REPORTER
COVINGTON | MAPLE VALLEY | BLACK DIAMOND
NEWSLINE 425-432-1209
POINT OF REVIEW | Movie vs. book review of ‘Before I Go to Sleep’ [page 9]
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Our Corner | Assistant Editor Sarah Brenden explains why she picks the Panthers to win Super Bowl 50 [4]
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Vine Maple Place raising funds for Family Hope Center The 15,000 square-foot facility will provide services and resources to an estimated 400 more families each year BY SARAH BRENDEN Assistant Editor
Hoping to break ground in the summer, Vine Maple Place is raising money to help build its new 15,000 squarefoot facility called the Family Hope Center. The $4.7 million project will add more counseling offices, training rooms and more children and youth areas to serve an estimated 400 more families per year, according to a press release. “The services are customized for each family to give them the tools they need to avoid homelessness in their future,” the release stated. So far more than $3 million has been raised in initial
fundraising efforts from gifts and pledges, Executive Director Michelle Frets said. The Family Hope Center will be built on the .77 acre plot of land behind where Vine Maple Place is located, Frets said. The goal is, she said, to open the doors to the new facility a year after breaking ground. From 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 13 at Tahoma High School, Vine Maple Place has scheduled a community celebration to raise money for the Family Hope Center. Last year, Frets said Vine Maple Place helped 141 families, which equaled roughly 410 individuals. Since 2000, Vine Maple Place has been helping single parents and their children who are facing homelessness. And in 2012, they started helping those who may not be homeless yet but those who are also in danger of becoming homeless. Located in Maple Valley, Vine Maple Place provides single parents with financial literacy training, employment and livable-wage development, housing case management,
counseling and life skills development. Vine Maple Place also provides child and youth services, according to its website. Aside from the training, Vine Maple Place has a number of duplexes where single families can stay for 30 to 60 days while they look for work and a place to stay. Even after the families move out of the temporary housing on site, Vine Maple Place helps assist with rent, Frets said. She added Vine Maple Place has a good relationship with a number of landlords around the area to help transition these families into their new housing. The new Family Hope Center will be a resource center and will not include additional housing units for families. Frets said the facility will provide the families with services to get back on their feet. Vine Maple Place covers a 9-mile radius, Frets said. A majority, roughly 40 percent, come from the Maple Valley and Covington area. [ more FUNDS page 2 ]
Katie Collier’s inspirational story to be honored BY SARAH BRENDEN
Rainy day reading at the library
Assistant Editor
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n Wednesday, Feb. 10, at the 2016 MTR Western Sports Star of the Year Award ceremony, former Covington resident Katie Collier will be honored with the Wayne Gittinger Inspirational Youth Award. Collier has been cancer free for almost four years after battling Leukemia. She is a redshirt junior at the University of Washington and plays forward/center for the Huskies. Redshirting means a player does not play for a year, delaying the athlete’s eligibility to participate. An athlete can redshirt for medical or athletic reasons. The Wayne Gittinger Inspirational Youth Award, according to the Seattle Sports Commission’s website, “is given to an inspirational young athlete who has overcome major medical obstacles to inspire others.” The award is presented by Courtesy photo from the University of Washington Seattle Children’s Hospital. She said she feels “insanely honored” to receive this award. “There are a multitude of youth and people that surround me that inspire me and so to be recognized for inspiring others… Wow, I am so honored!” she wrote in an email. When Collier was diagnosed, she was a senior at Seattle [ more HONORED page 2 ]
Dylan Hughes, 1, holds up a book she was looking through while at the library with her dad and her brother Kai, 3, above. The three stayed dry from the rain Friday morning at the Covington Library. ANA KAREN PEREZ GUZMAN, The Reporter
One Night Count shows increase from 2015 BY ANA KAREN PEREZ GUZMAN Reporter
King County saw a 19 percent increase of unsheltered homeless individuals between 2015 and 2016 during the One Night Count. The first year southwest King County participated in the count was 2015 and there was a total of 209 homeless individuals. This year 315 homeless individuals were recorded. The One Night Count is an organization in King County that counts homeless individuals in the county. More than 1,000 volunteers spread out across the county to count the homeless who were sleeping outdoors without shelter between 2 and
5 a.m on Jan. 29. The city of Covington has seen an increase of homeless individuals, more specifically, the youth, said Covington Senior Human Services Planner Victoria Throm. “The reason for this could be because of the increase of heroin use by the youth and because of dysfunctional homes,” Throm said. “Some young individuals choose to leave their homes instead of staying in a dangerous environment.” Karla Slate, Covington communication manger, noticed there is a definite problem in the community with homeless youth. The One Night Count statistics brought the problem into focus. “Many students within the school
district are homeless, and we are concentrating on helping them more,” Slate said. While some of their ideas are still in the beginning stages, the city of Covington is taking steps, like making sure the police are informed. Most police officers have an idea of where the homeless youth hangout and try to bring resources, food and hygiene kits to them, Throm said. One of the main reason for homelessness stems from domestic violence. Women take themselves and their children out of violent situations but don’t know where to go, so they opt for being homeless. A few programs and [ more INCREASE page 5 ]