SEATTLE, WA – October 15, 2008 – (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Greg Nickels visited the Family & Adult Service Center (FASC), a Seattle “day center” for homeless men and women. The center will stay open only if it receives city funding included in the mayor’s 2009-2010 proposed budget.“Day centers are a critical first step in helping homeless men and women rebuild their lives,” said Nickels. “We are pleased the city can provide assistance to allow this invaluable program to continue.”
Without the $350,000 from Mayor Nickels’ proposed biennial budget, the day center would have to end operations on Dec.1, 2008, according to Rick Friedhoff, executive director of the Compass Center, which is the umbrella agency that runs FASC.
“We are deeply appreciative to the city for stepping in to help save the day center,” said Friedhoff. “The day center provides services that meet emergency needs, promote healthy relationships, foster community, and serve as a portal to the services and housing that help vulnerable people live healthier, more satisfying lives.”
This adult day center can accommodate up to 75 people at any given time, and serves approximately 350 different individuals per day. The center offers a safe and warm daytime respite from the streets and a place where homeless people can shower, use the toilet, eat, do their laundry, make phone calls, receive mail, and share companionship with others. Case workers help connect people with services.
The city of Seattle offered to help fund the center when it became apparent the center was in danger of closing its doors. The day center is currently funded by donations, primarily with a one-time grant from a private estate. Dwindling funds from that grant and rising costs have forced the center to cut back hours, and consider closure. This is the first time the city will fund FASC; the city already funds several Compass Center programs.
Originally known as First Avenue Service Center, FASC was founded in 1966. In January 2007, FASC merged with the Compass Center due to its financial challenges.
The city already funds three major day centers for homeless people in Seattle, a total of $1.9 million in 2008:
- Downtown Emergency Service Center’s Connections Day Center: $1 million
- YWCA’s Angeline’s Day Center for Women: $767,000
- Archdiocesan Housing Authority’s Lazarus Center: $98,000
In these difficult economic times, the mayor’s proposed budget provides a record $52.5 million of general funds for human services. The budget, currently under review by the Seattle City Council, includes:
- Housing First. In support of the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness, the city funds this innovative program which provides housing and supporting services to chronically homeless individuals. Approximately 280 units have been put into service to date, dramatically reducing costs for emergency room visits, jail stays, and other public services. The 2009 proposed budget includes an additional $2.12 million for approximately 40 additional Housing First units.
- Shelter. Although the Ten-Year Plan envisions the reduction of shelter beds as permanent and transitional housing is created, demand for shelter has increased in the last year. The mayor’s proposed budget includes slightly more than $1 million in 2009 to expand the city’s funding for shelter and day services programs, including an additional shelter facility in the South Lake Union area opened in 2008 and a new, late night emergency program for homeless families.
- Food. The 2009 budget retains the $400,000 added in the 2008 budget for food support and increases food support even further. Support for food assistance will be $3.8 million in 2009, compared with $3.4 million in 2008. The additional money will be targeted to “bulk buy” programs, which purchase food at low prices and distribute it to food providers, and to delivery of food to seniors and other people who find it difficult to leave their homes.
Visit the mayor’s web site at www.seattle.gov/mayor. Get the mayor’s inside view on efforts to promote transportation, public safety, economic opportunity and healthy communities by signing up for The Nickels Newsletter at www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsletter_signup.htm
