Construction has started in Kent on a new $1.2 million community center at a 114-unit public housing complex on the East Hill.
Crews will build a 4,330 square-foot community service center at Valli Kee Homes, 23401 104th Ave. S.E., to replace a a 900 square-foot multipurpose room, according to a media release from the King County Housing Authority. Construction is expected to be completed sometime this summer.
The project is being funded by a Capital Fund Community Facilities grant awarded last May to the King County Housing Authority from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development intended to support the development of education and training facilities for public housing residents.
“Construction of the new Valli Kee facility will enable the Housing Authority and its partners to provide expanded services that will help children succeed in school and their parents become economically self-sufficient,” said KCHA Executive Director Stephen Norman. “The increased level of service will strengthen educational outcomes for kids by reinforcing, complementing and enhancing the learning that occurs at school.”
Kent Youth & Family Services runs the programs out of the small center.
“It’s a great and much needed, long sought after project we’re now into on the East Hill along with our partners, King County Housing Authority, Puget Sound Educational Service District and Kent School District,” said Mike Heinisch, executive director of Kent Youth & Family Services. “The Valli Kee community center long ago outlived its useful purpose and sorely needs a rebuild.”
To ensure that youth living in public housing in Kent have the best chance succeed academically and in life, KCHA, Kent Youth & Family Services, the Kent School District, Neighborhood House and the Puget Sound Educational Service District, have joined together to establish the Kent East Hill Educational Initiative.
The partnership has developed an approach that coordinates housing, educational opportunities and supportive services to help kids succeed in school. The partners are working closely with local schools to tailor these programs to meet the needs of the children living in Valli Kee Homes and the surrounding community.
“Kent School District representatives are working with our partners to create a work team to help develop coordinated housing services and an educational approach that will support academic success for children and youth living in housing on Kent East Hill,” said Kent School District Superintendent Edward Lee Vargas. “The goal of the work team is to determine strategies that will enable all students to be reading by the end of third grade.”
Children in this community face daunting economic and cultural obstacles to achieving educational success. A majority of the children live in homes where English is not the primary language spoken and the average annual income is $19,685.
“Through our partnership with KCHA, Kent School District and Puget Sound Educational Service District, we are committed to having every child who lives in public housing in Kent achieve in school and reach adulthood ready for success,” said Heinisch. “The new facility at Valli Kee, along with those already completed at Birch Creek, is vital to reaching that goal. In addition, the new Valli Kee community center will provide parents and adults supportive skills building for quality parenting and employment readiness.”
When completed, the new center will provide classrooms, a dedicated computer lab, multipurpose meeting/activity spaces and private counseling offices. In addition, two outdoor play areas – one designed for preschoolers and one for older youth – will be constructed adjacent to the facility. The building will be fully accessible for use by disabled clients.
The development is owned and managed by the King County Housing Authority.
KCHA administers a range of quality affordable rental and homeownership programs in the Puget Sound region and serves more than 18,000 families and elderly and disabled households on a daily basis.
CDK Construction Services will build the center, designed by ARC Architects.
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