Human Interests Blog Human Services

Human Interests

Seattle Human Services news and events

$312,500 available for reduced-fare bus tickets

by

Through an expedited competitive Request for Proposal Process (RFP), the City of Seattle Human Services Department (HSD), King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS), and King County Metro are making available $312,500 in additional King County Human Services Reduced Fare Bus Tickets for 2012. Available funding will be split between the City of Seattle HSD and King County DCHS. Agencies will be responsible for 20% of the cost, with Metro subsidizing the remaining 80%.

Who Can Apply:  This application process is open to any agency located in the City of Seattle serving primarily homeless and low-income City of Seattle residents. You do notneed to be currently participating in the Human Services Reduced Fare Bus Ticket Program to apply.

To apply to the City of Seattle program, download the Application for Reduced Fare Bus Tickets and see Guidelines for Reduced Fare Bus Tickets. If you have any questions, please contact Lindsey Zimmerman at Lindsey.Zimmerman@seattle.gov

If you are an agency located in King County, outside the City of Seattle, you can access the King County application at this Web site.  For more information about the County process, contact Anna Strahan at Anna.Strahan@Kingcounty.gov

Due Dates:  Applications will be due by 4 p.m. on Friday, November 2nd, 2012. Any ticket funds awarded through this process must be purchased by December 21st, 2012.

Please note: These funds are in addition to the funds available for the 2013 Metro Human Services Reduced Fare Bus Ticket Application. Agencies interested in applying for the 2013 Metro Human Services Reduced Fare Bus Ticket Program must complete a separate application; this application will be posted the first week in November 2012.

HSD opens winter shelter for 6 months

by

The Seattle Human Services Department opened two winter shelters for homeless people on October 1st, 2012. They will remain open through March 31st, 2013.

 The City Hall shelter, serving adult men and women, is located on Fourth Avenue between James and Cherry streets. Shelter doors open at 8:30 p.m. and closes the following morning at 7 a.m. Capacity is 75 people.

The Frye Hotel provides shelter for adult women only. The Frye is located at Third Avenue and Yesler Way in downtown Seattle. The shelter opens at 8:00 p.m. and closes the following morning at 7 a.m. Capacity is 25 people.

During extreme winter weather conditions, the City will open additional shelter space. The city provides advance notification of severe weather shelter through service providers, the 2-1-1 community information line and the media.

King County decided to move up the date of opening its homeless shelter in the King County Administration Building to October 2nd instead of November 1st as had been scheduled.

The Administration Building shelter serves up to 50 men each night through April 15, 2013. Staff from the Salvation Army and King County will supervise the shelter, which will be open from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. The King County Women’s Winter Response Shelter also opened on October 2nd. It is operated by the YWCA Angeline’s Center for Homeless Women with a capacity of 40 women per night.

Free ‘circulator bus’ for low-income human services clients

by

 

To help mitigate the impacts of the end of Metro’s ride-free bus zone (on Saturday, September 29th), Solid Ground, a community human services agency, is providing free rides on its Downtown Circulator Bus for people living on low incomes and those who need access to health and human services in the downtown area. Beginning on October 1st, 2012, two large vans – one seating 19 people, the other 23 – will travel a fixed 4.5-mile route, Mondays through Fridays, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., stopping at each of the seven stops about every 30 minutes. The route starts and stops at Harborview Hospital.

 

This pilot project is funded by Metro and the City of Seattle. The Seattle Human Services Department has been working with Solid Ground on spreading the word among agencies that serve homeless and low-income people. Please click here for more information about the route and times or call 206-753-4801.

Mayor’s Proposed Budget preserves human services

by

Mayor Mike McGinn presented his Proposed 2013-2014 Budget to the City Council on September 24th. The budget preserves direct human services and adds funding for inflation increases for agencies, child care assistance, homeless families, domestic violence prevention, a pilot program to help young adults of color find career path jobs. For details about the budget and a link to the Mayor’s budget speech click here.

The City Council will hold two public hearings on the Proposed Budget, one on October 4th at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, and one on October 25th, same time and location. The Council will review the Human Services Department’s budget on October 2nd beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Funding for child care, homeless families in Mayor’s budget

by

On Wednesday, Sept. 19, Mayor McGinn announced new investments in human services as part of his 2013-14 Proposed Budget, including an expansion of a City program providing child care to low- and moderate-income families and increased assistance to homeless families with children. The proposed budget also includes an increase in funding for human services providers to cover the costs of inflation. For details, please see this press release. To view a video of the press conference, click here.

 

Free resources, services for veterans at Sept. 12 event

by

On September 12th,2012, the second annual Seattle Stand Down will take place at Seattle Central Community College to support at-risk and homeless veterans by providing resources and services such as employment resources, housing services, legal advice, medical and dental assistance, food, and other social and human services.

The event is on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Seattle Central Community College, Mitchell Activities Center (MAC) and
Broadway Performance Hall (for women specific services), 1701 Broadway,Seattle, WA 98122.

For more information, please visit this Web site.

A count of homeless young people

by

A final report on a point-in-time count of homeless youth and young adults was released earlier this summer. The count (“Count Us In”) took place on May 16, 2012 by a group of youth service providers and key community members from across King County. Data was also drawn from Safe Harbors, the county’s homeless management information system, to create a profile youth homelessness. See this report for more details.