Thanks to an innovative partnership, children living in affordable housing communities in Bellevue are getting the tools and supports they need to achieve academic and life success.
The King County Housing Authority, Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue, Bellevue School District and Eastside Pathways are collaborating on a place-based initiative centered at three KCHA housing communities in Bellevue, where many of the children were born to immigrant and refugee parents and/or live in a home in which English is not the primary language. The partnership both coordinates and leverages each agency’s strengths and experiences to support these children. This focus on education and reducing the achievement gap is designed to be transformative, ultimately helping to end the cycle of poverty.
With support from KCHA, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue runs Clubhouses onsite at three public housing communities to serve elementary school-aged youth by providing comprehensive after-school and summer programming. The programs are provided completely free of charge to any family living in these public housing sites.
The Club also runs the Teen Center Campus that provides free drop-out prevention programs focused on academic success. Other programs include state-of-the-art technology labs, a recording studio, and year-round drop-in services. Transportation to KCHA between the Teen Center and KCHA’s affordable housing communities is also provided. The Club never turns a family away due to an inability to pay, and scholarships are offered to any family in need.
The programs and after-school centers are a lifeline for KCHA families. They offer a positive alternative to vulnerable youth, keeping them in-school and teaching essential life skills to ensure they will be productive, healthy and caring adults.
“The Boys and Girls Club has impacted both of my children’s lives in such a positive way,” said one parent whose family lives in a KCHA housing community. “The staff is amazingly friendly and helpful with interacting, and helping my children academically and emotionally. Being a single mother of two boys, I am happy to say that the Bellevue Boys & Girls Club has supported our family in a positive direction.”
The success of these programs, however, hinges on a powerful partnership between KCHA, the Bellevue School District, the Boys & Girls Club of Bellevue and Eastside Pathways. The partnership is one of three “place-based initiatives” KCHA has undertaken to link low-income children with education and community support.
The partnership relies on data-sharing agreements and coordinated programming. Shared data helps partners to identify opportunities for working together to improve students’ educational outcomes. Counselors from the Bellevue School District work directly with Club staff to help identify, recruit and monitor those students who need support. In turn, the Club’s programming intentionally enriches and aligns with the school curriculum, including a focus on STEM, English, and preventing summer learning loss. KCHA staff also work with school counselors and Club staff to recruit the youth living in KCHA developments who have been identified as needing support.
As the lead agency, KCHA coordinates the communication between all partners and works to secure funding, including support from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. And on top of it all, Eastside Pathways helps to connect these efforts into the community’s larger system of cradle-to-career supports.
The result is high-quality, coordinated programs that serve Bellevue’s K-12 youth. Youth receive the individualized help they need for both academic and social-emotional growth, and KCHA families feel supported.
In the end, KCHA does not just transform lives through housing. With our partners, we are bridging the gap between low-income students and their peers and investing in Bellevue’s – and the region’s – future.
For more information, please contact KCHA’s Education Coordinator, Cara Ianni, at carai@kcha.org.
Article written by Cara Ianni, Education Coordinator at King County Housing Authority