In 2010, Michelle Wise-Bailey made the cross-country move to Seattle from St. Louis. “I came here to start my life,” she says. “Someone told me if I wanted to have a new beginning, Seattle was a good place to start—and that’s true.”
When she first arrived in town, Wise-Bailey lived in a shelter and was put on a waitlist for permanent housing. Eventually, she was able to move into a downtown building run by Plymouth Housing Group.
Founded in 1980, Plymouth’s mission is to eliminate homelessness and address its causes by operating safe, supportive housing and providing homeless adults with opportunities to stabilize and improve their lives. They currently own 14 buildings and offer more than 1,000 apartments throughout the city.
In South Lake Union, Plymouth’s two properties include the Pat Williams Apartments, a clean and sober facility geared toward people who actively want to be in recovery, and the David Colwell Building, designed to be affordable workforce housing.
Wise-Bailey lived in a Plymouth apartment for nearly a year and a half. During that time, she got an on-call job with Plymouth Housing, eventually working her way to a full-time position. A couple of months after being hired, she was able to move out and open up a spot for someone else in need. Now, she’s the building coordinator for Plymouth on First Hill, the newest building.