the landing 24/7 shelter relocation, spring 2023

As some of you may have heard recently, after a two-year search we achieved our decade-old vision of acquiring a permanent 24/7 emergency shelter location!

We're happy to officially announce that as of June 2022, Friends of Youth acquired a new 6,900 square foot site at 12735 Willows Rd NE in Kirkland. Check out photos below. The Willows Building site will eventually replace the current location of The Landing, our 24/7 emergency shelter in Redmond, whose non-renewable lease ends Sunday, April 30, 2023.

Our most recognizable program on the Eastside, The Landing, has been publicly identified by our community as a service provider focusing on homeless and abandoned youth. Each year we serve 155 clients, providing 6,350 bed nights (an average of 42 bed nights per client).

With this new location, we will be able to serve another 305 clients (providing an additional 12,810 bed nights).

Our analysis determined that for the past three years, the 3,000 square feet of space at The Landing doesn't meet the increased demand nor standards of quality services our youth and young adult clients deserve or need, leaving young people experiencing homelessness with very few alternatives.

Working with the Friends of Youth Board of Directors and our leadership team, we embraced our mission-critical goals and values and took on the challenge of finding a space that enables Friends of Youth to expand its capacity for 24/7 shelter services while ensuring that client voice, equity, trauma-informed care and healing remained part of the processes to achieving clients’ personal goals and success.

Next steps will be to acquire the necessary permits while gaining input from our clients, community, employees, and all our key stakeholders on renovations and improvements to the building.

Check out the full list of Friends of Youth programs and services here!