Community Engagement Meeting with a Redmond City Council member

2222 152nd Avenue Northeast,Redmond WA 98052

09 August, 2021

Description

Meet with a Redmond City Council member, let your concerns about the Redmond Health Through Housing homeless hotel be heard. In July 2021, King County purchased its fourth Health Through Housing hotel, the former Silver Cloud in Redmond for a total of $28.25 million. The county’s purchase of the Silver Cloud will house residents experiencing, and at risk of, chronic homelessness. As with all purchases pursued through the Health through Housing Initiative, King County worked closely with Redmond City officials in advance of the purchase. The hotel in Redmond at 2122 152nd Ave Northeast was constructed in 1984 and contains 144 units. It sits on approximately 1.94 acres. Q: Will drug and/or alcohol use be permitted in the individual units? A: Providers will use a harm reduction approach, within which drug and/or alcohol use will be permitted in individual units. Staff will provide supportive services to promote housing stability and will work with residents that have substance use disorders in-house and also connect them to resources in the community. Staff working in a harm reduction setting work in partnership with tenants, and are expected to respond directly to unacceptable behaviors, whether or not the behaviors are related to substance use. Citizens' requests to have a meeting with the city was denied. Now, one Redmond City Council member is willing to meet with people of Redmond and hear their concerns. Please come and join the meeting. The newly purchased Redmond Health Through Housing (HTH) site should NOT be permitted to open until the county and city can come to a consensus with people living, shopping, and doing business in the impacted area on how this site should be operated. Having a site permitting drug and/or alcohol use right in the middle of our neighborhood, where many children go to schools and many of our loved ones shop and do businesses , is not acceptable. People struggling with substance abuse and mental illnesses should be treated at specialized facilities, not at a hotel in the middle of a busy neighborhood.