Source: Seattle Times, 12/29/2007
By Rachel Tuinstra

King County announced Friday it is allocating $23 million in grants and loans to 25 affordable housing and supportive service projects throughout the county.

The awards are expected to leverage an additional $15 million to $20 million in public and private funds for the projects, said Terry Mark, deputy director of King County's Community and Human Services.

Several Eastside groups will receive allocations:

• St. Margaret's Housing will receive $2.5 million to construct 133 apartment units in Bellevue, including 54 units of permanent supportive housing with 26 units dedicated to veterans.

• New Ground Kirkland will receive $599,000 to rehabilitate an existing apartment complex to provide housing for six young adults ages 18 to 21 in Kirkland.

• Habitat for Humanity Issaquah Highlands Housing will receive $500,000 to construct 10 homes in Issaquah affordable to buyers earning below 50 percent of area median income.

• Saint Andrew's Housing Group will receive $87,904 to create eight new units of permanent affordable housing and case-management services for homeless families at the 280 Clark Apartments in East King County.

• Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns will receive $85,690 to create 10 units of permanent affordable housing and case-management services for homeless adults in East King County.

• Hopelink will receive $40,000 annually for five years to create case-management services linked to eight new units of permanent housing for homeless families at a new apartment complex in Duvall in East King County.

From Beautiful Letdown to Incredible Build-up

Question: How do truly great rock bands warm-up for performances?
Answer: They build a house, of course.

But only if it’s the popular alternative rock band Switchfoot.

On December 3, 2007 the group was in town for the final performance of their nationwide Appetite for Construction Tour, which raised $100,000 for Habitat affiliates throughout the country. Switchfoot actively supports Habitat for Humanity, and even wrote a song called Rebuild that was inspired by the organization.

Led by the AmeriCorps team, the five band members braved torrential downpours to work on finish carpentry and hang closet doors in Habitat EKC’s Patterson Park site. Their day was topped off by homeowner Javier Berrios, who gave the band a tour of his new home in Patterson Park C. The band was then whisked back to Everett, where they performed with Reliant K in front of thousands of loyal fans.

Switchfoot first gained mainstream recognition when four of their songs were included in the 2002 movie, A Walk to Remember. Their major label debut, The Beautiful Letdown went on to sell over 2.6 million copies. Although the band has sold five million records in their ten-year history, Switchfoot does not measure success by ticket or album sales, but by motivating fans to get involved in their communities.

“I want us to have a touring history that has impacted people in other ways than selling them a product. To plug them into an amazing organization like Habitat is an honor. For us it’s a chance to donate more than money...if people can’t donate money, they can still use their hands to help,” said frontman Jon Foreman.

Now, Patterson Park homeowners can add rock stars to the list of the thousands of volunteers who helped build their homes!