All Home announces departure of Director Mark Putnam

Mark Putnam

Mark Putnam, director of All Home, will be leaving the organization in late January to accept a position as Executive Director of Accelerator YMCA, a local nonprofit program focused on ending youth and youth adult homelessness. His new position begins on January 29, 2018.

As director of All Home, Putnam provided leadership to a broad coalition of government, business, faith communities, nonprofits, and homeless advocates working together to develop and implement strategies to address homelessness for adults, youth and families across the region.

All Home continues the work of the former Committee to End Homelessness in King County.

“Mark Putnam was instrumental in bringing the community together and refocusing the region’s outcomes and strategies around the goals of making homelessness rare, brief and one-time and the data shows we have made measurable progress in all three areas as a result of his leadership,” said Adrienne Quinn, director of the King County Department of Community and Human Services. 

“His work has helped countless individuals and families across King County who have been able to exit homelessness and re-stabilize their lives and futures.”

Putnam became the director of All Home in December of 2013. Over the past four years, the region has seen an increase in the number of homeless people becoming housed by nearly 75%. Under his leadership, a new four-year strategic plan was developed and implemented.

Putnam reached agreement among key All Home partners King County, the City of Seattle and United Way of King County for shared performance-based contracting measures.

All Home increased its annual Federal funding by $15M during his tenure, including a highly competitive youth homelessness grant from HUD. In recognition of his efforts, Putnam was named Change Agent of the Year by Real Change newspaper in 2015 and given the Breaking Barriers award from Somali Youth and Family Club in 2017.

Putnam will stay on to oversee the Count Us In point-in-time homeless count occurring on January 26, 2018. Kira Zylstra, current assistant director, will become Acting Director of All Home.

Prior to joining All Home, she worked at Solid Ground, a local nonprofit providing housing, supportive services and advocacy on behalf of low income and homelessness individuals and families in Seattle/King County. She assumes her new role upon Putnam’s departure.