Originally published Friday, January 26, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Fund For The Needy
Grandparents get support parenting second time around
Family members who have become caregivers meet for two hours a week to lift their spirits, get advice or help one another.
Seattle Times business reporter
DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Marsha Miles, who cares for her 1-year-old grandson, Toussaint, says the Atlantic Street Center support group is "a good place to vent." She has given back by sharing information she knows about Medicare guidelines and working with children who have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Every Thursday night, a group of about 20 people gather in Seattle's Rainier Beach neighborhood to talk about raising their grandchildren.
Called the Rainier Beach Grandparents and Kinship Caregivers in Action, these people never expected to be the primary caregivers for their children's children, and many can barely afford it.
Fai Mathews, who participated in the group before becoming its program assistant, recalls many evenings spent crying to the group about the financial hardship of caring for her four grandchildren for more than a year.
"I was always in tears and falling apart," she said.
Talking about those problems and taking part in other group activities helped tremendously, Mathews said.
"It's truly a support group beyond all others I've been part of," she said.
Atlantic Street Center
![]()
![]()
Founded in 1910, the agency serves mainly low-income minority families in Seattle to help them raise healthy, successful children. It provides counseling and educational, social and recreational programs and runs three centers: main office, 2103 S. Atlantic St.; NewHolly Youth & Family Center, 7050 32nd Ave. S.; and Rainier Beach Family Center, 8825 Rainier Ave. S. Operating revenue of $2.34 million in 2005,included $1.37 million in government support and $970,000 in public donations.
Agencies served by Fund for the Needy
![]()
![]()
The Salvation Army
Senior Services
Childhaven
Hopelink
Family Services
Atlantic Street Center
Youth Eastside Services
Treehouse
Asian Counseling & Referral Service
Kindering Center
Big Brothers Big Sisters
ASTAR (Autism Spectrum Treatment and Research) Center
Lifting people's spirits is key for this program at the Atlantic Street Center, an agency that serves mostly low-income and black families and receives money from The Seattle Times Fund for the Needy.
Many grandparents are upset when they first start coming, Mathews said, "so angry at the world, not smiling and not going out doing anything."
They begin to perk up after attending the two-hour weekly meetings, doing volunteer projects with other participants and going on group outings, such as walks and movies and the fair, often with their grandchildren.
Participants sometimes visit each other in the hospital, care for one another's grandchildren, and call one another when they need a sympathetic ear.
Most members are in low-income families, but they don't have to be. And family members who are caregivers but not grandparents are also welcome, Mathews said.
Marsha Miles takes care of her 1-year-old grandson, Toussaint, because her son is in prison and her daughter-in-law has been having problems.
"I don't have the energy I used to, but he keeps me young," Miles said. "He's given me the gift of patience."
She finds the group "a good place to vent" and has given back by sharing information she knows about Medicare guidelines and working with children who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The group invites guests to speak on various subjects, from money management to menopause and nutrition. One night they had facials, and another time someone spoke from Al-Anon, a support group for family members and friends of alcoholics.
Twice a month, mental-health therapist Toni Russell spends time with the group.
At one meeting in early December, Russell encouraged members to talk more about the shooting of one of their grandsons.
"They're dropping our youth pretty regularly," someone lamented.
Russell said there are cities where nothing happens to stop black-on-black violence.
"We end up having to do a lot of the work ourselves," she told the group.
That night, people also shared happy Thanksgiving stories and discussed Christmas plans, including an upcoming party and gift exchange within the group.
Atlantic Street provides child care while members meet and transportation for those who need it.
"This is the place we can express ourselves," said Vilma Carver, who is raising two grandchildren after their mother — her daughter — died in 2003. "You learn something about how to handle depression, about parenting the kids."
Melissa Allison: 206-464-3312 or mallison@seattletimes.com
Copyright © The Seattle Times Company
Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
Illegal workers quietly let go
Metro won't cut bus service after all
Jerry Large: Food-bank theft turns into a gift
Bumper to Bumper: How can the city let bridges go dark?

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
42" Hitachi Plasma 1080i - $500
8 Drawer Dresser with Attached Mirror - $200
8 seat pecon formal dining table and china hutch - $1500
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
Give yourself a treat and visit Watson Kennedy's Holiday Open Houses
More minding the store
events for Monday, Nov. 23
- Castle Discount with Military ID
- CraftsGiving
- Alhambra 20 Percent Off Jewelry Sale
- Dish It Up! Totally Truffles
editors' picks
- Phinney Ridge & Greenwood shopping
- Independent video stores
- Pioneer Square shopping
- Garden furnishings
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
374 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
210 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
171 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
156 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
98 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
95 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
83 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
82 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
74 - Seattle woman charged with knife attack on boyfriend's ex
66
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit





