The YWCA celebrated the grand opening of Passage Point, Thursday, July 7.
The center is located in unincorporated King County at 15900 227th Ave. S.E near Maple Valley.
In addition to members of the community, the opening was attended by King County Executive Dow Constantine, Stephen Norman of King County Housing Authority and Molly Hanlon, the YWCA board chair, who spoke at the event.
Among those who spoke was Cynthia Liggett, who participated in the program. Ligget explained how she had learned she was pregnant while incarcerated and was able to keep custody of her daughter through Passage Point, which is off Cedar Grove Road between state Route 169 and Issaquah-Hobart Road.
“I had a plan to move on in my life,” she said. “But I didn’t know how to put that plan into action. I honestly do not know where my daughter and I would be it it weren’t for YWCA Passage Point.”
“Even more transformative are the children and families who will be transformed here,” Hanlon said.
Constantine called it a “wonderful, happy moment.”
Located at 15900 227th Avenue Southeast, Passage Point is a residential community for single parents, mostly women, coming out of the corrections system. Its primary focus is to help residents reunite with their children and provide them with resources and assistance to help them eventually achieve self sufficiency. It has 46 housing units.
Stephen Norman called Passage Point a place “where people are given a second chance.”
“Today is about hope,” he said. “It is about the next generation and our collective futures.”
Passage Point is in the former home of the county owned Cedar Hills Alcohol Treatment Center. The facility was shut down in 2002 the county cut it from the budget.
In 2007, the YWCA first proposed rebuilding the facility, which was initially met with resistance from neighbors. An organization called the Cedar Hills Rural Preservation Alliance filed a lawsuit to block the project in fall 2008. Though CHRPA won, they lacked the funds to continue when the county appealed the decision.
An agreement was reached outside of the court system in December 2009. The agreement prohibited YWCA officials from adding new buildings to the site and stipulated certain security measures and communication mandates for the nearby communities.
“Today’s opening was a long time coming,” Constantine said.
Linda Rasmussen, the YWCA Homeless Initiatives director, has been a long-time advocate of Passage Point ever since the proposal was made in 2007.
“It’s an amazing experience to be standing here with all of you,” Rasmussen said. “This has been a truly remarkable journey from beginning to end, and there is no end.”
