Thank you to the over 300 people who joined me last week for a virtual town hall about King County’s Health through Housing project at the former Silver Cloud Inn in Redmond. The converted hotel will become permanent supportive housing for 144 people experiencing chronic homelessness. The video of the entire town hall is now available.
At the virtual town hall, I opened by explaining the need for permanent supportive housing, which does not yet exist in East King County. We know that people have been living unsheltered on the Eastside for years. The last Point-in-Time count conducted in January 2020 found 446 people living outside across the Eastside and the situation has likely gotten worse during the pandemic. Many, especially those experiencing chronic homelessness, need services in order to transition to and maintain housing. These services will be provided at the former Silver Cloud Inn in Redmond and other Health through Housing locations around the county.
Following my opening, King County’s Director of Community and Human Services, Leo Flor, shared the experience of the 200-plus people who were moved out of a traditional homeless shelter into a hotel where they each had their own room during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once in the hotel, many found the stability they needed to start addressing the issues that contributed to their homelessness. A University of Washington study documented the positive benefits of using hotel rooms to house people experiencing chronic homelessness. The entire experience, led to the Health through Housing program, which is designed to move 1,600 chronically homeless people into stable, supportive housing across King County.
We then listened to audience questions and comments for more than four hours.
 At the Town Hall, King County’s Director of Community and Human Services, Leo Flor, presented information about the Health through Housing program
A few key highlights from the virtual town hall:
- The Health through Housing program provides permanent housing to those who need it. It is not a homeless shelter and it is not a safe injection site.
- Although the state law that established the funding for this program required at least 15% of the units be used to house people from the surrounding community, this is a target floor, not a ceiling. I will be pushing to have a much higher proportion of the residents be from the Eastside – the hotel should be a resource for people who are living unsheltered in our neighborhoods.
- There were many concerns expressed at the virtual town hall about the potential for increases in crime in the area around the hotel. This is a common concern whenever new infrastructure is developed, especially with regard to people experiencing homelessness. We have experience in East King County providing a variety of housing options, including homeless shelters, safely and without impacts to the surrounding community. I am committed to doing that here, as well, and am confident we can achieve this goal.
- Next steps include selecting an agency to provide services and operate the housing. This agency will be expected to develop a good relationship with the neighboring community, including a “Good Neighbor Agreement” that will lay out how they will engage and respond with neighbors, among other performance expectations.
While I continue to hear different opinions from my constituents about how to address homelessness, we all agree that we need to do something about it. Health through Housing offers one important opportunity to make a difference. I am committed to working with my constituents to make sure this program makes a difference in our community and becomes something we can all be proud of.
I will continue to put out information as this project develops, including opportunities for the public to learn more and provide input into how this program will fit within East King County.
If you don’t have time to watch the almost-five hour virtual town hall recording, catch some of the highlights via the two minute KING 5 news story about last week's virtual town hall.
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Sincerely,
 Claudia Balducci
King County Council
District 6
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