Gimme Shelter: Local musician's experience
inspires benefit to end homelessness

SEATTLE – The Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) and the Dusty 45s announce “Gimme Shelter,” a concert to benefit DESC's efforts to end homelessness in our community.

Event Details
When: Friday, November 21, 2008
             7:00 PM - All Ages Show / 10:00 PM - 21+ Show
Where: Triple Door, 216 Union Street in downtown Seattle
Featuring: Billy Joe & the Dusty 45s, Tiny Vipers and Kristen Ward
Tickets: $20; advance tickets available at www.tripledoor.com

“When it comes to DESC, I can speak from personal experience about the comfort they provide to families like mine,” says Billy Joe Huels of the Dusty 45s, who will also be releasing their new EP, Fortunate Man, at the event. "DESC provided my mentally ill brother real options when he had none. Matthew lives with schizophrenia and was homeless for 8 years. When he wasn't living on the street, his most common residences were King County Jail and Western State Hospital. He failed again and again in other shelters and housing situations. DESC is the first agency to successfully monitor his medication. He recently marked one year in an apartment of his own, operated by DESC. Through their service, my brother now has a humane and stable existence.”

Thousands of people struggle to survive without appropriate housing or shelter each day in our city. Since the January 2008 One Night Count of homeless people, shelters around Seattle, including DESC, have reported dramatic increases in requests for shelter, including from newly returning war veterans. On any given day, nearly 2,000 people receive services through one of DESC's many housing, shelter and care programs.

DESC is Seattle's largest homeless service provider, and focuses on the needs of vulnerable men and women living with persistent and severe mental illness. DESC's integrated program of shelter, mental health care, addiction treatment and employment services effectively connects people to appropriate affordable housing and services. For almost 30 years, DESC has operated the largest emergency shelter in Seattle and today is also the largest provider of Housing First apartments for homeless people in the region. In the last three years, DESC has connected over 1,500 people to housing, more than any other agency in the state.

Proceeds from Gimme Shelter will be matched through a generous grant from the Safeco Insurance Foundation. All proceeds will directly benefit the programs of the Downtown Emergency Service Center.

For more information, please visit www.desc.org/gimme_shelter.html or www.myspace.com/gimmeshelterbenefit.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Nicole Macri, 206-515-1514, nmacri(at)desc.org