SEATTLE — A partnership that combines Zillow-powered technology and the work of Housing Connector, a non-profit organization, has helped find homes for more than 3,700 people experiencing homelessness, according to Zillow. The program that launched in Seattle in 2019 continues to expand.
Charlie Spencer of Redmond is one of the people who has received help.
"Even the word homeless didn't fit well with me because I didn't ever think I'd ever be homeless. But I was homeless. And I was sleeping in my car. And I was sad and depressed, crying every day,” said Spencer.
That was nearly five years ago. To this day, the words are still hard to say for Charlie Spencer, someone who had achieved so much success early on as a Harlem Globetrotter.
"I played probably about a year and a half or so, two years with the Globetrotters,” Spencer said.
On the court they called him Magic Charlie, and back then he was front and center, entertaining crowds. He also worked as a motivational speaker.
"I would go to high schools and middle schools and halftime NBA games and perform. It was a great time in my life,” said Spencer. "It was difficult when you were traveling around the country in good health and all of sudden you fall out, you hurt your knee and you have issues."
Spencer’s knee injury led to surgeries. The problems piled up and he says his money ran out. He found himself in Bellevue, living out of his car.
"I would drive my car and I’d find different places where I can sleep. And I parked my car and I'd sleep there. And it was cold and rainy and miserable,” said Spencer.
That is where Keith Sellers stepped in to offer assistance.
"Charlie was someone that was broken and really was sort of closed, didn't really want to talk about his story,” Sellers explained.
Sellers who works with Shkelqim Kelmendi at Housing Connector, had a way to help, thanks to the nonprofit’s partnership with Zillow.
"We were asked to build an affordable housing search tool that the organization could operate their program on,” said Samantha Holcomb, a Senior Manager with Zillow.
The site connects people with affordable housing.
“We provide all landlords or property partners with guaranteed rent, with damage mitigation, and two years of support so that when somebody moves in, they know that they have the resources and the backing to make sure folks stay stably housed,” said Kelmendi.
For Spencer, it meant he could move into an apartment at Capella at Estera Park in Redmond.
“It really saved my life… because I was at a place where I was thinking 'is this all there is?'” he said.
Today Spencer sees a future that's much brighter.
Housing Connector, which began in Seattle, has since expanded to Tacoma and the Denver area.