Sea Mar Community Health Centers in Des Moines, devoted to assisting south King County's growing Latino community, received a motorized boost to their program with a delivery by Metropolitan King County Councilwoman Julia Patterson of a retired Metro eight-passenger van.

A crowd of volunteers and staff greeted Patterson. They were eager to take a look inside the shiny, blue, van and welcome her to Sea Mar.

"I am very touched by the work of Sea Mar Community Health Centers and their commitment to providing quality, comprehensive care to individuals and families across King County," Patterson said. "Their Des Moines location serves an incredibly diverse, low-income population, which will benefit greatly from having this new mode of transportation to and from much-needed medical and dental appointments."

Sea Mar was established in 1978 with a single medical clinic serving Seattle's South Park neighborhood. Today, Sea Mar, a private, non-profit community health center, operates nearly 50 medical, dental and behavioral health clinics and centers in 10 western Washington counties.

Sea Mar is committed to providing high-quality, comprehensive health and human services to diverse communities, including low income, underserved and uninsured populations, according to staffers. Sea Mar specializes in services to Latinos and is a leader in the delivery of bilingual and culturally appropriate healthcare and social services.

"We are pleased that the County has selected our inpatient, long-term treatment program as a beneficiary of its van distribution program," said Rogelio Riojas, Sea Mar's Chief Executive Officer. "We intend to make the van available to any resident or person who comes to the treatment center for care and services.

"It will be a great resource for our program."

Since 1995, the King County Council has donated vans to nonprofit groups to help meet the transportation needs of low-income, elderly, youth, or people with disabilities in King County.

The vans are part of a fleet of county vehicles that have been 'retired' after accruing a certain number of miles. This is the eighth year that each member of the council has been able to donate vans.

The vans were donated through an annual application process. For more information about applying for a van, contact Patterson's Office at 206-296-1005.