McClain Insurance reached their goal of 500 votes + shares, but they didn’t stop there. They donated an additional $5,000 donation to Cocoon House, on top of the $10,000 donation awarded by Liberty Mutual and Safeco to further their mission of providing shelter for teens in Snohomish County, Washington. See their feature on page 34 of The Charity Issue of Insurance Journal.
Every night, up to 400 teens in Snohomish County, Washington, are homeless—and for 30 years, Cocoon House has been the only organization in the area that exclusively serves them.
Cocoon House programs, including street outreach, a drop-in center, and housing solutions throughout the county, provided assistance to more than 2,500 youth ages 12-24 and their families in 2019.
In 2020, though, the pandemic changed everything—forcing significant operational changes at the same time the need for services was growing. And longtime supporters like McClain Insurance Services in Everett, Washington, rose to the occasion.
“Cocoon House serves an incredibly vulnerable population in our community, one that’s important to both our team and our clients,” said agency founder Claudia McClain. “We know people who have been impacted by homelessness, and we wanted to do everything we could to help.”
Delivering dinners
One immediate need was food; COVID-related restrictions meant the organization could no longer accept the weekly home-cooked meals that community and church groups had been providing for teens. So as part of the Food for Our Future program, the McClain team—along with agency partners and clients—purchased and delivered meals from local restaurants every week for seven months, including holiday feasts for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.
“We have been humbled by our clients’ ongoing support throughout the pandemic,” McClain said. “Food for Our Future allowed us to not only pay it forward to Cocoon House, but also help local restaurants stay afloat.”
‘We know people who have been impacted by homelessness, and we wanted to do everything we could to help.’
—Claudia McClain, founder of McClain Insurance Services
Nick Pembroke with K Fresh owners Kenji and Yeonhee. Supporting local small businesses in Everett was an added benefit to how McClain provided meals to Cocoon House.
Much more than meals
That’s just a small taste of how McClain Insurance Services has supported Cocoon House, however. The agency has been involved since 2010, and began sponsoring the organization’s “An Evening in SILK” annual fundraising event in 2015. In addition, they invested in Cocoon House’s $13.7 million capital campaign for a new 32,000-square-foot complex, which opened in 2019 offering housing, day care, and more.
“We couldn’t have weathered the impacts of the pandemic without the support of our longtime partners at McClain Insurance,” said Christina Cuenca, corporate and foundation partnerships manager for Cocoon House. “The Food for Our Future project did so much more than provide much-needed meals—it also freed up our staff time to better serve these young people.”
A 2021 Make More Happen Award will help on that front, too. The award includes a donation of up to $10,000 from Liberty Mutual and Safeco on behalf of McClain Insurance Services—and that amount could provide 20 weeks of long-term housing for a young person, 133 meals at the Cocoon House drop-in center, or 67 nights of emergency shelter.
Continuing impact
The donation also will help with the launch of a new Host Home program. Cocoon House is recruiting families throughout the county to provide a safe, stable environment for young people as they reconnect with family, re-engage with the education system, and make decisions about longer-term housing options.
“After a year filled with so much change, we know more is still ahead for everyone—our organization, those we serve, and our partners, too,” Cuenca said. “But we know that whatever lies ahead, Claudia and her team will be there for us and the community.”
Vote for this story by using the social media share buttons to add it to your feed, or simply leave a comment below to cheer them on. Then head over to their websites to learn more about Cocoon House and McClain Insurance.
Our McClain Insurance team is deeply grateful to Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance for awarding a 2021 Make More Happen grant to our friends at Cocoon House! Cocoon House is such an asset to our community, providing a safe and welcoming place for at-risk and housing insecure teens. Please help us by commenting and sharing this page. If we secure 500 comments and shares (each count as 1 vote) Safeco will double their grant from $5000 to $10,000. Wow! Thank you, Safeco!
Thank you, Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance, for allowing us to support Cocoon House with this Make More Happen grant! This non-profit works incredibly hard to give teens and young adults in our community a safe place to grow, learn and live. Every comment and share gets us closer to that $10,000 award, which goes directly to Cocoon House to further their work!
We’re so honored to be chosen for Make More Happen! Cocoon House’s comprehensive programs provide a safe space for teens in our community, giving them the opportunity to grow, learn, develop skills, and just be kids. Please help us secure the full $10,000 for this deserving organization by commenting and sharing our story. Thank you!
This is such an inspiring partnership and I am honored to be a part of it!
Cocoon House for decades has been a game changer for thousands of local teens.
Cocoon House is such a beloved organization in our community – helping to house our teens in need and giving them support and resources to put them back on track.
Congratulations to Cocoon House! Your work is so important! So generous of Safeco to offer this grant!
Many thanks to much needed program such as this!
Thank you for helping us further help Cocoon House!
Cocoon House is such an amazing organization! And McClain Insurance is such an incredible part of our community. Thank you both!!
This is so awesome, congrats Claudia and team! From the Ryan Everet Insurance team here in Denton TX!
McClain Insurance has my vote! Keep up the great work with Cocoon House!
Safeco is the best! Thanks!
Thanks for all the time and effort helping our community!
A HUGE thank you to Liberty Mutual and Safeco for honoring Cocoon House with the 2021 Make More Happen grant! They are such a deserving organization and the work they do to help at-risk teens and their families is beyond measure. Please help us to reach our goal of 500 comments and shares so Safeco will double their grant! That’s an opportunity for Cocoon House to get $10,000!! Please share this page and comment. Thank you.
Thank you for helping Cocoon House
Thank you for your generosity!
I greatly support this.
McClain is amazing and does wonderful things for the community!
This is a wonderful organization! Great work McClain Insurance!!!!
100% a worthy cause! 🙂
way to go
McClain Insurance is amazing and does wonderful things for the community!
This is amazing!! This is how we make a positive change!!
Great job!
Claudia McClain and her team are awesome! Safeco is great too!
So excited for Cocoon House!! Thank you Liberty Mutual and Safeco!!
Your team is simply the best and always doing amazing things. Thank you for all the great things you do in the community.
This is awesome!
Excellent work McClain Insurance team – you are inspiring!!!!
Cocoon House is thrilled to be a part of this incredible opportunity! We are so grateful to McClain Insurance, Liberty Mutual and Safeco for their strong support and for being such wonderful advocates for the youth and families we serve. We appreciate you so much!
This is awesome!
What a wonderful way to inspire us all …Thank you McClain Insurance
What an excellent cause for Mcclain Insurance and all parties to take the charge to help make better the community!
A generous gift to an important and life-changing endeavor.
Great work at McClain! Keep it up!
Thank you Cocoon House for all you do for those in need and all those helping in the community like McClain Insurance!
This is so exciting! McClain Insurance does such fantastic things for our community, and Cocoon House is a very deserving partner! Here’s to 500 votes!!!!
Thank you Cocoon House for stepping up and being there for our youth!
Big time thanks to Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance and of course Claudia McClain and her team at McClain Insurance….lets do this and show our support for Cocoon House!!!
Voting for McClain Insurance! They do AMAZING work in the community!
Thank you McClain Insurance for all you do in the community. Well done!!
Go McClain Insurance and Cocoon House – thank you for the hard work you do for our vulnerable populations
Great work McClain and Cocoon House
Way to go McClain Insurance, this certainly reflects your team’s heart.
McClain Insurance is awesome and what a wonderful way to support Cocoon House!
Cocoon House is an amazing “home grown “ organization. They deserve the support. Good job! And thanks to McClain Insurance
Thank you, McClain Insurance team, for partnering with and supporting local charities and organizations!
Cocoon House saves lives. Thank you McClain Insurance, Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance for making such an important impact for youth in our community!