Program that supports families after parent’s incarceration receives County van

April 12, 2016

Summary

With this donation, King County is ensuring the parents and children who live at YWCA Passage Point will have access to reliable transportation and can connect with the services they need to build their future

Story

Vice Chair Dunn hands the key to a ‘retired’ King County vanpool van to Luckisha Philips, the Program Manager of the YWCA Passage Point program. Phillips is joined by Martin Friedman, Associate Director of Passage Point Services, YWCA staff and participants in the Passage Point program.

After a period of incarceration, YWCA Passage Points offers parents support, education, and a chance to reunite with their children. To assist in transporting those in need to the services they require, Metropolitan King County Council Vice Chair Reagan Dunn donated a ”retired” Metro Vanpool Van today to the program.

“I am glad to be able to support the services YWCA Passage Point offers,” said Dunn. “Passage Point not only helps people avoid re-incarceration but also works to prevent homelessness, which at this moment, is critically important in our region.”

“With this donation, King County is ensuring the parents and children who live at YWCA Passage Point will have access to reliable transportation and can connect with the services they need to build their future,” said Luckisha Phillips, YWCA Passage Point Program Manager. “We are deeply grateful to Councilmember Dunn for his support of our program.”

The chances of re-incarceration are reduced when these parents are connected to the services that provide training in the skills and tools they need to live independently. Passage Point is a program of YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish that offers 46 units of supportive housing and services to parents and children. Re-Entry Life Coaches work with residents individually, encouraging self-sufficiency, positive community interaction, and connecting people to services where they learn skills and how to be strategic in defining their future. When families have fully reconnected, residents graduate into permanent housing.

The ‘retired’ van will help shuttle residents from YWCA Passage Point back and forth to the Renton Transit Center, the nearby food bank, and grocery store runs. Vans are also used to transport residents and their children to activities and events.

The retired vans have been part of Metro Transit’s vanpool fleet for at least six years and have reached the end of their service life. When the vans reach this age, they are considered surplus. The vehicles that are not donated are sold.

Since 1996, 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.

The vanpool program provides mobility for a diverse array of King County residents, supports the positive work of various local organizations, and relieves traffic congestion by reducing the need for single-occupancy vehicles. Interested organizations can contact Councilmember Dunn at 206-477-1009 or reagan.dunn@kingcounty.gov for more information on applying for a vehicle.