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Dec. 21, 2005

King County and City of Seattle receive $18.2 million homeless assistance award

A joint release of King County and the City of Seattle

SEATTLE -- King County and the City of Seattle have been awarded $18,268,167 in federal McKinney Homeless Assistance funds for housing programs and support services for homeless people. The award was announced today by King County Executive Ron Sims and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, following the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announcement of $1.3 billion awarded nationwide.

"This award allows us to continue much needed housing and services that will help homeless individuals and families across King County achieve healthier and more stable lives and futures," said Sims, co-chair of the Committee to End Homelessness Governing Board. "Affordable permanent housing and access to treatment and other services are our community goals as we move forward with the implementation of the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness. The support of the federal government and of our many other partners is critical to our success."

"This is exciting and promising news for the New Year," said Nickels, who sits on the Committee to End Homelessness Governing Board. "By strategically investing this money and other federal, state and local dollars, we will replace our current emergency shelter system with a long-term, supportive housing system and, over time, bring an end to chronic homelessness in our community."

As in years past, community-based organizations worked with the City of Seattle and King County to submit the joint application for the McKinney funding.

The $18.2 million award continues existing funding that allows county and local governments and their many partners to provide essential housing and supportive services for homeless people.

The grant will leverage the raising of an additional $43.9 million from other federal, state and local sources, including United Way and private foundations, and help to support the ongoing work of the Committee to End Homelessness in King County.

"The success of this joint application is an example of how, by working together, we can further the goal of ending homelessness," said Bill Block, director of the Committee to End Homelessness. "We are grateful to HUD, for the continuation of our grant funds and for nearly $1 million in new funding that will allow us to create 26 more permanent supportive housing units for homeless people."

The majority of the award, $17.2 million, will sustain the operations of 61 existing housing and supportive service programs that help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. These include 710 units of transitional housing, 643 units of permanent housing for homeless people with disabilities, and two Safe Haven facilities that will offer supportive housing for severely mentally ill adults who have been homeless.

The award also provides funding for the Safe Harbors Homeless Management Information System. Safe Harbors collects daily data on the services provided to homeless people at about 300 sites throughout King County. This data will be aggregated to help local governments and nonprofit service providers identify trends in homelessness and better support those programs that are most effective in bringing an end to homelessness.

New funding in the amount of $965,580 will make possible 26 new Shelter Plus Care units, which will provide permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless persons with disabilities. (See attached chart for details on programs funded.)

For more information on the programs and projects to be funded by McKinney and local matching funds in 2006, please contact Kate Speltz, King County Homeless Housing Planner, 206-205-6469.

Seattle/King County Continuum of Care
Homeless Assistance Awards for 2006-2007

This information reflects the award for the 2005 Seattle-King County Consolidated application for McKinney funding as announced by HUD on December 20, 2005.

** Units can be houses, apartments, rooms or beds

HMIS refers to Homeless Management Information System