It's official: On July 16, board members of the Tenants Union of Washington voted to continue running the tenants advocacy organization after raising $55,000 in the past month -- more than double the emergency goal of $25,000 that the board had set after losing its county funding on June 30 due to cutbacks.
That, too, has turned around, with the King County Council voting July 13 to provide an extra $2.7 million to get designated "lifeboat" services through the end of the year.
"This is an incredible testament to the faith and support for the TU," says board member Lisa Herbold, an aide to Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata. Herbold says the board is now hoping to hire an organizational expert who can restructure the Tenants Union and help build its capacity for the future.