Community Psychiatric Clinic Receives $400,000 Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Sound Families Initiative

SEATTLE -- The Community Psychiatric Clinic today announced it has received a $412,500 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Sound Families Initiative to develop and sustain a transitional housing project for families in the University of Washington’s Parent-Child Assistance Program (P-CAP).

“The Willows,” a new 16-unit transitional housing facility, will serve the region’s most vulnerable citizens: single parents with co-occurring disorders of mental illness and chemical dependency and their children.  This facility will help fill a housing resource gap that currently exists for families in crisis attempting to recover from devastating problems such as substance abuse, physical abuse, homelessness, and mental illness. 

Developed in partnership with the University of Washington, The Willows will be a vital resource for families during their recovery process, and offer substantially increased opportunities to help families move toward stability and self-sufficiency.  Implemented in 1991 by the University of Washington’s School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the Parent-Child Assistance Program is an award-winning, three-year intervention program that helps families develop healthy, independent lives. 
The award is part of the Sound Families Initiative’s third round of funding. 

Designed to be a catalyst for developing regional housing partnerships, the initiative has funded more than 280 new transitional housing units to date – all in cooperation with local county and city governments.

"With this generous award, we are well on our way to developing the kind of safe and supportive housing that will provide the structure for these families to re-build their lives with the hope and promise of a bright future," said Community Psychiatric Clinic's CEO, Shirley Havenga.

Community Psychiatric Clinic, a Seattle-based, nonprofit mental health organization established in 1952, provides a comprehensive array of community-based behavioral healthcare services to 5,000 adults, youth and children each year.  Dually licensed to provide mental health and chemical dependency treatment, Community Psychiatric Clinic is nationally recognized for its commitment to develop, build, and operate quality, affordable housing for people who are homeless and mentally ill or who have co-occurring disorders.  The Willows, slated for construction next fall, will join Community Psychiatric Clinic’s housing continuum of nearly 700 beds, the largest inventory of special needs housing for persons with mental illness in Washington State. 

The Sound Families Initiative is a three-year, $40 million program to fund 1,560 transitional housing units in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.  Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the program is designed to be a catalyst for developing regional housing partnerships.  Since its inception in July 2000, Sound Families has funded more than 280 new transitional housing units in the Puget Sound. For complete information, visit www.soundfamilies.org.

On the Internet:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, www.gatesfoundation.org
Sound Families, www.soundfamilies.org
Community Psychiatric Clinic, www.cpcwa.org