Our primary job is to provide an environment that can become a secure, stable home for a person with a persistent mental illness. That environment varies with the varying capabilities and needs of the people we serve. Some people do very well having their own bedroom in a shared house.   This creates a supportive community. We have 11 single family homes that are shared.   Others need more privacy and can handle a greater degree of independence, so we have 27 apartments and condominium units available for them. Some of these units are larger and can accommodate families with children.

All of our tenants are very low income and compete with everyone else when they search for housing.  The King County rental housing market is very selective and the rents are high. Our rents are affordable. They are established on a sliding scale and that includes an allowance for utilities.

Our tenants do not have the best credit or rental history, and have gone through multiple episodes of hospitalization and homelessness. Agencies such as ours are the last hope for a lot of these households. The nice thing is after they have been with us and received services from SMH for a few years they will have stabilized and established a good rental history. This will make it much easier to move into private market housing when they are ready.

We understand that our tenants may go to the hospital once in a while. We keep their home available for them so they aren’t having to search for a new home upon discharge. That’s one less person discharged from the hospital to the streets.

Housing alone does not make it possible for our tenants to live independently, but a home is absolutely essential in helping our tenants receive the supportive services that are needed for them to stay stable. All of our mental health tenants are enrolled in at least one of the programs offered by Sound Mental Health.

Applying for MHHF Housing

Sound Mental Health accepts applications, screens and makes referrals to MHHF when we have a vacancy.   If you are currently enrolled with SMH, ask your case manager about the application process. If you are not currently enrolled, do so.   Sound Mental Health Admissions information can be found at http://www.smh.org/access-smh-services/or by calling: 206-302-2300.