Our newest project, the Compass Veterans Center – Renton will open in September.  You can help us welcome these veterans and their families to their new home by providing household goods.

Each of the 58 apartments needs linens, kitchen items, and cleaning supplies.

We are gathering these items to furnish apartments for families and individuals.  We have registered at the following places:

Macy’s – Look under the wedding registries
First Name: Compass Veterans
Last Name: Renton

Target
Search under “Lists” then type in Compass Veterans Renton in the organization section.

MyRegistry.com
Search for Compass Veterans Renton in the “organization” tab

Veterans Center Renton - about one month from completion

Dear Neighbor:

We are writing to you to introduce The Nyer Urness House, a new project of Compass Housing Alliance to be built at 1753 NW 56^th St, in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. Compass Housing Alliance is an affordable housing and homeless services provider that works throughout the Puget Sound region to develop and operate affordable housing and to provide shelter, housing and services to homeless individuals and families.  Please look for us on the web at www.compasshousingalliance.org.

Despite what you may have heard from others, Compass Housing Alliance has not tried to sneak this project into the Ballard neighborhood.  In 2008, when we acquired the property, Compass informed property owners in the vicinity of the property about this project via letter to the owner of record, presented at the Ballard District Council and spoke to a variety of community leaders.  The management of Compass and the Nyer Urness House staff are committed to being good neighbors to Ballard. We continue to meet with our neighbors and welcome questions, comments and suggestions that will help us serve the Ballard community better.  Compass Housing Alliance will create a Nyer Urness House Community Advisory Board that will provide neighbors a forum to make suggestions and to advise Compass about concerns.  The Advisory Board meetings will be coordinated and facilitated by the Nyer Urness House Manager as the project is developed.

¨      The Nyer Urness House is to be built at 1753 NW 56^th St, in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.  Nyer Urness House will be an 80-unit mixed-use building which will provide permanent, supportive housing and services for formerly homeless individuals.

¨      The project is a 7 story, 51,664 square foot mixed-use building designed by Rumi Takahashi, a wonderful architect with a quality local firm Weinstein AU.  She has extensive experience designing buildings that enhance the community.

¨      The proposed building will contain: 80 individual studio apartments, 7,507 square feet of office space and 949 square feet of medical services space.

¨      The 80 apartments are small furnished studios that contain a full bathroom and galley kitchen.  Residential amenity space will include a community kitchen to provide one nutritious meal each day to the residents and a roof top deck to enjoy the building’s green roof.  Only one tenant will live in each unit.

¨      The residents of Nyer Urness House will be formerly homeless men and women who need on-site case management and related supportive services to help them stabilize their lives. Potential residents will be identified from many programs within Compass Housing Alliance, from other homeless shelters, from Homeless Medical Respite, from outreach service providers such as the REACH program, and from the Ballard neighborhood itself.

¨      As a requirement of our funding from the City of Seattle, King County and United Way, Compass Housing Alliance staff will work with the Client Care Coordinated Entry Process to identify and prioritize those most in need of the housing and services offered at Nyer Urness House.  People currently homeless in Ballard will certainly be part of this applicant pool.

¨      Many of the residents in this project will have medical, mental health and substance abuse issues.  Compass staff will work with each resident to complete an individual service plan to treat their illnesses and improve their social support. The project will be staffed 24 hours per day to provide support to residents.

¨      The bulk of the first two floors of the building will be dedicated human service uses provided by other social service agencies and medical providers.  These areas include offices for social workers, addiction counselors, mental health professionals, healthcare providers and employment specialists who will primarily, but not exclusively, serve the residents in the building.  There are also group meeting rooms for support group sessions.

¨      Eleven parking spaces are proposed.  Our experience serving homeless and formerly homeless individuals indicates that car ownership by residents of Nyer Urness House will be extremely rare.  Compass provides free ORCA passes to our employees as part of its benefit package.  Parking will be adequate for the other human service providers in the building and there are ample transit options in the immediate vicinity.

If you would like to speak to someone to find our more about Nyer Urness House or other Compass Housing Alliance Housing projects, please contact MJ Kiser, Program Director, Compass Housing Alliance at 206-357-3124 or via email at mjkiser@compasshousingalliance.org.

Thank you in advance for your constructive comments and helpful suggestions.

MJ Kiser

Program Director -Compass Housing Alliance

On April 17th, Men’s Emergency Overnight Shelter (First Church) is moving to the new Urban Outreach Space provided by First United Methodist Church.
This move is exciting, as it is both a renewal of our relationship with First United Methodist and an opportunity to work alongside our neighbors.

In 2002, the Compass Center first began its partnership with First United Methodist Church.  We opened a 40-bed shelter in the lower level of their church that has provided safe sleeping quarters, showers, warm meals, and case management options to men who are homeless.  The program, originally known as “Men’s Inn,” has been called First Church Shelter ever since.  But the congregation of First United Methodist had changing needs and decided to rebuild and relocate.  In 2008, First Church Shelter moved to our Third Avenue location in Belltown.  We expanded capacity to 60 beds the following month.

First United Methodist Church has now finished their new church on Denny Way, complete with an Urban Outreach Space that was designed and built specifically with social services in mind.  In mid-April we will continue to provide basic services such as meals, hygiene facilities, storage and laundry in the new facility, but it will now operate in a space that is larger, brighter, and more inviting and usable than the spaces the shelter has occupied in the past. The new space is equipped with a commercial kitchen (perfect for volunteer meals), individual shower rooms, a laundry room and space enough to accommodate real beds for shelter guests.

Compass Housing Alliance is pleased to be partnering with First Methodist.  We look forward to the benefits it will bring to our organization, First Church Shelter’s guests, and those looking for volunteer service opportunities.

On January 1, 2010, The Compass Center and LATCH (Lutheran Alliance to Create Housing) merged to form Compass Housing Alliance.

The merger between LATCH and the Compass Center provides the new organization with a good combination of talent sets. The Compass Center brings a combination of leadership strength, financial expertise, and social services program capacity. LATCH brings an experienced property development capacity, asset management expertise, compliance and organizational operating systems experience, and a strong network of member churches.

Together, we are uniquely positioned to provide the Seattle and King County areas with the most comprehensive set of solutions available to members of our community who are homeless or in need of affordable housing and a supportive community.  We look forward to the positive changes that will benefit the agency and the people we serve.