When King County Executive Girmay Zahilay walked up to the eighth floor of the Chinook building to see his new office six months ago, he was taken by the view of Puget Sound and Pioneer Square. Then, looking closely, he told a group of child welfare advocates gathered Thursday, “I saw a building called the American Hotel.”
“It was a shocking moment for me, because back when I was a kid, that was actually a homeless shelter for families run by the Union Gospel Mission, and my family used to live there because we were unhoused for a time,” Zahilay, a father of two young children, said. “Here I was looking out the window as the executive running our region’s largest local government, looking back at a place where we faced some hardship.”
All that is to say that Zahilay understands the struggles of kids, youth, and families — and he’s determined to improve things for those who, like his childhood family, face hardship today.
“It’s very personal,” Zahilay told the audience at the statewide Children’s Alliance annual Voices for Children gathering in Seattle. “I know the commitment, I know the impact of your work. Right now, young people are going through a lot. We truly are at an inflection point in our county’s history right now.”
Below are excerpts from Zahilay’s presentation:
What kids and families face
“There are so many issues that we’re trying to solve for. We have turned the page on some of the top issues that our region has faced since the pandemic. Gun violence is down by 50% since 2023. Overdose deaths are not spiking the way that they were during the pandemic.
But other issues are much, much worse than they’ve ever been — the affordability crisis, people are struggling to make ends meet, housing costs, child care costs, a federal government that continues to deprive us of critical resources, and that continues to attack the civil rights of so many of our community members, whether they are immigrants or our trans neighbors.
So many people are under attack right now, and we know that no one, no one is more vulnerable to these issues than our youth [and] they don’t have the ability to advocate for themselves or support themselves effectively without the adults coming together and helping them in that way.”
What’s ahead
“Right at this moment, our region is making some really pivotal decisions around how we shape an effective homelessness response system, how we shape an effective transit system, how we respond and push back to the attacks from the federal government.
We have an opportunity to chart a path forward where every single young person has what they need to live a healthy, vibrant life; where they can become adults who are successful, have their own families, and pursue their own careers. King County is making a lot of commitments to our youth.”
Youth initiative progress announced
“We just launched a paid internship program (Youthworks), which will provide hundreds of jobs to young people.
We’re making a lot of progress on our crisis care centers initiative. We know that a mental health crisis is harming so many of our communities, especially our young people. I can’t tell you how often parents come to me and say ‘My child, my daughter, my son is going through a mental health crisis.”
Navigating the mental health system for youth is a huge challenge, so we are on track to open our youth-focused crisis care center very soon.”
‘Third places’ for kids
“We are building more places for our young people to go when they need a safe place to exist.
Our young people tell me they feel safest when they have a third place — community centers and afterschool activities like Rainier Beach Community Center.
I’m proud to share that we just purchased Skyway Bowl. I grew up in South Seattle. South Seattle is not a very wealthy area either, but in South Seattle, we had community centers, we had transit, we had afterschool activities.
As soon as my family was pushed out into Skyway, all of a sudden, all that stuff went away, and I saw so many young people around me ending up on the wrong path because they didn’t have that third place. So opening up this community center for the Skyway community in the bowling alley was a personal commitment to me, and I’m so excited to be able to deliver on that very soon.”
Investing in child care
“We’re going to work together to renew the Best Starts for Kids Levy next year. I would like to double the investment in child care for children to over half a billion dollars, our largest investment in child care in King County’s history.”
Violence prevention
“We’re going to be investing in and sustaining the work out there [to] prevent shootings before they happen, to help intervene before a shooting occurs, but also to restore the families after they’ve experienced one of the worst tragedies in their lives and connect them to mental health resources, rental assistance, and outreach to the rest of their family members, so that we don’t see the types of retaliation that end up increasing the cycles of violence that we want to prevent.”
A call to parents
Zahilay urged parents and child advocates alike to get involved in community initiatives for kids.
“Our county government can’t do this alone,” he said. “Many of the tools that we need to make an impact on our communities are with our state government. Your lobbying truly makes a difference.
“Our youth are going through so much at this time,” he told the gathering. “As you continue working to ensure our youth have the health care that they need, food security and enough lunch at school and safe neighborhoods through gun violence prevention efforts, just know that you are truly making a difference. I am here with you as a partner. “
