DESC's Green Lake project now underway features unique, energy-efficient construction

As we mark Earth Day on April 22, see how our new Green Lake Permanent Supportive Housing project will feature greener construction that improves energy efficiency with rooftop solar, waste heat recovery, ultra-efficient AC and integrated technology similar to "smart home" design.

Now under construction, the 124-unit apartment building at 8610 Aurora Avenue North, Seattle, will be the first PSH project in the world built using a new patented panelized construction process invented and produced by Sustainable Living Innovations (SLI).

DESC's property development team is always seeking innovative ways to build supportive housing that is not only welcoming and functional for our tenants and staff, but also energy efficient. Read about our newly opened Hobson Place Phase 2 and Passive House certification.

DESC celebrated the project's groundbreaking with a virtual event on Feb. 22. Watch Director of Facilities and Property Development Sondra Nielsen and SLI Director Arlan Collins talk about this facility and its unique and efficient construction.

Get your tickets for a Lunch Date with DESC!

Join us at noon on Tuesday, June 7, at the Fisher Pavilion, for Lunch Date with DESC, “Lemons to Lemonade,” our first chance in two years to gather in person with our supporters! Go directly to registration here.

Lunch Date is sponsored by Walsh Construction, Kaiser Permanente, AHT Insurance and SMR Architects.

DESC co-hosts major Housing First conference

Last week, April 12-14, DESC was proud to co-host along with Pathways Housing First the biennial Housing First Partners Conference in Seattle. The event, the biggest in-person gathering of Housing First advocates in the country in over two years, drew over 1,000 attendees from 42 states and nine countries around the world. 

"Everyone was glad to be together to share ideas and experiences," DESC Executive Director Daniel Malone says.

Attendees chose from 226 different workshop topics covering a wealth of information, including several presentations from DESC staff. Plenary speakers addressed building community through housing, health, wellness and inclusion; taking Housing First programs to scale; and communication and advocacy. Workshops included DESC's HOST program; funding for housing; initiatives for aging and disabled veterans; peer approaches; housing for youth; centering people with lived experience; harm reduction; Medicaid, housing and incarceration; simplifying the PSH process, and much more.

Learn more about the 2022 conference and past conferences on the conference website.

Digital Equity grant helps clients stay connected to vital services during the pandemic

DESC was one of 29 local groups, agencies and organizations to recently receive a grant from King County’s Office of Equity and Social Justice to increase digital equity and literacy in communities most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency has received this grant for the past couple of years.

This funding enables DESC to distribute cell phones and minute cards to our clinical clients to help them access telehealth, vital utilities such as phone/internet and vital resources even when people were encouraged to isolate during the pandemic. Clients can stay connected with their case managers, nurses, providers and other community resources for continued care coordination.

When criminal records keep people out of federally-assisted housing, it's an equity issue

HUD staff cite DESC study in housing policy review

Here's some good news from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development: HUD is working to minimize the negative effects of criminal history on people's access to federally-assisted housing. In proposing a review of policy, HUD staff cited research at DESC showing that people with criminal records can be just as successful in housing as those without records. 

"This is an equity issue because BIPOC populations and people with behavioral health conditions disproportionately face criminal prosecutions and convictions, often then making housing difficult to access," says DESC Executive Director Daniel Malone. "Elimination of the use of criminal records in screening people for housing, as we have done, will help remove some of the race-based and disability-based barriers that have been in place for a long time." 

You can read more about HUD's policy review at USA Today.

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