LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The King County Housing Authority (KCHA) helped put a roof over the heads of more than 22,400 households in 2018 — more than ever before in our 80-year history. This year we contracted for the acquisition of seven existing housing complexes, preserving the affordability of 859 apartments at risk of demolition or significant rent increases — and advanced the design and construction of 391 new units. Competing aggressively for new HUD funding, we secured the resources necessary to provide housing assistance to 357 additional households including veterans experiencing homelessness, individuals with disabilities, and families with children experiencing homelessness. Lease-up of these new vouchers is now well underway. I am enormously proud of the quality of the services provided by the team here at KCHA. HUD’s inspectors consistently rate our public housing inventory as one of the best maintained and managed portfolios in the country. The occupancy rate for the 10,215 units we own exceeds 98 percent and our Housing Choice Voucher program is 100 percent utilized. Increased focus this year on customer service to the 2,300 private landlords we work with has increased the success rate for voucher holders looking for housing to 77 percent — not high enough but a significant achievement in this challenging rental market. On the financial side, Standard and Poor’s reaffirmed our AA credit rating, enabling us to access private capital that is critical to supplement limited government resources. For the 16,400 federally subsidized households we served this year — households with incomes averaging less than $13,000 a year — housing is a crucial support, but not in itself sufficient. Safe, stable, affordable housing underpins the academic success for the more than 20,000 children we house. It is a critical determinant of health and quality of life for our community’s seniors and people with disabilities. It enables people to enter and succeed in the workforce and achieve economic independence. The partnerships we have forged with homeless housing providers, school districts, physical and behavioral health care systems, King County and suburban cities, and the workforce development system are critical to these efforts. In 2018,129 school children experiencing homelessness and their families were re-housed through our partnerships with the Highline and Tukwila School Districts. 2 2018 ANNUAL REPORT