information from King County

King County Executive Dow Constantine delivered the 2021 State of the County to the King County Council, announcing the first Health Through Housing purchase of a hotel in Seattle’s Uptown neighborhood, the return of Trailhead Direct, and relaunch of rental assistance grants.

King County has purchased the first hotel for its Health Through Housing initiative, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced to the King County Council during his 11th State of the County address Tuesday. The address covered King County’s investments in erasing disproportionality in economic inequality, and highlighted the county’s achievement in having the lowest COVID infection rate of any major metropolitan area in the country.

Constantine also announced the return of Metro’s Trailhead Direct service and a groundbreaking of the RapidRide H line in White Center next week. $150 million in rental assistance will be available for renters next, and Public Health – Seattle & King County will work with every school district in King County to vaccinate every student before classes start this fall were also part of the announcements made in the address.

Executive Constantine’s highlights of the past year and vision for the year ahead included:

Health through Housing: first hotel purchased to house chronically homeless

“Meeting this moment in the homelessness crisis starts here — in Seattle’s Uptown neighborhood -- where I am pleased to announce that King County is purchasing our first Health Through Housing hotel. We will have several more properties in several more cities to announce in the coming weeks, ultimately bringing safe, supportive housing to 1600 of our unhoused neighbors this year and next.”

Trailhead Direct service returns this June

“I’m also excited to announce that next month Metro will re-launch Trailhead Direct, our innovative service that connects riders to some of the most popular recreation sites in our region, opening more and more access to the outdoors for everyone in King County.”

An aggressive agenda to defeat the climate crisis

“And it’s on all of us to address the climate crisis and do everything we can to pass our planet along to the generations beyond our own. The cost of inaction is clear:  flooding, wildfires, extreme heat – and deepening the racial inequities that persist here in the county named in honor of Dr. King.”

Returning the Sheriff’s office to civilian control and community-led priorities

“The only way to run the rest of the path to Zero Youth Detention, or to keep the adult jail population down to the current record lows and ultimately close portions of the miserably antiquated downtown jail, is an all-community commitment to see it through, and to create a new paradigm for true community safety that reflects the collective will of the people of King County.”

$150 million in rental assistance to help keep tens of thousands of renters in their homes

“Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and leadership from the our state legislature, we have more than $150 million in assistance ready to go. That’s more than 3x what we could invest last fall and could help keep as many as 27,000 families stay in their homes. An It’s an unprecedented investment in the health of our community.”

The full text of the address can be found here.