Opening DOOrs in Our COmmunityCampaign to end Chronic Homelessness

June 2007United Way commits to a concentrated fundraising campaign to support people who are chronically homeless. Money raised will be used, in part, as seed money for human services in support of 1,000 new units of permanent housing. Vision and critical financial support come from Gary Gigot and Dan Brettler. Karen Marcotte Solimano steps up as lead volunteer on fundraising. John Stanton and Theresa Gillespie make a lead gift of $5 million.

miLestOnesIn the Campaign

to End Chronic Homelessness

“In a community

like ours, everyone

deserves a roof

overhead. Serving

our community’s

most vulnerable and

saving money at the

same time—that just

makes good business

sense.”—Dan Brettler

Founder and President, Car Toys and Wireless Advocates; Co-Chair,

Committee to End Homelessness in King County; former Chair, United Way Out of the Rain Committee

FOLLOw tHe timeLine tO see tHe

prOgress maDe tHrOugHOut

tHe Campaign.

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Long-term homelessness is not simple.People who have lived on the streets for longer than a year are among our community’s most vulnerable. Most suffer from severe mental and physical health issues as well as drug and alcohol addictions. But in a community like ours, homelessness is unacceptable.

We have always known that it couldn’t be taken on sporadically, here and there, organization by organization. It would take true collaboration.

In 2007, the Campaign to End Chronic Homelessness became that collaboration. And it’s now proof that when the community—individuals, nonprofits, corporations, government—rallies around an issue, great work gets done. With $20 million raised, 1,800 new units of housing were created through this Campaign. Plus we’re one of just a few communities in the country seeing a reduction in numbers of people facing long-term homelessness.

Those 1,800 units of housing are not simply four walls and a roof. Taking the Housing First approach, in which we create homes and get people off the street now, those 1,800 units are places of safety and stability. They are linked to services that lead to independence. They represent real people whose lives have been changed by this innovative Campaign—and by your involvement in it.

On behalf of United Way of King County, thank you for your energy and commitment to seeing this Campaign to a solid close.

Sincerely,

Mike GarveyChairman, Saltchuk (retired)

Karen Marcotte SolimanoCommunity Volunteer, United Way of King County Board Member

OCtOber 2007First 75 new units open at Downtown Emergency Services Center’s Evans House for people with serious mental health issues. United Way’s support was a multi-year commitment for case management services.

august 2008 First of three low-interest bridge loans made to help acquire property to be developed as housing. As these loans are repaid, the money is invested in services at those properties or other facilities.

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thank you to all who supported this Campaign to welcome more people home.$5 millionTheresa E. Gillespie and

John W. Stanton

$1 million to $4,999,999Brettler Family FoundationBill & Melinda Gates FoundationLynn and Mike Garvey

$500,000 to $999,999Attorney’s General’s OfficeEstate of Mildred BainJeffrey and Susan BrotmanJoshua Green FoundationOrin Smith Family FoundationRaikes FoundationJames Solimano and

Karen Marcotte Solimano

$250,000 to $499,999Estate of Levant WellingtonElise Holschuh and

Brian McAndrewsBradley HorwitzLenore HanauerBlake and Molly Nordstrom

$100,000 to $249,999William BlockThe Boeing CompanyHenry W. and Cindy BurgessThe Estate of Glenn AndersonEstate of L. Fredrick FensterGary GigotMatt Griffin and Evelyne RoznerDonald Guthrie and

Candace TkachuckPeter and Peggy HorvitzJohn C. & Karyl Kay Hughes

FoundationLinda and Ted JohnsonJim and Diana JudsonJohn and Nancy RudolfJon Fine and Paula SelisBrad Smith and Kathy Surace-Smith

$50,000 to $99,999Donna BenaroyaElisabeth BottlerHerb Bridge and Edie HilliardCostco WholesaleLucy and Herb PruzanMacy’sPACCAR IncRussell InvestmentsKevin and Karen SmithMikal and Lynn ThomsenWally and Linda WalkerRoy and Rhonda Whitehead

$25,000 to $49,999Norman Archibald Charitable FoundationRobert and Kelli DotsonNancy and Paul EtseksonEileen GilmanD. Wayne and Anne E. GittingerPete Higgins and Leslie Magid HigginsKaren Hust and Todd Vogel Bruce and Jolene McCaw Family

FoundationJohn and Ginny MeisenbachBruce and Jeannie NordstromAnn Ramsay-Jenkins

$10,000 to $24,999Tom Alberg and Judi BeckAnonymous (2)Fred and Patricia AuchAlan and Joyce BenderLauren and Gregg BennettCarl and Joann BiancoJon CurleyR.B. and Ruth H. Dunn Charitable

FoundationBob and Karen FeltonJody Foster and John RyanKaren E. Glover and Thaddas L. AlstonElizabeth Hebert & Petunia FoundationDeanna and John OppenheimerMary PigottSamis FoundationJim and Jan SinegalDavid M. Thompson and Judith A. Jesiolowski

$5,000 to $9,999Scott Alderman and Jennifer Pere-AldermanClaire AngelAnonymousDouglas P. Beighle* and Kathleen PierceRick and Polly DoddScott and Mindy HopperChip and Julie KellyVictor OdermatSasha and Lowell PressDick and Bonnie RobbinsSamis L and CompanyThe Schultz Family FoundationMr. Peter H. van OppenWashington Federal

apriL 2009 The Journal of the American Medical Association publishes research demonstrating the effectiveness of the Housing First initiative at DESC’s 1811 Eastlake facility. The study shows that providing housing and on-site services without requirements of abstinence or treatment saved taxpayers more than $4 million in the first year of operation.

* Deceased

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investing in sustained resultsThe supportive services in which the Campaign has made multi-year investments include outreach, respite care, medical and mental health care, drug and alcohol treatment, skills training, and employment. Our commitments extend to 2019 and, in some cases, beyond.

Of course, housing and services aren’t free. But there are cost offsets when we lift someone out of long-term homelessness and into the Housing First program with supportive services. This is because people with housing and needed services spend less time in emergency rooms and sobering centers and make fewer demands on law enforcement.

Another part of the Campaign to End Chronic Homelessness is our bridge loan program. This provided short-term, low-interest loans to acquire property and build permanent, supportive housing. As these loans are repaid, the money is invested in services at these or other facilities.

June 2009Client Care Coordination is launched in King County with United Way funding. This innovative approach matches housing and services to the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness—people who, unsupported, are often the most expensive to the community.

step into ernestine anderson placeThe Low Income Housing Institute’s Ernestine Anderson Place on South Jackson in Seattle is one of the sites born from the bridge loan program. United Way of King County provided a $425,000 bridge loan to help LIHI secure the housing site for development.

Named for the legendary jazz singer and Seattle resident, Ernestine Anderson Place opened its doors in February 2013 and features permanent housing with supportive services for 45 homeless seniors, including eight veterans, as well as housing for 15 low-income seniors. Sound Mental Health provides on-site supportive services.

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better Coordination for better OutcomesPermanent, supportive housing gives individuals the services they need to thrive—drug and alcohol counseling, employment assistance and more. To enhance communication between service providers and to ensure that those at greatest risk are helped first, in 2009 United Way funded Client Care Coordination, a system that prioritizes the most vulnerable and most expensive to serve.

Another facet of the Campaign is additional outreach efforts. Influential individuals in the homeless community become partners in guiding people off the streets and into a permanent home. The Campaign has also created systems that help to avoid discharging people to the streets from hospitals, mental health institutions, jail and foster care.

summer 2010Initial goal met of 1,000 units of permanent supportive housing opened.

may 2011Harvard University’s prestigious Kennedy School honors the work of United Way and other funders in the Committee to End Homelessness in King County. It cites our determined work to coordinate and streamline the funding of housing and services for people leaving long-term homelessness and calls it one of year’s Top 25 “Innovations in American Government.”

“United Way’s focus on chronic homelessness has been a key

contributor to our overall plan and progress. They’re able to bring the

different partners together in a way that no other organization can.”

—Bill Block, former director of Committee to End Homelessness in King County

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Veteran employment projectImagine someone going through war, bringing home that trauma and then becoming homeless. Getting your equilibrium back and succeeding in a job won’t be easy.

In the Veteran Employment Project, United Way has teamed up with both the veteran and the employer so that the return to work is a success. So far, more than 80 formerly homeless veterans have been part of the program. Many employers have stepped up, ranging from big—Lowe’s Hardware—to small—a man named Tim Carr, who runs a landscaping business in North Seattle.

Connecting people who have faced long-term homelessness with employment isn’t simple. But national research shows that combining supportive housing with this kind of supported employment can turn lives around.

tHank yOu tO tHe FOLLOwing OrganizatiOns FOr tHeir spOnsOrsHip OF tHe Veteran empLOyment prOJeCt:

september 2011Jefferson Terrace Medical Respite Program opens 34 beds to give people experiencing homelessness a safe place to recover from acute injury or illness. Seattle-King County Public Health and Harborview Medical Center partner on this cost-saving best practice, supported by funding from United Way. The program keeps about 500 people a year from going from surgery to the streets.

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poet-in-residence: kenneth’s storyKenneth, 58, went from living in shelters and on the streets for years to a cozy corner apartment on the fifth floor. One of the first to move into the Fredric Ozanam House, he was also the community’s poet-in-residence.

In his new home, Kenneth penned poems and worked on writing his autobiography. He started his writing career while serving time in prison. “I used

to play instruments when I was in school. When I went to prison in California, my music had to come out somehow, and it came out in the form of writing.”

Kenneth attributed his downward spiral to one main cause—drugs. “I’m five years clean off of drugs,” he quietly explained. On the walls of Kenneth’s home at Ozanam House, he proudly displayed several certificates from

recovery programs.

He recently completed the culinary program at FareStart, another United Way grantee agency, and he’s actively looking for work. Like so many who got their feet back on the ground through the work of this Campaign, Kenneth has moved on from Ozanam House. He has a new home in Tacoma, where his story —and his writing—continue.

“Most of the guys

here came out of a

homeless situation

like me, and they’re

all quite happy like

me. We get along

because we’ve been in

the same boat.”—Kenneth

september 2011LIHI’s Gossett Place opens in the U. District with Seattle’s first units dedicated to chronically homeless youth 18 to 25. Started by a United Way bridge loan and with funding from City of Seattle, King County, Seattle Housing Authority and others, the apartments are built green with energy-efficient features. United Way funds Sound Mental Health to deliver supportive services, including employment, job training and counseling.

FaLL 2012Veteran Employment Project launched. United Way recruits and supports companies with an end goal of putting 200 veterans now living in supportive housing to work.

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Ending homelessness

doesn’t mean that

you’ll never see a

homeless person.

Ending homelessness

means our community

is there right away

with effective help

so someone can get

back to safety and

stability. It means not

letting people suffer,

not letting people

languish. Because the

faster we can act, the

better we can break

someone’s fall.

getting a new start: Lori’s story

A soft-spoken woman in her mid-50s, Lori struggled for many years with drug addiction. She lost her home, sold many of her possessions and lived in shelters. For a long time, her serious drug problems prevented her from getting into permanent housing. Now in Plymouth Housing Group’s Langdon and Anne Simons Senior Apartments, Lori has been clean for nearly two years and works hard

every day to remain drug-free. “I get through one day. I wake up, it’s the next day and I do it again,” she said.

For Lori, one of the first applicants chosen for housing at Simons, life is quiet—grocery shopping in the morning and attending weekly meetings for addicts in recovery. But Simons is starting to feel like home. “This is a real new start,” she said with a smile. “Plymouth gave me a second chance.”

Photo by Doug Plummer, Plymouth Housing Group. Story by Karen Anderson, Plymouth Housing Group

January 2013Seattle’s annual One Night Count of people living on the streets and in shelters shows that despite a slight increase in overall numbers, the chronic homelessness population has decreased by double digits.

June 2013$20M raised and 1,800 units of housing

produced, the fundraising for the Campaign concludes. Hundreds of people gave to the

Campaign, with 31 making six-figure gifts, including four giving more than $1 million.

Powered in part by these funds, United Way’s work continues with plans to provide services

for an additional 130 units in the fall and to ensure that all chronically homeless individuals

are signed up for expanded health care.

“This is a real new start. Plymouth gave me a second chance.”—Lori

the Home stretch

Is an end to homelessness anywhere in sight?

The Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness was a breakthrough for our community. Before it began, despite our community having some of the best service providers in the country, efforts were uncoordinated. But with the plan, people and organizations started to function as a system, to cooperate, and to agree on priorities.

United Way of King County made a big investment in the Plan with the Campaign to End Chronic Homelessness, setting a goal of 1,000 new units of housing, each coupled to vital services. Because of the community’s generosity, we ultimately helped create far more: 1,800 homes in total.

That’s lives restored and people escaping the chaos and fear of the streets. Millions of dollars in public savings resulted.

Yet clearly homelessness persists. Most of us have daily encounters with the many people still in need.

Part of it is the economy; in hard times people lose their housing. Part of it is that our community’s work is incomplete. We need to do more— and work even smarter, raising our coordination and cooperation to an even higher level.

It’s an exciting moment for just that. Because of the $20 million raised, the housing built, the services established and the knowledge gained, we have one of the country’s

best foundations for taking on homelessness. We can now try—and succeed— with creative new approaches that blend homelessness prevention, better use of short-term shelter and better use of supportive housing stock (including helping those who can to return to independence).

These efforts will magnify benefits that can already be seen, both in the faces of those helped and in hard statistics. For example, a close analysis of data in our community’s annual One Night Count shows a 13% decrease since 2007 in King County’s chronically homeless population. Data also show a decrease in homelessness among veterans.

United Way’s leadership has been critical to our community’s

strong progress in ending homelessness. The funding, the expertise

and volunteers that United Way has mobilized are making a daily

difference for hundreds of people now rebuilding their lives with

Plymouth Housing Group.

—Paul Lambros, Executive Director, Plymouth Housing Group

“From the beginning, I knew we could make a difference. It’s gratifying

to see the number of new units that have been built and the number

of people who have joined this effort.”

—Gary Gigot, CEO, 3CircleGrowth

Catholic Housing ServicesBakhita Gardens, Belltown

The Cedars, Renton

Frederick Ozanam House, First Hill

The Wintonia, Capitol Hill

Community House Mental HealthThe Brierwood, Greenwood

Community Psychiatric Clinic

The Fairmont Apartments

Seattle Compass Housing AllianceNyer-Urness House, Ballard

Veterans Center, Renton

Downtown Emergency Service CenterAurora Housing, North Seattle

Canaday House, South Lake Union

Evans House, Capitol Hill

Greenwood House, Seattle

Rainier House, Columbia City

Riverside Inn, Seattle

Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns CouncilVarious rental units, Bellevue and Kirkland

Evergreen Treatment ServicesREACH Respite Care Rental Housing, Tuwkila

REACH Housing First, countywide

King County Housing AuthorityPacific Court, Tukwila

Low Income Housing InstituteErnestine Anderson Place, Central District

Gossett Place, University District

McDermott Place, Lake City

Mental Health Housing FoundationTall Firs Cottages, Kent

Plymouth Housing GroupHumphrey House, Belltown

Langdon and Anne Simons Senior Apartments, Downtown Seattle

Scargo, Belltown

Seattle Housing Authority and King County Housing AuthoritySupportive housing vouchers

The Sophia WaySophia’s Home, Bellevue

Sound Mental HealthHolly Creek Apartments, Des Moines

The Kasota, Auburn

Kenyon House, Southeast Seattle

South King County Housing First, South King County

Transitional ResourcesAvalon Place, West Seattle

Valley CitiesValley Cities Landing, Auburn

#uwkCcares

Thanks to our generous donors, plus our funding partners the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the City of Seattle, King County, and the Seattle and King County Housing Authorities, these sites and services were created and sustained through the Campaign to End Chronic Homelessness:

tO aLL wHO JOineD us in FaCing tHis COmpLex prObLem HeaD-On, tHank yOu FOr yOur COmmitment tO Creating HOme sweet HOme FOr tHOusanDs.