EVERETT — Jonas Wilkes has lived at the Everett Gospel Mission‘s men’s homeless shelter since April.
He looks forward to the cold Saturday afternoons when he is greeted with warm conversation and a hot cup of coffee by two women, known to Ever
ett’s homeless as “the coffee girls.”
Tina Skywater, 40, of Lake Stevens, and Dawn Myers, 45, of Everett, provide coffee, cocoa, pastries and hand warmers — along with blankets, backpacks, hats, gloves, socks and sleeping bags, when needed — to the homeless.
Every Saturday around 1 p.m., the coffee girls set up a table under an overpass on Smith Avenue, near the mission’s men’s shelter at 3711 Smith Ave., and offer hot beverages and pastries to all who pass by.
“I’m thankful they come around,” said Wilkes, 37. “And the coffee is good to drink.”
About four years ago, Skywater was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder characterized by widespread pain, tenderness and stiffness of the muscles, and myofascial pain syndrome, which involves chronic and radiating pain in the muscles. Because of these conditions, she is unable to work. She now devotes her time to this cause.
“I don’t get to get out much because of it,” Skywater says. “That’s why I love my Saturdays.”
Skywater began distributing coffee in December.
Each time she drove down Smith Avenue, Skywater noticed that people would gather under the overpass. When the weather got cold, she decided someone needed to warm them up and enlisted the help of her dad to take large coffee carafes to the overpass and hand out coffee on Christmas Eve, a Saturday.
Using her status update on Facebook, Skywater posted a call to action, asking friends to help her cause with donations of coffee, creamer, sugar and whatever else they could spare.
The following Saturday, Myers hopped on board with several coffee carafes, cups, spoons, sugar, creamer and hot cocoa. She also began making banana bread, blueberry muffins and other pastries to hand out with the coffee.
The coffee girls have been handing out hot beverages under the same overpass every Saturday since.
Skywater also put together a 31-page community resource guide with information on emergency housing and services to share with the mission and anyone in need.
She began working on the resource guide in 2008, after she was let go from her purchasing manager position at a company in Chicopee, Mass., after missing work because of her condition. She then returned to Washington where she grew up.
“I am very proud of her because she’s not well either, it even makes it more precious,” said Skywater’s mother Gloria Foster, 67, of Lake Stevens.
The coffee girls plan to continue their efforts during the summer months, offering water, tea, lemonade and anything else that is requested.
“People will say, ‘Well, it’s their fault they’re homeless,” Myers said. “That’s not important to us. We’re not here to judge, we’re just here to make their lives a little easier; more comfortable.”
Skywater and Myers hope the work they do will inspire others in the community to give back.
“They make good coffee — the best,” said Dan Hall, a homeless man who stays in Everett.
Ashley Stewart: astewart@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3453
Help
Tina Skywater and Dawn Myers hand out coffee and pastries to the homeless every Saturday on Smith Avenue in Everett.
To donate to their cause, e-mail thecoffeegirlz@yahoo.com.
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