Philanthropy/Nonprofits
Plymouth Ends Campaign After Raising $59.1M for Affordable Housing
Funds from the PROOF Capital Campaign will go to 600 supportive housing units
By Nat Rubio-Licht August 31, 2020
Funds from the PROOF Capital Campaign will go to 600 supportive housing units
After raising $59.1 million to build housing for Seattle’s homeless population, Plymouth Housing’s capital campaign will come to an end.
The funds from the PROOF Capital Campaign will go toward the construction of six buildings with a total of 600 housing units for people experiencing chronic homelessness in King County. The funds will also be used to create an endowment for residents and restore historic buildings in the neighborhood.
In June, Plymouth set out to raise $75 million through the campaign to fund a total of eight new buildings, but the Seattle nonprofit had to curb its goals as it directed resources to support residents due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Plymouth received donations from nearly 700 individuals, foundations, and corporations, including Microsoft Corp., Amazon Inc. and Connie and Steve Ballmer. In May, the campaign received $15 million from Seattle health care organizations Providence St. Joseph Health, Swedish Health Services and Premera Blue Cross.
Plymouth currently houses 1,150 people in 14 buildings.
A Point-in-Time count from January found that around 11,751 people in King County had experienced homelessness, 47% of which were unsheltered at the time of the count. This is a 5% increase from 2019.
Last week, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced that the city would invest in almost 600 affordable housing units by using $60 million from the city’s Housing Levy. Some of the funding from the Housing Levy will go towards Plymouth’s fifth site in Ballard, which will house 81 people and open in mid-2022.