After troubles with his car and then his truck, Christopher Magee couldn’t make the hour-and-a-half commute to work that had become so habitual for him over the past 10 years. He had lost his job in September 2024, where he worked as the operations lead for a third-party logistics company in Lockeford, Calif.
“I ended up losing my job after all that time, and I couldn’t find any other work without (having) a vehicle,” said Magee, 45. “I found a job for two weeks (within walking distance of my house), but I got let go just because business was too slow. I got into a depressive state and just decided to leave.”
Magee left town without telling anyone, adamant not to burden his family with his newfound financial troubles. He turned his phone off and silenced the world.
“It really hit me,” he said. “I mean, I had that job for almost 10 years. That was the best I had done in a really long time, and then I lost that job and couldn’t keep one after that. It finally got to me.”
Magee had turned his life around since getting out of Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby, Mont., in 2008. Doing “stupid kid stuff” with his cousin at 18 had led to a burglary charge and five years in Montana’s correctional facilities. He earned his GED while incarcerated and once released moved back home to Lodi, Calif., to start anew.
On the promise of a warehouse management job in Seattle that he found on LinkedIn, Magee sold his 1993 Dodge Ram in exchange for a one-way bus ticket from California in October 2024.
When he got to Seattle, he said he was told the job was no longer available.
“They didn’t need me,” he said. “I was upset, but you can’t get mad. That’s not going to change anything or make it any better.”
Magee knew about the Salvation Army’s reliability in predicaments like these. In 2013, he spent a brief stint in South Seattle’s William Booth Center, before his brother talked him into returning to California. The Salvation Army is one of 13 nonprofits that benefit from readers’ donations to The Seattle Times Fund For Those in Need.
Magee immediately went to the Salvation Army’s emergency shelter, Jefferson Day Center, where he filled out a referral for transitional housing at the Sodo shelter. He was accepted within a few days.
Each year, The Seattle Times Fund for Those in Need raises money for charities that help children, families and older adults. Throughout the season, we’re telling the stories of people and organizations who make a difference in the lives of thousands, and the impact donors can have.
He moved into his own semiprivate cubicle in Sodo, a quiet, spotless shelter that opened five years ago and houses 271 people without time stamps for departure.
The shelter has seven total bays, five for male-identifying people and two for female-identifying, the largest of which holds no more than 50 people. Every individual gets their own cubicle for privacy and are welcome to bring all personal belongings and pets.
The shelter also houses family members and close friends together.
The bays, each with their own communal style bathrooms and showers, are cleaned daily by janitorial staff and overseen by at least 18 support staff members at all times. Each bay also has its own 24/7 shelter monitor to service any needs and provide additional safety.
The Salvation Army strives to “lead with dignity” and “meet individuals exactly where they are,” which means treating residents as adults, according to Director of Shelters Garrett Sherman. Residents can come and go as they please and are not beholden to any particular responsibilities while living in Sodo, aside from respectful treatment toward others, maintaining a peaceful and safe environment, and refraining from alcohol and drug use in the building.
The Sodo shelter provides three meals a day without set mealtimes, in an effort to stray away from the “cookie-cutter” structures of other shelters.
Magee was eager to take better advantage of the Salvation Army’s resources this time around, joining the 50% of the shelter’s residents who are employed and leave for work during the day.
“I wasn’t doing anything with my life back then,” Magee said about his time at the William Booth Center in 2013. “I was just drinking all of the time (at a nearby bar).”
Within two weeks at the Sodo shelter, Magee met with Vasati Ieremia, one of 11 staff members available to residents. More than 60% of residents use their services.
“When he first came in here, he was adamant to get things done,” said Ieremia, 48. “In our initial meetings, we started setting goals. We started these goals slowly, and he wanted to go by the goals really fast, and it wasn’t fast enough (for him). He wanted to attend school. He wanted to get a job. He wanted to move into his own place.”
Ieremia helped Magee locate his GED and transfer his residency to Washington. She also helped him compile a résumé for job interviews. The staff provided Magee with a laptop and bag when he enrolled in classes at Seattle Central College in December 2024.
Magee secured a job as a security guard for Inter-Con Security in February, four months after moving into the shelter. He has worked there for 11 months now.
“Once he puts his mind to something, he is a go-getter,” said Ieremia, who still regularly checks in with Magee. “He wanted to get things done. … Every time I conduct a welfare check with him, he is up and ready to provide feedback for his day-to-day. He’s telling me good news. He’s ready to give me the report. He’s excited.”
Magee began saving his money and moved out of the shelter in May, after seven months in Sodo. He moved into the Discovery House, unaffiliated with the Salvation Army, on a recommendation from a shelter monitor at the Sodo shelter who also lives in the Ballard home.
The Salvation Army covered Magee’s first two months of rent at the Discovery House, a completely sober living community of around 20 people, before he took over the payments. The substance-free environment is ideal for Magee, who quit drinking in February upon accepting his current job.
“I still want to drink, but I fight it, and I don’t,” he added.
Still without a vehicle, Magee carpools or uses public transit to get to his 5 a.m. job at the Seattle Municipal Tower in downtown Seattle.
When not at work, Magee enjoys watching drama series like “NCIS” and “Landman.” He often cooks burgers or chili macaroni and cheese for dinner, before heading to bed around 8 p.m. for his 4 a.m. wake-up.
Aside from “winning the lottery” one day, Magee is content to just keep along his current path. He hopes to eventually buy a car and get a place of his own, somewhere quieter in the city.
“Everybody has a different story,” Ieremia said. “He still has a lot to tell, and for him to give us a chance to help him, he is still trying to tell his story and make a difference. The Salvation Army gave that man a lot, to boost his energy and to boost his confidence. We helped him get out and become a good citizen.”
Ieremia urges anyone who is struggling to do exactly what Magee did: ask for help.
“All you have to do is ask because what Chris did was go up to the desk (at the Jefferson Day Center) and just ask,” Ieremia said. “Ask and you shall receive.”
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