Summary

Van will be used to connect clients to various healthcare services in the greater Seattle area

Story

Local non-profit organization Community Psychiatric Clinic will be helped in their mission of serving low income, mentally ill, and/or developmentally disabled clients who may also be homeless through a donated van secured for them by King County Councilmember Larry Phillips. The van was part of Metro Transit’s vanpool fleet, but had recently reached the end of its useful life as a commuter van and was retired from the fleet.

 “Putting retired county vans to use in the community helps extend the value of these public assets” said Phillips, who represents the Northgate neighborhood on the council. “Community Psychiatric Clinic provides valuable service for vulnerable people in the Northgate area and beyond, so I’m glad to be able to supply them with a van to further their efforts.”

Located in Northgate, the mission of Community Psychiatric Clinic is to enhance the quality of life to their clients by delivering a full continuum of community-based behavioral healthcare services. They strive to assure access to all in the community who seek care and have been helping thousands of Seattle and King County residents since 1953. They have grown from a clinic to a comprehensive non-profit behavioral healthcare organization and now serve 5,000 people each year with services ranging from counseling for children, adults, couples and families to vocational and chemical dependency programs, and housing services.

Community Psychiatric Clinic will use the van to provide their clients with no cost transportation for medical, dental, social security, DSHS, Veteran Services, food banks, housing, and other community and social service appointments in the greater Seattle area. The van will also be used for planned group outings and an opportunity for clients to enhance social skills and community awareness. Community Psychiatric Clinic treats every person with courtesy, fairness, dignity and respect for individuality. They work to maintain an environment free from discrimination and strive to provide the highest quality care possible with professional responsibility and competency.

Since 1995, the County Council has been donating retired vans from Metro’s Vanpool program to local nonprofit organizations to provide transportation for the disabled, low-income, young adults, and senior citizens. Governments, agencies and organizations that receive the vans must meet specific requirements:

• Capacity to support ongoing van operation, including assured funding for licensing, insuring, fueling and maintaining the van;

• Ability to provide qualified and trained drivers;

• Specific plans for use of the van to transport low-income, elderly or young people or people with disabilities, and assurance that the use shall be available to those persons without regard to affiliation with any particular organization;

• Ability to support county's public transportation function by reducing single occupancy vehicle trips, pollution and traffic congestion; supplementing services provided by the county's paratransit system and increasing the mobility for the transit-dependent for whom regular transit might not always be a convenient option.

Interested organizations can contact Councilmember Phillips for more information on applying for a vehicle.

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