Month: May 2010

Compass housing to be Urness House

Geeky Swedes 69 Comments

Compass Housing Alliance (formerly Compass Center) has released details on their new low-income housing development at 1753 NW 56th St., which will be called Urness House.

The 80-unit mixed-use building will house chronically homeless men and women. There will be a screening process for those who wish to live there. All residents must pass the tax credit eligibility criteria and be able to live on their own. A person who has been convicted of arson within the last ten years or is a level 3 sex offender will not be allowed into Urness House, according to a release sent by Compass Housing Alliance. “An application will be forwarded for review in the event that the record indicates a conviction of a crime that requires registration as a sex offender, other serious crimes, or a continued pattern of criminal convictions which indicate that the applicant for residency poses a risk to the safety of tenants, staff or neighbors,” the release explains.

The first two floors of the facility will be support services for residents and non-residents. Social workers, addiction counselors, mental health professionals, healthcare providers and employment specialists will work out of these offices. These human services will not be provided by Compass Housing Authority, but by outside organizations.

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Citizens weigh-in on issues affecting our kids at mayor’s caucus

Steven Byeon 9 Comments

On Monday evening, May 3, more than 40 people gathered at Ballard High School to talk about violence prevention, improving education — both during and after school — and minority empowerment.

The event was a community caucus, one of 75 put on by Mayor Mike McGinn’s office in partnership with the League of Education Voters around the city since March.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn speaks to caucus participants at Ballard High School during a community caucus Monday evening.

Dawn Bennett and Kerry Cooley-Stroum, community organizers for the League of Education Voters, are heading up the caucuses.

“Disenfranchised communities, communities of color, he (McGinn) wants to hear from all,” said Bennett at the Ballard caucus. “He’s been focused on that and he’s also speaking to the whole. So he’s not taking one away from one and giving to the other.”

Participants of the community caucus at Ballard High School discuss key issues and solutions to issues that Seattle youth and family face today

Joe Olsen, father of a preschooler who attended the Ballard caucus, said: “I thought it was great to find out so many people were thinking the same thing. So many people have the same concerns. From what the facilitator said it’s pretty much the same throughout the city and that’s reassuring.”

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