Annual Report 2021
The figures in this report are for fiscal year January-December 2021, released in July 2022 following annual auditing.
Your support saves lives every day
“DESC was a hope in my life when I had no other…Now I have peace and serenity. Peace of mind.”
A few words from the Executive Director
Hear DESC Executive Director Daniel Malone talk about the joy of being able to open more homes for people experiencing long-term homelessness and the importance of Housing First, at the grand opening of The North Star apartment building.
“And it’s especially gratifying when that kind of thing can happen for people who have been homeless the longest and who have the most profound life challenges, which is what this particular facility is aimed to address.”
–Daniel Malone
Your support in 2021 helped us to:
- Build a unique new community health care clinic integrated with 92 new supportive apartments at Hobson Place (opened in January 2022)
- Build 100 new homes at The North Star (opened in July 2022)
- Bring 100 people into a new Health Through Housing emergency housing site at the Mary Pilgrim Inn (opened in October 2021)
- Continue planning for and working on three more future housing sites
- Plan to bring 135 more people into new emergency housing at Health Through Housing Northgate (opened in June 2022)
- Advocate for investments in workforce stabilization
- Advocate for improvements to the crisis response system
- Further our commitment to improving equity throughout our programs and staffing.
Read on for details!
Because you volunteered your time and talents, and donated goods, services and funds
(All numbers cited in this report are annual totals from 2021 unless otherwise stated.)
DESC served 7,171 people
1,567 people lived in DESC homes
277 people moved into homes
2,588 people were new to DESC
560,123 meals were served to DESC clients
DESC helps people with the complex needs of homelessness, substance use disorders and serious mental illness achieve their highest potential for health and well-being through comprehensive services, treatment and housing.
DESC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Tax ID: 91-1275815
Thank you!
We are now building more housing, faster, than at any time in DESC’s history
Work in 2021 allowed us to open three significant projects in 2022.
The Clinic at Hobson Place capped years of need, planning and vision for both DESC and the University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center when it opened in January 2022. The largest clinic of its kind, it delivers integrated behavioral health and primary medical care focused on serving people with complex conditions and open to the broader community. The clinic is located on the first three floors of Hobson Place phase 2.
Hobson Place phase 2 added 92 new homes of supportive housing in January 2022 for people experiencing homelessness. These PSH apartments occupy four floors atop the clinic at Hobson Place.
Our first tenants moved into The North Star, 100 units of affordable Permanent Supportive Housing at 924 N. 143rd Street, Seattle, in August 2022.
Planning in 2021 means more homes will open in 2023 and beyond
DESC Green Lake broke ground in February 2022. The 124-apartment building at 8610 Aurora Ave N., Seattle, is being built with new, patented, panelized construction, including multiple environmentally-friendly features. Expected completion: June 2023.
Construction begins on DESC Burien, 801 SW 150th St., our first PSH project outside of Seattle, in mid-October 2022. Twenty-five of the 95 apartments will be reserved for veterans experiencing homelessness.
DESC Woodland, N. 50th St. and Aurora Ave. N., Seattle, will feature 100 units. Construction begins in spring of 2023.
We now operate Permanent Supportive Housing at 16 buildings, as well as hundreds of scattered sites units
Our staff provide vital wrap-around services that help our clients live and thrive
To improve retention, lower case loads and work loads, we invested in 177 new full-time employees since January 2021-April 2022, and we will be hiring more staff to meet our growing program needs.
Clients and staff met for 39,653 individual case management sessions
4,647 clients were enrolled in multiple DESC programs to ensure their full array of care needs are met
Our outpatient mental health and substance use disorder services lower barriers to care
We make sure that people can receive behavioral health services from our programs even if they struggle to make and keep appointments, or do not engage with treatment in conventional ways. Case managers provide counseling, manage medication and coordinate each person’s care across DESC programs and with other agencies.
Health Services
We show the numbers, where available, of people each program or service helped during 2021. Programs are listed in alphabetical order.
- BAT & OTN Team (Buprenorphine Assisted Treatment & Opioid Treatment
- The Clinic at Hobson Place, fully integrated physical and behavioral health care in partnership with Harborview Medical Center (opened in 2022)
- COAT (Community Outreach and Advocacy Team), 70
- CRP (Crisis Respite Program), 5,171 shelter bed nights
- HOST (Homeless Outreach Stabilization and Treatment), 550
- Naloxone administered 111 times
- Onsite medical services
- PACT (Program of Assertive Community Treatment), 125
- Pathfinder, 76
- SAGE (Support, Advocacy, Growth and Employment), 1,680
- SHARP (Services and Housing to Access Recovery), 239
- Street medicine
- Substance Use Disorder Treatment, 442
- Supported Employment, 127
We help people who are experiencing homelessness & conditions such as untreated schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, other serious mental illnesses, & frequently also substance use disorders. We meet them wherever they are in the community.
Medical staff bring care to our clients
Bringing health care services–both prevention and treatment– into our housing, shelter and outreach programs gives people easier access to care, from people they know and trust. Psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners offer behavioral health medications, counseling and other care. Registered nurses and medical assistants support clients with medication administration, wound care, chronic disease management, coordinating care, health education and immunizations.
Behavioral Health Crisis Response teams help and find help
Our Mobile Crisis Team received 4,729 outreach referrals
DESC’s MCT (Mobile Crisis Team) of mental health and substance use disorder professionals are well-trained in crisis de-escalation and response, answering calls from first responders throughout King County, including police, firefighters and EMTs. From our locations in Seattle’s Central District, Kent or Bellevue, MCT goes to the individual in crisis and helps them resolve the crisis event.
The Crisis Solutions Center cared for 3,376 people in 2021
Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, DESC’s CSC (Crisis Solutions Center) is a place where people can stabilize and be connected to longer-term services that meet their needs. At the CSC, nurses, psychiatrists, peer providers, social workers and substance use disorder specialists work together to provide trauma-informed care. The goal? Help each person resolve the immediate crisis while also avoiding unnecessary involvement in the criminal legal and emergency medical systems.
Survival Services save lives until housing is available
The best way to solve long-term homelessness is with supportive housing, but there is not enough of it for everyone. As we work to build more, we can save lives by bringing people indoors to emergency housing in private or semi-private rooms or to safe shelter, and offer them resources and services.
Supportive Emergency Housing provided thousands of bed nights in 2021
Mary Pilgrim Inn: opened in October 2021 and provided 5,055 bed nights.
Health Through Housing Northgate: this facility with 135 private and semi-private rooms opened in June 2022. It includes more spaces for couples.
These two facilities replaced the bed capacity DESC had at the Red Lion Inn in Renton since April 2020, when our former main shelter operation relocated there in order to have a non-congregate shelter environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other shelters continued to operate, serving more need
During 2021 we were still operating temporary shelter at the Exhibition Hall and a few beds at other sites. As those closed, these are our current emergency shelters:
DESC now operates two supportive emergency housing sites through King County’s Health Through Housing program. HTH permanently converted former hotels into emergency housing where several hundred people can live temporarily while awaiting access to permanent homes.
Our Legislative advocacy is making a positive difference
Over the past year, we aimed our legislative advocacy at investing in, supporting and retaining skilled workers, as the need to help people who live with complex behavioral health conditions grows. We will continue these efforts in the next year.
- Our Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) will expand to serve more people across King County.
- Our Behavioral Health Response Team (BHRT) providing intensive post-crisis support, will also triple in size with dedicated funding from the State of Washington.
- Behavioral Health Provider Relief Funds will receive $100 million to help retain the behavioral health workforce across the state.
- Behavioral health programs funded by Medicaid, such as our SAGE and SUD programs, will receive more Medicaid funds with a nearly $50 million Medicaid rate increase.
- PACT (Program of Assertive Community Treatment) programs operated by DESC and other organizations across the state will receive an increase of $3.87 million.
- DESC’s COAT (Community Outreach and Advocacy Team) and partner programs will receive bridge funding from July 2022-June 2023.
- The state is investing in more crisis stabilization centers.
- The state has increased its dedicated funding for permanent supportive housing.
Our Board of Directors are dedicated volunteers
- Clark Kimerer, Chair
- Assistant Chief, Ret., Seattle Police Department
- Veronica Kavanagh, Vice Chair
- Informatics Analyst, Swedish Medical Center
- Sandeep Kaushik, Treasurer
- Partner, Sound View Strategies
- Nina Maisterra, MD, Secretary
- Family Medicine, UW Medicine
- Derrick Belgarde
- Executive Director, Chief Seattle Club
- Karen Breckenridge
- Principal, Breckenridge Consulting Services
- Susan Byrnes
- Chief Communications Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Terrence Carroll
- Distinguished Jurist in Residence, Seattle University School of Law
- Patti Cole-Tindall
- King County Sheriff
- Laura Inveen
- Judge, Ret. , King County Superior Court
- Nico Lovejoy
- Head of Product, Ondema
- Peter McGough, MD
- Medical Director, Ret., UW Neighborhood Clinics
- Jon Scholes
- President and CEO, Downtown Seattle Association
- Larry Smith
- Attorney
- Brian Surratt
- President and Chief Executive Officer, Greater Seattle Partners
- Ron Wright, AIA
- Principal, Ron Wright & Associates/Architects, PS
We’re grateful for our 2021 volunteers!
420 of you volunteered 9,663 hours (1,288 full work days)
You donated goods & services worth $3,998,695
Ongoing volunteers
Richard Eastlick
Sheila Eastlick
Debbie Palmer
Christopher Shainin
Dave Cohen
Steven Seick
Seydou Gueye
Matthew Van Duyn
Lynn Osborn
Elisabeth Barker
Sheila Richardson
Suzie Poffenbarger
Bryan Husin
Elisa Chough
Katharine Hinman
Stephanie Budros
Delresha Parker
Fablina Sharara
Kaylee Menard
Candida Taylor
Julie Taylor
Amanda O’Claire
Christine Bumpous
Atari Betamax
Basil Mayhan
Ariana Fabico
Judey Nitcy
David Lawrence
Joshua Perez
Claire Bryant
Elmie Hill
Sade Chrisostomo
Hannah Fair
Sakara Buyagawan
Lyn Chancy
Jessica Lagreid
Bradley Horst
Janetmarie Wolfe
Andrea Lopez-Diaz
Candace Gnyp
Eklofina Schienbein
Rachel Hutchings
Don Brown
Zoe Krumm
Jerry Wood
Catherine Lee
Christoph Gaebler
Jeffrey Smith
Landon Allred
Emma Dorazio
Marie Dunn
Alexandra Dindinger-Hill
Margaret Klockars
Marcia McCracken
Connie Huffine
Shelli Todd
Hannah Koval
Lynne Meredith
Kallan Gustafson
Katie Walker
Sara Heller
Eden
Medhane
Brendan Currie-O’Brien
Luke Pietrantoni
Sharon Nelson
Amanda Coba
Artur Genser
Awake and In Action
Tosin Arasi
Volunteer groups
Awake in Action (8)
Hope Worldwide Youth Corp (21)
Iglesia ni Cristo (22)
MAC(3)
Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish County (18)
Microsoft (257)
Puget Sound Oncology Nurses Society (7)
Seattle University MBA Program (6)
Hobson Apartment Adoption Day Volunteers
Andrew Tait
Susan Lin
Pat Prentice
Adam Templeton
Hannah Tait
Christen Offner
Katherine Seymour
Karen Breckenridge
Lynn Frasier
Elise Chayet
Angella Hould
Eric Brandon
Juan Martinez
Lee Kellogg
Mark Smith
Juanita McLaughlin
Michele Wang
Sarah Bak
Leah Watkins
Colleen Cooke
Marcia Mason
Louise Kato
Landon Allred
Virginia Anderson
Alison Christie
Peggy Greenwood
James Clark
Amy Bosch
Daniel Quinn
Rebecca Fraser
Brook Buettner
Sarah Hill
Chris Murray
Jana Buss
Cara McGough
Chris Hollinger
PSH Client Photo Session
Matt Villanueva
HOPE WW Youth Corp SCRAM
Naomi Wallace
Microsoft Giving
Katie Leis
Kat Randolph
Diana Gao
Erika Berndt
Shilpa Bratt
Gerard Woods
Puget Sound Oncology Nurse’s Society
Mitra Freer
Nancy Thompson
Laurie Thibert
Juanita Madison
Lindsey Eaton
Interns
Jessica Champ
Tabitha Brown
Valerie Garibay
Espi Garcia
Zenith Savery
Ashley Perkins
Steve Schrock
Becca Kreiger
London Hughes
Kallan Gustafson
Aliza Lieb
Mary Racz
Julia Ortega
Lorenzo Guerrero
Grace Hove
Eden Amital
Kevin Bocek
Katya Wight
Lindsey Rice
Ella Conte-Wood
Meg Brown
Madison Burroughs
Financial Summary
For the year of Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2021
Consolidated Statement of Financial Position-DESC & Related Partnerships
Assets
| Cash & Cash Equivalents | $8,707,769 |
| Accounts Receivable & Prepaid Expenses | $9,892,445 |
| Restricted Assets & Housing Reserves | $19,979,786 |
| Land, Buildings, Furnishings & Leasehold Improvements (Net) | $166,937,649 |
| Notes Receivable, Construction in Progress & Other Assets | $78,898,894 |
| Total Assets | $284,416,543 |
Liabilities
| Accounts Payable | $9,508,547 |
| Deferred Revenue | $8,679,698 |
| Client Custodial Accounts & Other Liabilities | $6,106,029 |
| Notes Payable | $163,689,473 |
| Total Liabilities | $187,983,747 |
| Net Assets | $96,432,796 |
| Total Liabilities & Net Assets | $284,416,543 |
Consolidated Statement of Activities – DESC & Related Partnerships
Operating revenue
| Public Grants & Contracts | $50,997,615 |
| Medicaid & Other Health Insurance | $7,045,029 |
| Housing Rents & Related Income | $6,203,735 |
| Contributions | $4,655,876 |
| Contributions-In Kind | $3,998,695 |
| Gain on Asset Sale/Disposal | $889,353 |
| Other | $503,658 |
| Interest | $203,603 |
| Total Revenue | $74,497,564 |
Operating expenses
| Housing Programs | $39,940,701 |
| Clinical Programs | $22,727,691 |
| Management & Administration | $8,637,662 |
| Real Estate Development | $1,582,046 |
| Fundraising | $463,009 |
| Total Expenses | $73,351,109 |
| Operating Surplus (Deficit) | $1,146,455 |
| Non-Operating Revenue & Expense | |
| Depreciation, Amortization & Accrued Interest | $(8,883, 605) |
| Net Income (Loss) | $(7,737,150) |