Last Friday, nearly 60 people representing government, the public, educational institutions, nonprofits and business attended “Disability Lifeline: A Community Conversation” hosted by United Way of King County, State Representative Mary Lou Dickerson, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle City Council Member Tim Burgess. The meeting gave voice to the changes facing the old GA-U program (now called Disability Lifeline) and provided the community an opportunity to generate creative solutions to help ease the transition for people that will be dropped from the program due…

Please join our efforts to obtain authorization for the Calling for 2-1-1 Act. Passage of the legislation will create a federal 2-1-1 system. 2-1-1 is currently being used by many states, including Washington (managed locally by the Crisis Clinic ), as the 3-digit call in number for referrals to health and human services . This easy to remember number has proven to be an invaluable resource in the aftermath of a disaster and provides everyday assistance to anyone seeking health and human services. It is a…

Our homelessness and basic needs expert Lauren McGowan takes a look at how Rapid Rehousing is taking shape in King County…

On any given night in King County there are more than one thousand families with children that are without permanent stable housing.  United Way of King County, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, King County and other community partners are working together to address this crisis. Like many communities around the country, Seattle and King County have…

On April 21, the Housing Development Consortium(HDC), North Urban Human Services Alliance (NUHSA), and A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH) hosted a forum on affordable housing tht provided an excellent introduction to the complexities of preserving and building affordable housing.  Speakers discussed the arsenal of tools (direct assistance to renters, land use incentives, subsidized housing development, project financing, outreach efforts to landlords and property owners) used to ensure this type of housing remains available to the growing number of individuals and families facing economic…

In December, Gov. Gregoire indicated that the General Assistance Unemployable Program (GA-U), the state safety net for nearly 17,000 low-income people unable to work due to a temporary physical or mental health disability, could be eliminated if no new revenues were found to ease the state budget shortfall.  A later proposal included continuing medical benefits but sharply limiting the cash grants that people receive.

Thankfully, E2SHB 2782 the Security Lifeline Act, was passed and signed into law.  In spite of a number of new…

Given the budget challenges facing the state this session, the legislature and Governor prioritized early learning by enacting the following bills:

2SHB 2731: Implements an Early Learning Program for low-income three and four year olds by initially focusing on children enrolled in the state’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance Act (ECEAP).  The bill protects this funding,  provides opportunities for children and families to participate in voluntary preschool programs with comprehensive services (as needed) starting in the 2011-12 school year and targets preschool availability to all eligible…

Join United Way of King County and call your U.S. Representative and Senators by December 2 to let them know that you want at least $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund before Congress adjourns later in December.   This initial infusion of money for the NHTF will provide grants to states to increase and preserve the supply of affordable rental housing for extremely low and very low-income families and individuals during these tough economic times.   Read the most recent Fact Sheet about the National Housing Trust Fund…

Thanks to the extensive advocacy of United Way Worldwide, local United Ways and other Emergency Food and Shelter program partners throughout the country, Congress voted to approve $200 million for fiscal year 2010 for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP).  The funding was included in the Homeland Security Appropriations bill, passed by the House and approved by the Senate on October 21, 2009.   President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law sometime soon.

Though  this is the same level of funding as…