AUBURN, Washington – King County and the city of Auburn will announce another step in the region’s battle to shelter the homeless on Wednesday.
To date, as part of King County’s Executive Dow’s Health Through Housing initiative, the county has purchased Dow Constantine hotels in Seattle and Renton to accommodate people with chronic homelessness while providing case management, labor counseling and health services.
The third and newest location is a former Clarion hotel in Auburn.
The first property the county bought under the program was the former Inn at Queen Anne in Seattle’s Uptown neighborhood.
In June, Constantine announced the purchase of a former Extended Stay America hotel in Renton.
Constantine is expected to announce the purchase or lease of the Auburn site at 10 a.m.
The aim of the “Health through Housing” program is to accommodate 1,600 homeless people this year and next by buying hotels, motels and other single rooms for use as emergency, temporary and permanent housing.
Constantine said that in traditional accommodations, the first thing in the morning people are sent back onto the street after sleeping in confined spaces with others. These accommodations, while working short-term, do not meet future needs.
When the pandemic broke out, the cramped sleeping quarters in such accommodations provided conditions for the virus to spread. As travel and tourism came to a standstill, there was a lot of hotel space to lease so that the district could move people from busy accommodations to their own rooms.
“We found that when we gave people a home – a place of their own with all the security and peace of mind that came with it – not only would they stay safe from the virus, but they would thrive. This calm, this ability to breathe deeply, collect your thoughts, sleep well, was transformative, ”said Constantine in his 2021 state speech.
Having shelter can help people address mental and physical health problems, eat regularly, practice good hygiene, and provide the stability necessary to help people focus on long-term goals such as finding a job and housing can focus, Constantine said.
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