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COVID-19 Vaccinations
Dear Neighbor,
As of April 15th, anyone over the age of 16 is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine whether that be at their local pharmacy or doctor’s office, a community pop-up or one of the County’s mass vaccination sites at Kent’s Showare Center or Auburn’s Outlet Collection.
Visit the Vaccine Locator to find and schedule an appointment. Need help? Call the COVID-19 hotline at 1-800-525-0127, then press #. Language assistance is available.
County Council Considers Additional Community Supports
The King County Council is in the process of passing a budget to allocate federal COVID funds from the American Rescue Plan.
We continue to prioritize public health efforts including increased vaccination sites, translation of public health information and support for organizations working in the community to assist people in accessing the vaccine.
We are still focusing on the immediate needs of King County residents by providing rental and food assistance, supports for remote learning, and funding to help local small businesses.
These funds will continue the public health work and emergency assistance, but also will begin to invest in strategies to help our community recover. By funding child care, mental health supports, job training opportunities, and assistance for businesses, we are focusing funds where they have the most impact.
As we continue to safely reopen our economy, we need to do everything we can to help strengthen the economy and bring back jobs and opportunity—especially here in South King County.
County Housing Opportunities
King County provides funding to nonprofit organizations to build affordable housing and/or provide services to people who are homeless.
As part of our annual funding process, we sometimes adopt “priorities” based on community input and specific needs identified. Then we use a competitive process to fund projects and programs that meet those priorities.
Some strategies have specific geographic requirements – including South King County – while others support important programs in our area, such as Burien’s LEAD program which diverts individuals from the criminal legal system by providing social supports, including housing.
A new strategy this year is called “Equitable Community Driven Affordable Housing Development.” While the title is a mouthful, this means we will be investing in organizations that are building housing to prevent cultural communities from being displaced. It means partnering with organizations within those cultural communities. And it means supporting proposals developed by the community through an inclusive community engagement process. This priority will also fund organizations working to advance economic and racial equity in communities at high risk of displacement.
Combatting Climate Change
The harmful effects of climate change are felt by all of us, but low-income residents and communities of color are disproportionately impacted.
South King County residents experience higher rates of asthma and other public health issues related to greenhouse gas emissions and the lack of open spaces leads to warmer temperatures in the urban areas.
Bold action must be taken now to combat these negative impacts.
King County is leading this effort with our Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP). The five-year plan demonstrates King County’s commitment to combatting climate change while strengthening the County’s commitment to lead with equity, engage communities, and reduce health disparities.
This update continues King County’s focus on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and includes an ambitious plan to accurately count emission caused by aviation and develop strategies and goals to significantly reduce them. This plan is especially important to those communities surrounding SeaTac Airport which have long experienced disproportionate negative health impacts.
The plan also includes a new section focusing on climate justice driven by the frontline communities disproportionately impacted by climate change.
The SCAP will now advance to the full Council for a final vote, at which time we will begin implementation of the plan. Learn more about the Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP) and read the full plan by visiting the King County website.
As the Council continues to operate remotely, now is the perfect time to engage with our work and share your thoughts on legislation before us.
To learn more about testifying before Council go to: https://www.kingcounty.gov/council/committees/full_council.aspx
Sincerely,
King County Councilmember
District 5
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