building love: new campus in burien will provide shelter, affordable housing, and lasting stability for families
On Friday, September 19, 2025, Mary’s Place and Mercy Housing Northwest broke ground on a bold new project in Burien: a campus that combines emergency family shelter and permanently affordable housing on one campus, serving as a model for addressing homelessness here and across the country.
Since 2018, Mary’s Place has operated a family shelter in a former hospital at this location, serving hundreds of families in crisis. Now, with this redevelopment, the site will transform into a vibrant community that not only provides immediate shelter and services, but also creates long-term housing opportunities—all in one place.
At the heart of this project is a vision: to address the crisis of family homelessness with equity, innovation, and community input. Community members and families with lived experience helped shape the concept and design, ensuring that the campus reflects their needs and aspirations.
Mary’s Place has been helping families transition from homelessness to stability for more than a decade with a proven three-pronged approach: emergency shelter with wraparound services and housing resources, mobile outreach to unsheltered families, and prevention services to keep families in their homes. Mercy Housing Northwest brings nearly three decades of experience in developing affordable housing, paired with supportive programs in health, education, and community-building. Together, we are pioneering a new way forward.
This isn’t just another shelter or housing project; it’s an innovative model that creates a pathway from crisis to stability. More than buildings, we are building love: love in the form of wraparound services, dignified housing, and a community where families don’t just survive, they thrive.
“This project represents a fundamental shift in how we approach family homelessness,” says Dominique Alex, CEO of Mary’s Place. “By co-locating emergency shelter with affordable housing, we’re creating a true continuum of care that allows families to rebuild their lives without the disruption of moving to unfamiliar neighborhoods.”
The new shelter will provide emergency housing for up to 200 family members each night in a sustainable, efficient building. Families will have private rooms and access to on-site services including:
Supportive programs focused on education, health & wellness, housing stability, economic empowerment, and community building
On-site physical and behavioral health professionals with connections to community support services
Age-appropriate activities in Kids Club, including homework help and trauma-informed programming
Large dining spaces for families to gather and enjoy healthy, culturally rich meals
The campus will also feature recreational opportunities including a mini soccer pitch developed with the RAVE Foundation, Reign FC, and Looking Out Foundation and a basketball half-court in partnership with the Seattle Storm and Symetra. Beyond the campus, Mary’s Place will continue to serve the Burien community with mobile outreach to unsheltered families and prevention services to keep families safely housed.
Mary’s Place leaders emphasized the urgent need for innovative campuses like this one: more than 50 families call daily seeking shelter, but family shelters in King County currently only have room for one or two. The Burien campus will expand capacity while offering a replicable model for other communities.
Alongside the shelter, Mercy Housing Northwest will develop 90 permanently affordable apartments for families earning at or below 60% of the area median income. Of those units, 30 will be reserved for very low-income families transitioning out of homelessness, making it possible for them to move directly from shelter into stable housing while staying connected to their schools, jobs, and community. With larger 2–4 bedroom units included, the campus will also address a critical gap in family-sized affordable housing.
The groundbreaking event brought together Governor Bob Ferguson, State Senator Emily Alvarado, King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling, Department of Commerce Director Joe Nguyen, and Managing Principal of the Amazon Housing Fund Senthil Sankaran, alongside dozens of partners, funders, and community leaders.
“Housing is too expensive in Washington, and there is not enough of it,” said Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson at the groundbreaking. “For many Washingtonians, this campus will be a path from crisis to stability — and a place to call home.” Joseph Thompson, CEO of Mercy Housing Northwest, added: “This collaboration addresses homelessness at its root by ensuring families have access to both immediate emergency support and the long-term stability a home provides.”
Completion of the project is expected in mid-2027.