Common Ground is a nonprofit affordable housing developer in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
. Its primary goal is creating and preserving high-quality permanent and transitional housing for the homeless; it now also includes nonprofit facilities other than housing, such as community centers and medical buildings. The core of the organization are housing development specialists, who work together with existing nonprofit social service agencies, government agencies and housing authorities.
History
In 1980, county planner Steve Clagett and other housing activists founded Common Ground in response to a growing housing crisis in the downtown core. The organization began helping local social service agencies and churches preserve and transform historic buildings into affordable housing, and identified sites and secured funding for new affordable housing units. The group helped preserve many downtown Seattle landmarks, including the Olive Tower, the St. Regis Hotel and the Josephinum.
The organization does not own or manage these facilities. Instead, like market-rate real estate developers, it puts together land deals, arranges financing and supervises construction for social service agencies and housing authorities. Clients include the Metro
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
,
Pioneer Human Services,
Solid Ground and
Downtown Emergency Service Center.
In the late 80s, they started to work with churches to provide housing for individuals with mental illness, establishing partnerships between mental health agencies and area churches. The churches rented houses to be used as
group homes
A group home, congregate living facility, or care home (the latter especially in British English and Australian English) is a residence model of medical care for those with complex health needs. Traditionally, the model has been used for children ...
and the agency staff provided services and oversight. The experience led the organization into a new area of focus: special-needs housing.
Today, Common Ground has expanded throughout the state of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, working with more than 300 community-based organizations to develop more than 6,200 units of housing for people with low-income or special needs.
Residences Built in 2011
As of August 2011 Common Ground has developed 5 buildings with 117 units.
See also
*
housing first
*
affordable housing
*
Homelessness in the United States
Homelessness in the United States refers to the issue of homelessness in the United States, a condition wherein people lack a fixed, regular, and adequate residence. The number of homeless people varies from different federal government accou ...
*
Common Ground (NYC)
Breaking Ground, formerly Common Ground, is a nonprofit social services organization in New York City whose goal is to create high-quality permanent and transitional housing for the homeless. Its philosophy holds that supportive housing costs s ...
References
;Notes
External links
Common Ground (Seattle)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Common Ground (Nyc)
Homelessness in the United States
Housing rights organizations in Seattle
Homelessness charities
Affordable housing
Housing organizations in the United States
Housing in Washington (state)