Senator Murray Secured $4 million for ROOTS Young Adult Shelter, $3.057 million for YouthCare, $850,000 for YMCA of Greater Seattle in Congressionally Directed Spending
ICYMI: Senator Murray Secures Over $65 Million for Key Housing and Transportation Projects in WA – MORE HERE
Senator Murray: “I am laser focused on making sure the federal government is doing everything we can to support young people who are experiencing homelessness and to prevent youth homelessness, not only in Washington state but across our country.”
***PHOTOS AND B-ROLL OF THE EVENT HERE***
Seattle, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, toured the ROOTS Young Adult Shelter in Seattle and hosted a roundtable discussion on youth homelessness, where Senator Murray also announced brand-new legislation she will be introducing this fall to help prevent youth homelessness. Senator Murray was joined at the roundtable by King County Executive Dow Constantine, ROOTS Young Adult Shelter Executive Director Jerred Clouse, YouthCare CEO Degale Cooper, YMCA of Greater Seattle President Loria Yeadon, Sonya Campion of the Campion Advocacy Fund, Tricia Raikes, and youth with lived experience.
“I am laser focused on making sure the federal government is doing everything we can to support young people who are experiencing homelessness and to prevent youth homelessness, not only in Washington state but across our country,” said Senator Murray. “In the American Rescue Plan, I worked tirelessly to secure record federal investments in rental assistance and housing support that resulted in the largest eviction prevention effort in history, and I’m proud that I was also able to help secure millions of federal dollars in Congressionally Directed Spending for organizations like ROOTS Young Adult Shelter that are doing this really important work every day in our communities. I’m also really excited to be introducingnew legislation this fall that will build on these efforts by creating two new grant programs to help prevent youth homelessness in our communities in the first place. Everyone here knows that if we’re serious about tackling the homelessness crisis in our communities, then we need to be doing more to prevent youth homelessness before it begins—and that’s exactly what my bill is about.”
“Addressing and further preventing youth homelessness requires partnership at every level of government and with community,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “King County appreciates Senator Murray’s leadership on this critical issue and looks forward to ongoing collaboration and investments that will allow us to continue meeting the needs of young people and ensure long-term housing stability and services.”
“ROOTS has been operating an overnight shelter for over 23 years in the University District and we are the largest young adult shelter in Washington State,” said Jerred Clouse, Executive Director of ROOTS Young Adult Shelter. “As an overnight shelter, we are often the first place people go when they find themselves homeless—hence we see ourselves as the emergency room. In this new location, with 18,000 square feet to work with, and thanks of the support of Senator Murray, we’re renovating the space to open a housing program on the top floor and offer onsite medical and mental health support. Over the course of the next year or two, we will not only be able to continue our crisis intervention work through our shelter program, but also greatly expand our scope to more holistically meet the needs of folks at ROOTS. I want to thank Senator Murray for all the support she has brought to ROOTS—it was truly an honor to have her here with us today.”
The legislation Senator Murray announced today, the Preventing Youth Homelessness Demonstration Act, would create two new grant programs for upstream interventions that help reduce the likelihood that individuals will experience homelessness in the first place. The grant programs would fund local programs that help prevent youth homelessness—for example, a resource helpline, casework management, or support groups for youth or young adults and their families who are at risk of homelessness—as well as help entities assess the causes and the extent of youth homelessness within their communities. Murray’s new legislation will build off the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program she helped establish in 2016—and has successfully fought to secure funding for every year since—by addressing the conditions that contribute to youth homelessness and providing effective resources and support for young people and families who need them most.
Last month, the Senate Appropriations Committee, led by Senator Murray, voted 29-0 to advance the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding bill for Fiscal Year 2024 where it now awaits consideration by the full Senate. The draft legislation, which funds the Department of Transportation and HUD, is critical to increasing America’s housing supply, and addressing the affordable housing and homelessness crisis. Notably, on housing, the legislation protects critical funding from cuts House Republicans have approved and boosts funding for important programs. This includes a $275 million increase for Homeless Assistance Grants—including $80 million in targeted increases to advance coordination between housing and health services to improve outcomes for individuals experiencing homelessness, including in Washington state and $107 million for the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program—and a $62 million increase for the Native American Housing Block Grant formula program, a record high for the program.
Across the Fiscal Year 2022 and 2023 government funding bills, Senator Murray secured Congressionally Directed Spending for projects across Washington state, including organizations responding to youth homelessness in the Seattle area who joined today’s roundtable—Murray secured $4 million for ROOTS Young Adult Shelter, $3.057 million for YouthCare, and $850,000 for YMCA of Greater Seattle.
Senator Murray has consistently worked to address Washington state’s homelessness and affordable housing crises and has fought for federal investments to help families keep a roof over their head. Earlier this year, Murray announced more than $33 million in federal awards from HUD for public housing programs across Washington state, and in March, she called on President Biden to utilize a “whole of government” approach to addressing our nation’s housing needs. Murray also helped secure $72.1 billion in discretionary spending for HUD in the end-of-year spending package, a $6.5 billion increase over the previous fiscal year. And in the American Rescue Plan Murray helped negotiate, she secured major support for people facing housing insecurity, including more than $400 million in rental assistance, $170 million in homeowner assistance, over 2,400 new Emergency Housing Vouchers, and nearly $100 million for housing and services to support people experiencing homelessness in Washington state. Last year, Murray introduced the Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act to remove barriers and provide support to help students experiencing homelessness succeed in higher education.
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