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Emergency Shelter
The Housing and Community Development Program (HCD)
has combined funds from two federal sources - the Community
Development Block Grant Program and the Emergency Shelter
Grant Program - to create a Homeless Assistance
Fund to provide operating funds to shelter providers
throughout King County outside the City of Seattle. About
$400,000 in Homeless Assistance Funds are provided annually,
through a Request-For Proposal (RFP) process held every
two years. The Regional Affordable Housing Program
(RAHP) is a new source of operating and maintenance
funds for transitional housing and emergency shelter.
For more information on the Homeless Assistance Fund,
a list of agencies currently receiving funding, or to
be notified for the next Request-For-Proposal process,
please contact Janice
Hougen. Please note that capital funds for shelters
can be provided through HCD's Housing
Finance Program.
Transitional Housing and Services
HCD participates in administering two countywide sources of funds for transitional housing programs: HUD's McKinney Homeless funds, the largest source by far; and the State of Washington's Transitional Housing Operating and Rental Assistance Funds, providing funds for agencies serving families with children.
McKinney Supportive Housing Program Funds (federal):
The McKinney Supportive Housing Program provides funding to agencies for the provision of supportive services, capital and operations of transitional housing that serve homeless people in King County. Funds are awarded through a national competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). A consolidated King County/City of Seattle application for these funds is submitted annually to HUD. The local King County/City of Seattle application process commences at the beginning of the year and usually concludes by early July. There are approximately 80 McKinney funded programs throughout King County. For more information, please contact Kate Speltz. For more information about HUD's national competition for Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs which includes the McKinney Supportive Housing Program (external link),
please see http://www.hud.gov.
Transitional Housing Operating and Rental Assistance
(THOR): THOR funds are made available to King County
through the Washington State Office of Community Development
(OCD). The purpose of the THOR program is to provide
transitional housing for homeless families with children
so they can develop resources to secure and maintain
suitable, affordable permanent housing. The King County
THOR Program includes an Operating Subsidy Program for
transitional housing facilities and a Rental Assistance
Program that provides partial payments for rent assistance.
King County administers the THOR funds for the entire
King County region including the City of Seattle. THOR
funds are allocated biannually (every two years) to
providers serving homeless families in King County including
Seattle. For more information, please contact Debbi
Knowles.
In addition, please note that capital funds for transitional housing can be provided through our Housing Finance Program.
Finally, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has established the Sound Families Initiative (external link) to help support both the capital and operating costs of new transitional housing for families in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties. The City of Seattle helps the Gates Foundation administer this initiative.
Permanent Supportive Housing for the Disabled Homeless: The Shelter Plus Care Program
Shelter Plus Care (SPC) is a federal program of the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance grant that funds long-term rental assistance for previously homeless people with chronic disabilities (serious mental illness, drug/alcohol addiction or HIV/AIDS). SPC is a unique rental assistance program where tenants must agree to participate in appropriate treatment and support services. King County contracts with the Plymouth Housing Group to administer the SPC program which serves clients throughout King County including Seattle. Plymouth Housing Group works with other agencies to provide the necessary support services and treatment for SPC clients. For more information, please contact Kate Speltz.
Permanent Affordable Housing
People struggling to overcome homelessness need to find permanent housing they can afford. King County supports the development of affordable housing in several different ways: please see the Housing Finance Program and Affordable Housing Incentives sections of this web site.
The King County Committee to End Homelessness:
The King County Committee to End Homelessness began as a partnership between King County, City of Seattle, United Way of King County, Seattle-King County Coalition for the Homeless, Church Council of Greater Seattle, and many Human Service Alliances throughout the County. The Committee has been charged with developing a vision to end homelessness in King County by the year 2014 as well as inspiring new resources of funding to address homelessness in the region. For additional information,
please visit the Committee's web site http://www.cehkc.org. (external link)
Safe Harbors
Safe Harbors is a joint
initiative of the City of Seattle, King County, and
United Way of King County. The goal of the Safe Harbors
project is to design and implement an outcome-based,
HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) to facilitate
timely, effecient, and effective access to needed services
and supports for persons who are homeless in Seattle
and King County. For more information see: www.safeharbors.org
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