King County Offers Afghan Refugees Temporary Housing

KING COUNTY, WA — King County will spend $500,000 to bolster resettlement efforts for Afghan refugees arriving in Washington and offer temporary housing space at a Federal Way hotel. King County Executive Dow Constantine unveiled the plans Tuesday, including funding to assist refugees with other needs:

• $250,000 from the Office of Equity and Social Justice’s language access program to provide language supports such as translation, interpretation, and more.
• $250,000 from the Department of Community and Human Services to provide one-time grants to community-based organizations that are supporting Afghan resettlement efforts. These grants can be used to support emerging needs and ease capacity constraints so that our community partners can do what they do best.

"The fabric of our community is continually strengthened by those who arrive here from other nations, whether under duress or by choice," Constantine said in a statement. "These investments in resettlement help open a new chapter in the lives of these families as they start afresh here in King County."

The county purchased the Extended Stay America hotel in July as one of several it plans to use to house people experiencing long-term homelessness. In the short term, it will serve as a place refugees can all home while local organizations, like World Relief and the International Rescue Committee, work to secure permanent housing.

"We are excited about this new partnership with King County to temporarily house Afghan refugees in safe and secure housing," said Kathleen Morris, deputy director of the SeaTac-based International Rescue Committee. "Welcome refugees is an imperative and a long-standing practice here in the Puget Sound region, and we are looking forward to collaborating with the county to ensure that these new residents have what they need to join the community and participate in the life of this place."

Related: Nearly 1,700 Afghan Evacuees To Settle In Washington