Thanking the City of Shoreline for Its Exemplary Service During the COVID-19 Crisis
Thank you, Shoreline!
King County is expressing our gratitude to the City of Shoreline, its leadership and the entire community for their work and support in establishing the first Assessment Center/Recovery Center of its kind in our nation.
When the pandemic hit in March, the County jumped into action to site and set up isolation, quarantine and recovery centers to help people who could not safely isolate and recover in their own homes, or did not have homes. Shoreline—from the City Council to the Mayor’s Office, School District, Parks and Neighborhoods—came through in a big way, at very beginning, offering their soccer field for a facility.
On July 13th, King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski, along with Leo Flor, Director of King County Department of Community and Human Services, and Patty Hayes, Director of Public Health-Seattle &King County, joined the Shoreline City Council Meeting to share their heartfelt thank you’s on behalf of the County.
The three speakers all applauded the incredible spirt of community service in Shoreline, which is reflective of its residents and leaders. Excerpts from the meeting include:
“Shoreline came through in a big way…You were with it from the beginning. Instead of ‘go away’, you put up welcome signs on the fence. The community really stepped up.”—Councilmember Dembowski
“I want to express and echo heartfelt gratitude for the leadership the City of Shoreline demonstrated. We were able to, in a moment of urgency, avoid what we saw in Italy, and New York, and what we’re seeing in other parts of the country right now… Being able to construct this hybridized medical facility so quickly put us in a spot where we could get longer term strategies in place, and care for people during a critical time. Ultimately the facility hosted 49 folks who because of [this] access, slept not in a shelter or in a home with vulnerable family members – and were able to access critical care and compassion.”—Leo Flor
“Your support made a huge difference…I think we could do a whole documentary over your involvement and the amazing picture of a locality coming together for the heart of their citizenry to do something in a time that nobody expected to be in. You can see the remnants of [this AC/RC] model around the country today. You can feel very proud of that…I’m so appreciative for what you’ve done for us and for what we will continue to do together.” –Patty Hayes
The Shoreline facility saved lives. It also played a critical role in helping to slow the spread of disease during the early days of the pandemic. It gave the County time to put more permanent solutions in place, and today we now have enough bed capacity for a second surge, and a tested strategy we know works.
Thank you to the leadership and the residents of Shoreline for caring so deeply about each other, and the greater community.
It would have been really beneficial for us who live here intin thehthe neighborhood to have timely communication on intention and plans of such structures beforehand.
we had no idea what was happening and why and frankly we were all nervous, anxious and much more during the initial phases when this was built in 2-3 days. There were helicopters, security etc. And no news of it anywhere until much later.