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Before and during the pandemic, our housing and homelessness crisis has and will continue to be a defining challenge for Seattle, which has been the fastest growing city in America. This week, with the Office of Housing, I was proud to announce nearly $100 million in affordable housing investments for 2021 - marking a single year record of $143 million in affordable housing this year alone.
This investment will support the construction of 692 new affordable rental homes, the reinvestment in and rehabilitation of 364 existing affordable rental homes, and the rapid acquisition of a newly-constructed building that will provide 63 new affordable rental homes.
Since I took office in 2017, I have announced more than $547 million of local funds to create and preserve over 7,600 affordable homes. These local investments, combined with leveraged county, state, and federal funds, total an estimated $2.5 billion in housing investments. In comparison, over the 35 years during the Housing Levy, we created a total of 13,000 affordable homes.
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Our investments have transformed Seattle for generations to come, and with nearly $200 million of investments in the 2022 budget, Mayor-Elect Harrell will be able to continue our commitment to addressing our housing crisis.
Using new innovative methods for modular buildings and rapidly acquiring buildings under construction, we have surged housing to address our homelessness crisis. By increasing our 24/7 shelter capacity by hundreds of spaces and increasing our housing for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness, we have been able to make progress this year on moving people off the streets and into safer places, especially in our largest encampments that grew during COVID-19. This year, our city outreach workers have moved more than 1,000 individuals into shelter and addressed encampments at places like Ballard Commons, Pioneer Park, City Hall Park, Broadview-Thomson, University Playground, Miller Playfield, Albert Davis, Lake City Mini and dozens of other parks and places across the city.
Building on a series of investments to support child care providers throughout the pandemic, Dr. Dwane Chappelle, Director of the Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL), joined members of the Seattle City Council, child care workers and education partners to announce $2.9 million in Child Care Recognition Payments as part of the Seattle Rescue Plan. Over 3,500 workers will receive a one-time payment in appreciation of their important service provided to Seattle children and families throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The City of Seattle Office of Economic Development (OED) and Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced the launch of Seattle Restored—a new program focused on activating vacant commercial storefronts in Downtown Seattle neighborhoods such as Westlake, Belltown, Pioneer Square, and Chinatown-International District (CID). OED is partnering with Seattle Good Business Network, Shunpike , and real estate broker Susanna Tran to match vacant downtown Seattle storefronts with small business owners and artists to facilitate pop-up shops and art instillations—prioritizing Black, Indigenous, and other entrepreneurs and artists of color. Activating storefront vacancies will economically, socially and culturally benefit neighborhoods, small businesses, artists and property owners by creating vibrant and engaging streetscapes that encourage the public to visit downtown, support local businesses and support local artists. This program is funded by the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CLFR) established under the American Rescue Plan.
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Friends of Waterfront Seattle announced a major philanthropic gift of $5 million from Amazon to support the construction of the 20-acre Waterfront Park along Seattle’s central shoreline, which will be completed in 2024. Amazon had already provided $7 million toward construction of the park through its participation in the downtown Waterfront LID, established as part of the overall funding plan for the new park.
Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan issued the following statement after the Department of Health and Public Health – Seattle and King County confirmation of the first case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in King County:
“While Omicron is the latest chapter of our battle with COVID-19, our residents and businesses know the steps we all can take to keep our community safe and healthy together. This pandemic has been so hard, but during every wave Seattle has done what it needed and emerged with the lowest cases, hospitalizations, and mortality rates of every major city in America. We have listened to public health and followed the science. It’s why Seattle has one of the highest vaccination rates in the country, widespread testing, masking requirements, and vaccine verification.
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The family of Senator George Fleming and officials from across the state mourned the passing of a groundbreaking state senator, civic leader, and an accomplished football player.
“It is with great sadness that we announce that former Washington State Senator George Fleming passed away peacefully at his home in Seattle surrounded by family at the age of 83. Fleming led an incredible and awe-inspiring life that was dedicated to public service and advocacy for the underrepresented. For twenty-two years, he represented the 37th District, first in the Washington State House of Representatives for two years, then in the State Senate for twenty years, during which time he held the highest-ranking member-elected position of Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman for over a decade. Fleming was also an accomplished football player and star of the 1960 and 1961 Rose Bowls, including co-MVP of the 1960 game and member of the 1960 National Championship team, followed by stints with the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. Fleming was inducted into the University of Washington Hall of Fame in 1980, named a Husky Legend in 1998, and inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2012. Fleming’s most cherished role was lovingly raising his two daughters, Sonja and Yemi, with his wife, Tina, of 54 years, and spending time with their five grandchildren, all of whom will miss him dearly,” said the family of George Fleming, which includes his wife Tina and their two daughters, Sonja and Yemi (and son-in-law Rodney) as well as five grandchildren, Arica, Chris, Micah, Myles and Nyah.
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About 3,500 Seattle child care workers will get holiday gifts from the city - as much as $835 each to thank them for caring for the city’s kids during the pandemic.
The $2.9 million in federal Covid relief funds will go to workers at 537 child care centers and family home providers across Seattle.
Most of the facilities are in lower-income parts of the city, and the recipients are overwhelmingly women of color.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan called child care workers some of the “city’s frontline heroes” and thanked them for providing “safe learning environments and support when families and children needed it most.”
The city says the chosen child care providers should be handing out checks to their workers by the end of the year.
Albany Garcia at the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship press conference. (Jenn Smith / The Seattle Times)
Washington needed an innovative solution to better fund higher education — “a solution to support students facing untold barriers to accessing higher education, and a solution for employers struggling to hire the talent they needed to reach market demands,” Washington State Opportunity Scholarship Executive Director Kimber Connors said.
So state legislators and higher education officials met with the region’s top employers, including Boeing and Microsoft, and major philanthropists, like the Rubens Family Foundation and Ballmer Group. Together they developed a new public-private partnership model in which scholarship funds raised by employers and other private donors would be matched dollar-for-dollar by the state.
The Washington State Opportunity Scholarship (WSOS) fund is celebrating its 10th anniversary. To date, more than $200 million has been raised for awards for low- and middle-income students, and the program has helped 6,196 college graduates from high-demand science, technology, health care and trades fields, and counting, according to a new legislative report.
And yet there still aren’t enough graduates in those fields to fill all the open jobs, Connors said, and there’s a need to get students to graduate on time. She described the history and the challenges during “Opportunity Talks,” a recent virtual fundraising event for the college and career readiness initiative.
In addition to its scholarship program for students attending four-year schools, WSOS has expanded to include a career and technical scholarship program and graduate scholarship initiative. Separate legislation has also helped establish a fund to help rural students go to college.
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