Updates from the South King Housing and Homelessness Partnership!
Spring is showing itself to be the season of new beginnings and new opportunities for those in the SKHHP community! This month, we’ll see the opening of Valley Cities Phoenix Rising, a project that will provide supported housing, job training, and services to young adults experiencing homelessness. We’re gearing up for the first annual Affordable Housing Week, a new opportunity to highlight the need for and impact of affordable housing throughout King County. And as we continue to shift how our community provides coordinated entry into our homeless housing systems, we see new funding opportunities, new partnerships and collaborations, and ongoing opportunities for your voice to make a difference in how our region will respond collectively to this housing crisis. Many of these opportunities are listed below, but as always, please reach out to me if you are looking to engage and have your voice heard! — Joy Scott, SKC Housing Planner
Places to Be
Affordable Housing Week 2016 is a new annual tradition that the Housing Development Consortium is kicking off to highlight the need for affordable housing in cities all throughout King County. You can bring attention to the need for affordable housing in our community throughout the week by attending City or County Council meetings, contacting your elected officials, spreading the word on social media, and in many other ways.
Together, we will show why affordable housing is so important in all of our communities, and we will demonstrate the support for our movement to ensure that all people have the chance to live in safe, healthy, affordable homes within communities of opportunity.
Click here to see if your city has pledged to participate, find out more, and get information on local opportunities for action during the week!
People in Action
Recently, All Home brought together a group of stakeholders interested in vehicle residency occurring in our community to develop and inform a county-wide policy statement. That group, which included representatives from South King County cities and organizations, met multiple times to define specific issues and barriers to individuals and families living in their vehicles, and identify opportunities for cities, service providers, businesses, and congregations to positively engage with the issue. The group drafted a policy statement, which was presented to and adopted by the All Home Coordinating Board on April 6th. At that meeting, Graham Pruss summarized,
Vehicle residents have represented at least 30% of the unsheltered population for a number of years. Restrictive parking can have a negative effect on vehicle residents and perpetuate the cycle of harm. A multi-tiered approach and progressive engagement are necessary to move unsheltered vehicle residents to permanent housing.
Read the full Vehicle Residency Solutions Policy Statement here.
Resources
HomeFree: Healthy Materials Workshop
HomeFree is a Healthy Building Network initiative supporting affordable housing leaders who are advancing human health through the use of healthier building materials, while enhancing building performance.
Today, low-wealth communities are disproportionately exposed to chemical hazards found in many building products and subsequently have more severe health related issues. We can change that.
Please join Capitol Hill Housing and HDC for this engaging conversation with Healthy Building Network’s founder and CEO Bill Walsh, and HBN’s Housing Innovation Senior Fellow Gina Ciganik.
When: Tuesday, May 10th
Where: 12th Ave Arts Pike Pine Community Room
Time: 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm workshop
5:00 – 5:30 networking
The affordable housing sector can lead this effort by becoming informed and sharing best practices. Our collective influence and buying power can engage building product manufacturers to disclose product data and create new markets for healthy affordable materials.
Click here to find out more and register for this workshop!
