Two South King County cities that have grappled with homelessness in recent years — Burien and Tukwila — will soon receive $3 million in assistance from King County.
The two municipalities were the only ones to apply, according to the county. Tukwila will receive $2 million, and Burien will receive $1 million. Both cities plan to use the money to build or expand shelters.
The funding, provided from the federal American Rescue Plan, was designed to increase shelter resources in a part of the county where the need far outweighs supply and where several cities have been quick to introduce or tighten punitive camping ordinances that aim to restrict visible homelessness.
Burien’s funding will help expand Mary’s Place’s existing family shelter by 50 beds.
Tukwila’s will go toward building a new shelter to support unhoused individuals and families, according to the county’s news release. The city of Tukwila wasn’t able to say more about how or if the money will be used to support the city’s growing asylum-seeker population, who are considered homeless and primarily living on the Riverton Park United Methodist Church’s property.
Tukwila is home to two tiny house villages, according to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, that provide temporary shelter to individuals and families.
“Homelessness continues to be a major regional issue and smaller communities, like Tukwila, see the impacts of it every day,” Tukwila Mayor Tom McLeod said in a statement Thursday.
This one-time funding is an unusual move for King County, which, until last year, rarely stepped in with direct dollars to nudge cities to build more infrastructure for its homelessness response.
The first example recently came last summer, when King County offered Burien $1 million to help the city address a small but growing homelessness crisis by helping it to stand up a tiny house village using county-provided Pallet shelters.
Burien hemmed and hawed over whether to accept the money, but it eventually said “yes” after King County gave it a deadline to select a property for the project. The property is owned by Seattle City Light and as of last month, the city of Seattle said several steps remain before a contract for the project can be signed.
The new $1 million Burien will receive will go to Mary’s Place, one of the largest family shelter providers in the region, as it’s in the planning stages to expand an already existing family shelter in Burien to be able to serve 200 people at a time. Plans for the property include adding 90 units of permanent, affordable housing for families that earn 60% of the area median income or below, according to spokesperson Linda Mitchell.
“This was the big dream when we bought this property back in 2018,” Mitchell said.
A project timeline has yet to be released, but Mitchell said work is underway to make this a reality.
“We look forward to this development to increase safe and supportive shelter in Burien for families experiencing homelessness,” Adolfo Bailon, Burien city manager, said in a release.
Burien also has a second shelter that serves nine women at a time.
And it’s ensnarled in a legal battle with King County over the City Council’s decision to tighten its camping ban.
The county initially planned to give out $5 million when it announced the program in December. The remaining $2 million was redirected to address the region’s growing asylum-seeker crisis.
On Wednesday, King County announced that four local nonprofits will receive the $2 million to help address the crisis by providing temporary housing, legal support, culturally relevant case management and more.
Staff reporter Greg Kim contributed to this report.