Community Initiatives

Kent Family Center

Kent Family Center

At any given time, cities and organizations are striving for ways to improve the lot of people in King County. Recognizing that such initiatives often can better the lives of residents in our communities, the King County Housing Authority actively participates and promotes a variety of community causes.

The Housing Authority is proud to be a partner with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other agencies in the Sound Families Initiative. With capital and service funding from the Gates Foundation and project-based Section 8 subsidy from housing authorities, agencies are creating transitional housing for homeless families.

To assist in developing housing for people who are "chronically homeless," KCHA is participating in the Taking Health Care Home initiative. Funded by the Corporation for Supportive Housing, this initiative aims to develop permanent housing with wrap-around social services in King and Spokane Counties by integrating housing and service funding.

New Resident Opportunity Plan to Include Bellevue, Kirkland Residents

The King County Housing Authority is seeking 25 households from Bellevue and Kirkland, in addition to 25 households who were recently relocated from the Park Lake Homes II community in White Center, to participate in our new Resident Opportunity Plan.

This new program will help residents increase their income, achieve economic independence, and link to other housing opportunities. Services include development of career plans, access to education and training, support to help residents finish school, a youth employment program, and a savings account upon completing the program and graduating from housing subsidy.
Eligible households must:

• Live in Bellevue or Kirkland either in KCHA public housing or with a Housing Choice Voucher OR be a former resident of Park Lake Homes II;
• Be currently working OR have recent work history OR be enrolled in a formal training or certificate program OR have graduated in the past six months;
• Be in good standing with KCHA.

KCHA is partnering with Bellevue College and the YWCA to help residents obtain more skills and education to increase their income. For more information or to request an application, please contact Linda Savio with Bellevue College at 425-564-5474 or ROP@kcha.org. The first application review date will be Jan. 28, 2010.

South King County Housing First Pilot Project

Once considered chronically homeless, many individuals now are off the streets and living successfully in their own apartments thanks to the South King County Housing First Pilot Project.

The King County Housing Authority, King County's Department of Community and Human Services and United Way of King County joined forces to make the project possible by contracting with Sound Mental Health to connect individuals with homes and much-needed support services.

South King County Housing First Pilot Project: Innovations and Lessons Learned (pdf)
South King County Housing First Pilot Project: Innovations and Lessons Learned (html)

South King County Housing First Pilot Project Report (pdf)
South King County Housing First Pilot Project Report (html)

Building Better Futures

The Housing Authority is a partner with Kent Youth and Family Services, the Center for Career Alternatives and the Puget Sound Educational Service District in Building Better Futures –- a project to expand social services in Kent's East Hill neighborhood.

The East Hill neighborhood of Kent is home to many families and individuals living in poverty. Many of these people are immigrants from countries torn by war or economic ruin. They want to find jobs and see their children succeed in school, but area support services facilities have been meager.

To help the low-income residents of Kent and Covington help themselves, a group of organizations banded together. Building Better Futures, a partnership of Kent Youth and Family Services, the King County Housing Authority, the Puget Sound Educational Service District and the Center for Career Alternatives, is spearheading the construction of buildings that will offer job counseling, child care, English classes, youth programs and nutritional assistance for young mothers.

The Kent Family Center, near the corner of 132nd Avenue Southeast and Southeast Kent-Kangley Road, provides a permanent facility for the South King County Head Start program, an expanded Women, Infants and Children (WIC) clinic and an adult learning and job center. BBF is continuing to raise money for the Springwood Youth Center (PDF) . Equipped with a gymnasium and computer lab, the Youth Center (HTML) , which opened October 2006, provides supervised programs for middle school and high school-aged youth.

Building Better Futures is truly a community effort, with contributions from organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Kiwanis Club of Kent as well as government grants going toward the $6.8 million needed for the project. Building Better Futures still is raising money. If you wish to make a tax-deductible contribution, make checks out to Building Better Futures at P.O. Box 1571, Kent, WA 98035-1571. For more details about the project, contact Michele Campbell of Kent Youth and Family Services at 253-859-0300, ext. 3075 or at michelec@kyfs.org.