Fighting homelessness, ferry heroes, advanced batteries, helping hurricane victims



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State homelessness efforts are working – and changing lives

Gov. Jay Inslee visits a tiny home village.

Gov. Jay Inslee and First Spouse Trudi Inslee tour a state-funded Tiny Home Village in Lacey.

Washington’s efforts to reduce homelessness are working [ [link removed] ]. The state’s Encampment Resolution Program brought more than 1,200 people inside from homelessness. State housing investments have yielded thousands of emergency housing units. Youth homelessness has fallen 40 percent statewide since 2015.

Ruth was a resident of Unity Commons Shelter in Olympia when Gov. Jay Inslee toured her apartment last year. It was small, but it was hers, she said. A framed folded flag stood on the mantle for her departed husband, a veteran. She and all her neighbors had formerly experienced chronic homelessness, but now had a roof overhead thanks to an investment from the state’s Housing Trust Fund.

James was a resident of Community House on Broadway [ [link removed] ] in Longview when the governor stopped by. He’d spent the better part of his life battling addiction until he found stability and began recovery at CHOB. He’s been in recovery for five years now. A recent Rapid Capital Housing Acquisition grant will expand CHOB’s capacity so they can open their doors to more locals like James.

Marie, Phuong, Steve, and Nick [ [link removed] ] were each among the 1,200 people brought inside by the state’s Encampment Resolution Program. The program funded 46 encampment cleanups statewide and over 70 percent of encampment residents accepted offers for shelter. For Marie and Phoung, a roof overhead was a welcome change after several years spent living outdoors in a dangerous roadside encampment.

Donald Gene Castro was a Vietnam War veteran and a long-haul truck driver. When he lost his job, he lost his primary income. And when he lost that income, he lost stable housing. He spent his later years on the street until he died in 2020. In Auburn this year, a new emergency shelter opened in his name: ‘Don’s Place.’ [ [link removed] ] The former motel was purchased and converted by King County through their Health Through Housing initiative. From now on, more people like Don will have a place to go.

State and local investments in emergency housing have soared in recent years. They are now paying off. Dangerous roadside encampments are disappearing. Their former occupants now live in tiny home villages and supportive housing financed by state and local programs. Many are moving on to permanent housing. They’re accessing treatment and supportive services. They’re graduating from job training programs [ [link removed] ]. Overdose death is starting to decline [ [link removed] ]. At least 10,000 fewer youth are sheltered today who weren’t by 2016 measures. At the state level and the personal level, state investments in homelessness are making a difference.

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Ferry heroes recognized during ‘Life Ring Awards’

A group of Washington State Ferries workers stands on deck for a photo

Gov. Jay Inslee, WSF Assistant Secretary Steve Nevey, and WSDOT Secretary Roger Millar pose for a photo with WSF employees honored during the 'Life Ring Awards' this year.

More than 100 times last year, Washington State Ferries workers saved the day. They responded to medical emergencies. They assisted stranded vessels. They saved people, they saved cats [ [link removed] ], and they saved dogs [ [link removed] ]. WSF honored several heroic employees Wednesday during their annual ‘Life Ring Awards’ ceremony [ [link removed] ].

The crew of the MV Suquamish launched a rescue boat in August to help struggling divers near the Mukilteo terminal. The crew of the MV Chelan assisted a man who suffered a seizure in January. The crew of the MV Kennewick performed lifesaving CPR on a man found unresponsive in the passenger cabin. The crew of the MV Samish collected passengers from a stranded vessel in March. And workers at the Colman Dock intervened to stop a man from jumping off a slip into Puget Sound.

“If you had to have a heart attack, the best place to do it would be a hospital. The second-best place, I guess, would be aboard a Washington State Ferry. Time and time again, they have been there to help in a moment of peril,” said Gov. Jay Inslee.

“Having served at sea for half of my life, I know there’s nothing more rewarding than sticking your hand out to help somebody in distress,” said U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound Commander Capt. Mark McDonnell.

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UW launches new “Testbed” for battery innovation
A woman operates scientific equipment in a laboratory at the University of Washington.

Gov. Jay Inslee suited up to tour the University of Washington Clean Energy Testbeds’ new battery development wing, equipped with a dry room and other specialized equipment for the iteration of pouch-cell batteries.

It’s been a good week for science at the University of Washington. One UW professor earned a Nobel Prize [ [link removed] ] in chemistry, and the UW Clean Energy Institute Friday unveiled its new plan [ [link removed] ] to position itself at the fore of global battery development.

UW’s Washington Clean Energy Testbeds [ [link removed] ] opened in 2017 to bring clean energy research to market faster. The program is an open-access model that affords small startups and big corporations space, unique instruments, and UW expertise to accelerate research and development of clean technologies. The Testbeds are supported by $7.5 million from the state's Climate Commitment Act.

Next year, the Testbeds facility will open a specialized wing for prototyping cutting-edge batteries.

Today, battery scientists can deliver a proof of concept in small coin cells. Testing a coin cell might prove the chemistry, but perhaps not the engineering required for scaled commercial applications. The new Testbeds wing will be equipped with a series of specialized machines necessary to produce ‘pouch cell’ batteries. They’re larger than a coin cell – about the size and shape of a Pop-Tart packet. And because a pouch cell is an authentic commercial format, it’s a more instructive proof of concept for curious investors.

“With a coin cell, you can write a paper, and maybe win a grant. But that’s not enough for a car company. You need to prove that your new technology performs at the scale of one of their batteries,” said Owen Freed, communications specialist at the UW Clean Energy Institute.

The gulf between a proof of concept and commercial viability is commonly referred to as the “valley of death” for new product development. The UW’s Clean Energy Testbeds work to bridge that gap so that more promising innovations can make the leap into our everyday lives.

“The beauty of these Testbeds is that they serve enterprise as a whole - it does the work that individual companies can't afford to do,” said Inslee. “It's a model of public investment that can help private enterprise blossom.”

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News you might have missed:

Washingtonians chip in for hurricane relief

Hurricanes Helene and Milton have taken turns battering the Southeast. Across the country, Americans are supporting the recovery effort [ [link removed] ]. Secretary of State Steve Hobbs recently opened a secure portal to accept donations [ [link removed] ] from Washington residents, public employees, and retirees. Washington Task Force One sent 80 volunteers [ [link removed] ] to prepare for Hurricane Milton’s landfall, bringing 90,000 pounds of equipment. The American Red Cross Northwest Region also sent more than 50 volunteers to help. The Washington Military Department sent a Type 3 All-Hazards Incident Management Team and at least two disaster reservists to South Carolina to assess damage.

“These are examples of people in our communities and our state who are raising their hand, seeing what’s happening on TV, and saying I need to be there and be able to help,” said American Red Cross Northwest Region Communications Director Betsy Robertson.

Husky chemist honored with Nobel Prize

Seattle-born University of Washington biochemist David Baker was awarded the Nobel Prize [ [link removed] ] in chemistry this week. His research decoding novel proteins “unraveled a grand challenge in chemistry,” according to Nobel Committee for Chemistry chair Heiner Linke.

Baker helped create a computer program, ‘RoseTTAFold [ [link removed] ],’ that uses artificial intelligence deep learning to predict protein structures using only limited information. The protein structures decoded by the software may contribute to human health in areas such as cancer cell growth and inflammation disorders. RoseTTAFold’s code is openly available on GitHub, assisting the entire global research community.

DOH partners with local responders to address opioid crisis

The Washington State Department of Health is partnering with local first responders in several counties to launch a pilot program to administer buprenorphine [ [link removed] ] to treat opioid use disorder and reduce the risk of overdose. The medication alleviates the immediate symptoms of withdrawal so that patients can better engage with treatment and services. Through this program, first responders will be able to save more lives and help more people begin treatment.

"The Department of Health is determined to help Washingtonians live healthy and fulfilling lives, and to stop this opioid crisis from robbing those lives from our neighbors, friends, and family members," said Secretary of Health Umair A. Shah.

Commerce awards $3 million to boost housing production pipeline

Sixteen Washington cities and four counties are to receive a total of $3 million from the state Department of Commerce [ [link removed] ] to streamline local building permit review processes. Siting and permitting delays are often-cited contributors to slowed housing production. The new funds will help these localities digitize their permitting processes and reduce the time required to approve permits.






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