Over the last several months, a variety of local agencies — including the King County Housing Authority, the U.S. Veterans Administration, nonprofits serving veterans and their families in Seattle/King County, King County Veterans Department and the Seattle Housing Authority, have been collaborating to address the housing needs of veterans in our community.

Working in partnership with the United States departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, the Housing Authority administers nearly 500 housing choice vouchers dedicated to homeless veterans and their families. In addition to rental subsidies the Housing Authority provides, eligible veterans get help with certain move-in expenses, such as deposits and application fees.

Despite resources available from multiple partners in the community, there is a lack of available and affordable rental units in King County to help achieve the regional goal to end veteran homelessness.

The landlord community holds the key to solving veteran homelessness in King County. If you are a landlord or property manager willing to rent units to veterans or are interested in more information about these special voucher programs for veterans, contact Jim Green, the Housing Authority’s veteran landlord liaison, at jamesg@kcha.org or 206-957-2257. Information can also be found at www.kcha.org/landlords/veterans.

In addition to the satisfaction of helping a veteran, landlords who commit rental units through these programs get fair market value for rental units, stabilized occupancy rates, guaranteed and timely rental payments for stable operating income and expedited initial unit inspection, plus ongoing annual inspections to ensure your unit is being maintained.