Posted by: Mark Putnam in Washington State, Washington Families Fund, Trainings and Workshops, Supportive Housing, Snohomish County, Pierce County, King County, Homelessness, Homeless Grant Assistance Program HGAP, Families, Employment, Affordable Housing on
Apr 29, 2009
As I was driving through Skagit County the other day, taking in the tulips on the way back from meetings in Bellingham, I began thinking about the incredible range of work Building Changes is leading in many corners of the state. We are a Seattle-based agency, but we are working hard to make an impact beyond our headquarters. Consider:
Consulting Services:
On April 21 and 22, we continued our co-leadership of the Supportive Housing Institute, hosting two days of trainings (days 6 and 7 of the 12-day training series) in Sea-Tac in partnership with the Corporation for Supportive Housing and Common Ground. Five staff --
Erin Chambers,
Emily Nolan,
Mariah Ybarra,
Alice Shobe, and
myself -- provided trainings on supportive services planning, funding, and best practice models at the Institute.
During the last week of January, eight teams from around Washington State gathered in Seattle for the first session of the 2009 Supportive Housing Institute. The Institute, funded through a joint effort by Washington State's Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED), Department of Social and Health Services (Mental Health Division), Impact Capital, and the Washington Families Fund, brings regional teams to the table to build practical knowledge for developing permanent supportive housing in their communities.
Consultants from the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), Common Ground, and Building Changes use an evidence-based curriculum (created by CSH but specifically adapted for use in Washington State) to take teams through the development process, step-by-step.
We recently received very exciting news from Becky Bicknell at Housing Resources Group:
Kenyon House has earned
LEED Platinum certification through the
U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Homes rating system. Kenyon House is the first project in the State of Washington to attain LEED for Homes Platinum certification for affordable housing and only the second in the entire country! The project received grant funding from
Home Depot and
Enterprise Green Communities to support green building efforts, including the LEED certification process.
Specific green building elements of Kenyon House include: the preservation of many tall, mature trees, which offer natural beauty as well as solar shading in the summer; orientation of the building to take advantage of passive solar heating and
