 Hildebrand Lane NE

Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

Mailing Address:

282 Knechtel Way NE

Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

 

Tax ID or EIN: 91-0902503 

Helpline House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. 

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206.842.7621 | f 206.842.9867 | helpline@helplinehouse.org

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We’ve Moved—Just Around the Corner!

Helpline House is now temporarily located at 901 Hildebrand Lane, near the north end of Ericksen Avenue, for approximately 12 months during the construction of our new facility. Thanks to a lease partnership with Clark Construction and the support of our board and volunteer Michael Wright, we continue to offer uninterrupted services to the community.

“As we transition to our new space, we remain deeply committed to serving Bainbridge Island with care and compassion,” said Maria Metzler, Executive Director. “We’re excited about what’s ahead and grateful to stay connected during this time of growth.”

Closed: Christmas, New Year's Day, MLK Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Fourth of July, Labor Day and Thanksgiving weekend.

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