According to the 2020 Count Us In report, conducted just prior to the COVID19 pandemic, 11,751 people were experiencing homelessness in King County. COVID19 has taken a heavy toll on our unhoused neighbors - many shelters and services have shut down and reduced scale, forcing more unhoused folks to live outside than ever before. Seattle enters its sixth year of homelessness being declared an emergency crisis, and there's no sign of it changing. With unpaid rents and the end of eviction moratoriums looming, the urgency for housing solutions is unprecedented in this city's history.

In partnership with the AEC Community, Facing Homelessness (FH) has built the most innovative and sustainable community solution for permanent supportive housing to help end homelessness - The BLOCK Project. At only ¼ the cost of all other permanent low income housing solutions, it is the most swift affordable permanent solution to homelessness, as homes can be completed from inception to occupancy in only six months!

As we fight through COVID-19 and its aftermath, the need for this solution has historically never been greater. We hope you will join us for the annual AEC Fundraiser this May 20 at 7pm. Our goal is to raise $120,000 and build five more BLOCK homes in 2021. Your efforts will be responsible for a 50% growth in completed BLOCK homes in only one year! We can only meet this ambitious goal with your support.

About Facing Homelessness

Beginning in 2010, our founder, Rex Hohlbein, made it a priority to say hello to those experiencing homelessness, inviting them into his architecture office for conversation, shelter, and connection. He soon realized the great power of proximity that broke down the stereotypes of those living on the streets, and discovered the beauty and dignity of people suffering from living outside. To transform this realization into action, Rex first began sharing unhoused community members stories on Facebook. By 2013, this passion project turned FH into a nonprofit organization that now has over 50,000 Facebook followers and thousands of community volunteers. Today, we offer three key programs - Storytelling on Facebook, the Window of Kindness, and the BLOCK Project - to support hundreds of people experiencing homelessness and create entry points for community members to come closer and become a part of a connected and loving movement.

Through the BLOCK Project, FH achieves it’s ultimate expression of mission of coming closer and community involvement where homeowners are asked to share their land, and community builds homes to invite the unhoused to become our neighbors. Ten homes have been completed to date, and just last year FH completed construction of the BLOCK Shop, which reduced home construction costs by nearly 40% and onsite assembly time by 86%. The BLOCK Shop has a capacity to manufacture one home a week, and made the prospect of scaling the BLOCK Project possible. Your support will be vital for carrying this mission forward and achieving the growth our community deserves.

KEY POINTS of The BLOCK Project

• BLOCK Homes are unarguably the most affordable and swift permanent and supportive low income housing solution in Seattle. Made possible through community provided land and labor, at $75K/unit, BLOCK homes are completed from inception to occupancy within six months. Comparatively, permanent Low Income Housing solutions have a starting price of $330K/unit, and take several years to develop.
• We’ve supported and housed 11 Residents to date. None have returned to homelessness.
• Local studies show homelessness individuals cost taxpayers anywhere from $30-80K a year. The BLOCK Project removes an individual out of an overwhelmed system, relieving a giant tax burden with every home built.
• Due to single family zoning occupying 75% of Seattle land, typical permanent low income housing solutions can only be developed within a small fraction of land, severely limiting affordable housing opportunities.
• The BLOCK Project takes advantage of this zoning limitation. Working within single family zoned ADU building codes, The BLOCK Project targets an incredibly innovative niche while also fostering cross-class integration and social inclusion in opportunity-rich neighborhoods.
• We scale IMPACT. Every dollar donated from our AEC community has been doubled by in-kind contributions.
• We take sustainability seriously - BLOCK homes are turn-key Living Building Challenge (LBC) ready.
• The new shop-fabricated BLOCK Home design (V1.1) can be assembled on-site by volunteers in just FOUR DAYS, a process that used to take four weeks.
• We continuously improve - in 2020 we reduced costs by 40% and can build (3) homes for the previous price of (2)!

Please don't take our word for it, please hear it in the following videos from our volunteers, hosts and residents:

1. What Is Compassion? Facing Homelessness!
2. How Can I House Someone? The BLOCK Project!
3. What Is My Role? I’m the Solution!