Mariners and United Way to Reduce Eviction, Homelessness
Did you know that eviction is the leading cause of homelessness?
For many low-income renters, the combination of scarce resources and high rent means no flexibility when facing an emergency. What’s more, Washington allows landlords to file evictions in as little as 3 days after rent is due. To make matters worse, people of color and women face eviction disproportionately in Seattle.
That’s a lot of bad news.
But there is good news on the horizon. Building on United Way’s ending homelessness work (check out our Streets to Home and Jobs Connects programs), we are excited to announce a new partnership with the King County Bar Association and the Seattle Mariners: Home Base.
Home Base is a $3 million partnership that keeps people facing eviction in their homes by:
- Providing legal services through King County Bar Association’s volunteer attorney program, Housing Justice Project.
- Making flexible funds available to clients to pay the back rent causing the eviction.
- Offering the guidance of a caseworker to prevent the person or family from facing eviction again.
In a community as vibrant and successful as ours, it’s heartbreaking that so many people don’t have the most basic necessity of a warm, dry, safe place to live. Home Base can make an important and lasting difference in the lives of thousands of people, and the Seattle Mariners are proud to be a part of this innovative, collaborative solution.
John Stanton, Seattle Mariners Chairman and Managing Partner
Partnering Up Against Eviction
The Seattle Mariners are providing the initial funding for Home Base. Meanwhile, United Way will identify and leverage additional funding from the public and private sectors to scale this program to $10 million.
What does that mean? It means thousands more people in our community getting housing.
“United Way knows that our community won’t begin to see a difference in the crisis until we can stop more people from becoming homeless in the first place,” said Jon Fine, President and CEO of United Way of King County. “Through Home Base, we are working upstream by providing eviction prevention. This is a game-changer, and we’re so pleased the Seattle Mariners and King County Bar Association have stepped up in this big way.”
Reducing the injustice of evictions is a huge step forward in preventing homelessness. And we can’t do it alone. Solving this crisis requires innovation and collaboration. We’re thankful to our partners and supporters for making King County a place were all people have homes.
Feeling inspired? Join in ending the injustice of homelessness.
Comments
Sue Luke
March 28, 2019I'm especially happy about this! I'm a former board member of the National Association of HUD Tenants (NAHT). Now I'm an event host for the Mariners. I live in a HUD building in Alaska Junction, and my neighbors and I are very grateful for efforts to stop eviction and prevent homelessness.