In January, the Dispute Resolution Center of King County was proud to receive the 2023 Community Partner of the Year Award, along with Solid Ground, from the Eastside Legal Assistance Program. When members of the three organizations gathered together, it was a first-time meeting in person after collaborating for more than a year virtually.
ELAP bestowed this shared honor on KCDRC and Solid Ground thanks to a partnership forged and managed by KCDRC’s Strategic Development and Special Project Advisor, Marilyn. She created a weekly housing clinic that provided information and conflict coaching for people with rental housing eviction issues during COVID-19. The weekly clinics started in March 2022 and concluded in June 2023 as the Eviction Resolution Pilot Program (ERPP) ended. The other organizations involved in the partnership included Tenant Law Center (TLC) of Catholic Community Services, Northwest Justice Project, and the Rental Housing Association of Washington. We are proud to accept this award because it represents the thousands of people helped to preserve rental housing in King County as a result of the pandemic.
The housing clinic partnership was also presented by ELAP at a recent Access to Justice conference as a best practice model. We hope that other organizations learn from the success we had and that they will create new collaborations to address all sorts of community issues.
KCDRC has been an active part of the King County community since our founding in 1986. We understand how important it is to connect with other organizations and groups throughout the community to gain the best understanding of who we are serving. Establishing effective partnerships is vital to our ongoing success. We are always seeking new partnerships that help strengthen our mission, and we welcome ideas from our community about new opportunities for collaboration.