King county prepares to welcome Afghan refugees

King County prepares to welcome Afghan refugees with temporary housing and community investments: King County Executive Dow Constantine announced on Wednesday a set of investments to support the anticipated influx of Afghan refugees arriving in King County.

This includes temporary housing at the Extended Stay America in Federal Way, which the County purchased in July to house people experiencing chronic homelessness in South King County. It will be repurposed in the short-term for arriving Afghan refugees. 

King County has pledged to work with local, state, and federal partners and the Afghan-American community to enable Afghans looking for refuge to resettle in the county and begin life in America. 

The investments include:

• Partnering with World Relief, the International Rescue Committee, and other local resettlement agencies to make available temporary housing for individuals and families while they await placement in permanent housing. The County will also provide staffing support.
• Utilizing $250,000 from the Office of Equity and Social Justice’s language access program to provide language supports such as translation, interpretation, and more.
• Utilizing $250,000 from the Department of Community and Human Services to provide one-time grants to community-based organizations who are supporting Afghan resettlement efforts. These grants can be used to support emerging needs and ease capacity constraints so that our community partners can do what they do best