ORCA Center will provide quick stabilization and resources following overdose

DESC Deputy Director for Operations Steven Bullock, and DESC Peer Counselor Lupe Hurtado both represented DESC at a recent city press conference to announce the ORCA Center.

Determined to save lives, a multi-agency partnership will fight the fentanyl crisis with a new strategy beginning early-to-mid 2025. That’s when DESC is expected to open a $12 million Opioid Recovery & Care Access (ORCA) Center on the second floor of the Morrison, at 517 Third Avenue. 

Here, people who overdose in King County will be stabilized, receive care, start on buprenorphine or methadone as medically appropriate, connect to resources to continue their recovery, and eat, sleep and shower in safety for their brief stay. Read more on our website.

SAVE OCT. 18 FOR GIMME SHELTER!

Yes, put this on your calendar now--Friday, Oct. 18, 7-10 p.m., is the 16th annual Gimme Shelter concert to support DESC's amazing programs! We had so much fun with the Dusty 45s at the Century Ballroom last year that we're going back. Watch for more details to come!

For more information, contact Briony Ball or Don Rupp. (Photo courtesy of Tosin Arasi)

What it's all about: meet Ed

Ed has held a lease with DESC for eight years. Hear him describe his experience, how permanent supportive housing gave him the stability he needed to find a space for healing and growth and to create art.

We celebrate a joyful grand opening for Bloomside, 95 apartments for unhoused people

We’re welcoming tenants into our new Bloomside permanent supportive housing, the first DESC housing built outside of the city of Seattle! At full capacity, 95 people living with disabilities and experiencing long-term homelessness, will have brand new homes with full wrap-around services in Burien.

We celebrated the grand opening of Bloomside on May 23 with remarks from King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, DESC Executive Director Daniel Malone, President and CEO of the King County Housing Authority Robin Walls and Acting Director of DCHS Kelly Rider, followed by an open house and public tours of this beautiful building. DESC Director of Organizational Equity Rhonda Banchero was our emcee. Read more on our website.

Bloomside in Burien. Photo courtesy of Health Through Housing, Department of Community and Human Services - King County

Celebrating above are DESC Senior Director of Housing Programs Noah Fay; Senior Housing Program Manager Paula Griffin; Director of Housing Programs Dan Williams; and Executive Director Daniel Malone.

250 people

placed in DESC homes since Jan. 1

DESC in the news

Navigation Center

• Inside the lives of Seattle’s Navigation Center residents, Northwest Asian Weekly, May 29. A story about the Navigation Center, homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in Seattle.
• As Navigation Center shelter prepares to leave Little Saigon, its legacy remains contentious, International Examiner, May 6.

Overdose Recovery and Care Access (ORCA) Center

• Seattle to open post-overdose recovery center, Seattle Times, May 9. The city of Seattle held a press conference at DESC’s The Morrison on May 9, to announce funding for the multi-partner, multi-funder Overdose Recovery and Care Access (ORCA) Center, expected to open in March 2025. Several DESC staff members spoke at the event.
• Downtown Recovery Center Will Give Drug Users New Options After an Overdose, Some Hope for Harm Reduction Amid a Crackdown on Drug Users Downtown, PubliCola, May 10.

Bloomside

• DESC opens 95 supportive housing units in Burien, Daily Journal of Commerce, May 28. A writeup with basic information on the building, the contractors and the murals.

Miscellaneous including DESC

• 5 takeaways on what’s next for mental health care from ‘Lost Patients’ event, Seattle Times, May 15. DESC’s Tim Jolliff participated in this panel that follows up on the joint Times and KUOW podcast that asks, “Why aren’t people with serious mental illness getting the care they need, and how can we build a better system?”
• HUD Officials Visit Seattle as Part of National “Road to Innovation” Tour, US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, May 9. HUD officials toured innovative affordable housing developments, including DESC’s Burbridge Place.
• Projects That Prove New Affordable Housing Can Be Energy Efficient Too, propmodo.com, May 7. Mentions Hobson Place in a story about housing that is affordable and “highly green,” “something of a blueprint for the building industry and elected officials on how to achieve both things at once.” It notes that “Hobson Place Phase 2 is the first permanent supportive housing project in Washington state to achieve the Passive House designation and the first affordable multifamily project to pursue PHIUS certification in the state.”

Housing First policies, affordable housing and health care make the community better. You can act to support DESC's efforts: educate, advocate, donate, volunteer, attend an event or join our staff.

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