Olympic Neighbors
Project: Crisis Housing Stabilization for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Request: $15,000
Olympic Neighbors provides licensed residential care for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Jefferson County. It is the only licensed adult family home in the county designed specifically for this population.
Six adults currently live there. They require varying levels of support with daily living, medication management, personal care, transportation and community engagement. Many rely on Medicaid-funded long-term care services and live on fixed incomes.
The emergency
Olympic Neighbors recently learned that the lease on its residence will not be renewed. The organization is building permanent homes in the Mason Street Neighborhood in partnership with Habitat for Humanity — a project that will eventually let it serve twice as many people — but construction and state licensing are not complete.
That leaves a gap of an estimated 18 to 24 months, and a hard requirement: find safe, accessible, licensable transitional housing, and move six people into it without disrupting their care.
Here are the problems you can help solve
Moving is hard for anyone. For adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, housing instability can be acutely destabilizing — increased anxiety, behavioral challenges, interrupted services, and the loss of critical support systems. Familiar surroundings, trusted caregivers and established routines are not preferences; they're the structure that makes independence and wellbeing possible.
Affordable, accessible housing for adults with IDD is extremely limited in a rural community. Housing that can also accommodate the licensing requirements of an adult family home is scarcer still. And because residents rely on Medicaid-funded services and fixed incomes, independently finding alternative housing is effectively impossible.
This emergency arrives on top of existing strain. In June 2025 Washington State eliminated funding for the Meaningful Day Program, which supported community engagement and enrichment for adults with IDD. State reimbursement rates for long-term care have failed to keep pace with what care actually costs, creating a widening gap. And like every human service organization, Olympic Neighbors faces rising costs for housing, insurance, utilities, transportation, maintenance, staffing and employee health insurance.
What your donation makes possible
The request funds one-time relocation costs: $1,000 for housing search and placement, including transportation and county inspections; $3,500 for moving expenses, including household furnishings, adaptive equipment and residents' belongings; $6,500 for home modifications and safety improvements to meet accessibility needs and Washington State licensing requirements; $2,000 for utility deposits and household setup; and $2,000 for resident transition and stabilization, including staff time coordinating the move and supporting residents through it.
The outcomes here are unusually clear-cut: six adults remain safely housed through the transition.
The bottom line
Families have entrusted Olympic Neighbors with the care of their loved ones. The residents themselves have shown remarkable adaptability over the past several years. With thoughtful preparation, familiar staff, strong family support and a temporary home that offers the same safety they know now, this transition can go well.
Your donation is what makes the preparation possible.
