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Plymouth Housing is one of the largest permanent supportive housing providers in King County. Founded in 1980, it operates 18 buildings housing over 2,200 residents. It is also the largest veteran housing provider in the Pacific Northwest, with roughly one in seven residents being a veteran. Plymouth operates on a Housing First model, meaning residents are not required to demonstrate sobriety or treatment compliance to receive housing.
CEO Karen Lee joined in 2022 from Pioneer Human Services. She is paid $398,787 per year. COO Andrea Carnes earns $278,863. CFO John Siddall earns $262,637. Total salary and wage expense across the organization was $29.6 million in 2024, representing 32.2% of total expenses.
The board includes representatives from Amazon, Zillow, Google, Deloitte, Perkins Coie, and WaFd Bank. Board chair is Sarah Meyer of the Kaphan Foundation. Board treasurer is Mike Schlect of Deloitte.
Plymouth has been running large operational deficits for three consecutive years while sitting on significant reserves accumulated from a massive 2019 capital inflow.
| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Net Income | Net Assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $69.5M | $92.0M | -$22.4M | $159.1M |
| 2023 | $60.4M | $72.8M | -$12.4M | $157.6M |
| 2022 | $42.2M | $56.0M | -$13.8M | $146.6M |
| 2021 | $48.6M | $48.1M | +$0.56M | $151.0M |
| 2020 | $46.6M | $43.1M | +$3.5M | $118.0M |
| 2019 | $75.3M | $36.1M | +$39.2M | $107.4M |
$48.6 million in cumulative operating deficits from 2022 to 2024
74.7% of revenue comes from contributions (largely government grants)
$356.5M in total assets against $197.5M in liabilities
The 2019 revenue spike ($75.3M against only $36.1M in expenses) suggests a major capital campaign or large one-time grant. Plymouth has been spending down those reserves at an accelerating rate. At the current burn rate, the surplus will be gone within a few years.
Plymouth Crossing, a facility in Bellevue, generated 5 police calls in late 2023. In 2024, that number was 148. That is not a gradual increase. That is a facility that lost control.
Reports from the facility describe rampant drug use, assaults, feces in hallways, and bed bug infestations. Proposals for similar Plymouth facilities in Kenmore and Redmond have met significant community pushback over crime and public safety impacts.
On November 23, 2020, Plymouth Housing case manager Kristin "Kris" Benson was stabbed to death at the Lewiston/Scargo building (2209 1st Ave, Belltown). She was an 8-year Plymouth employee. The suspect, Hans Dewey Van-Belkum, was a 58-year-old resident who had lived in the building for 8 years. He purchased a military-grade knife from a surplus store two weeks before the attack. Benson was stabbed 12 times; 8 wounds to her back, 3 individually fatal. The knife was found buried in her back. Van-Belkum believed Benson was trying to have him evicted. He was charged with first-degree murder.
Plymouth Housing named a new building after Benson. The Lewiston/Scargo building where she was killed continues to generate 600-700 police calls per year.
Using the Seattle Police Department's publicly available 911 dispatch data (data.seattle.gov, dataset 33kz-ixgy), we compiled police call volumes for each Plymouth Housing building by block address for calendar years 2022 through 2025.
| Building | Units | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 4yr Total | OD Calls | Calls/Unit/Yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvia Odom (20XX 3 AV) | 65 | 408 | 560 | 490 | 485 | 1,943 | 244 | 7.5 |
| Lewiston/Scargo (22XX 1 AV) | 102 | 635 | 620 | 602 | 698 | 2,555 | 200 | 6.3 |
| Simons Senior (21XX 3 AV) | 95 | 357 | 592 | 529 | 599 | 2,077 | 295 | 5.5 |
| Almquist Place (5XX RAINIER S) | 105 | 624 | 706 | 418 | 489 | 2,237 | 256 | 5.3 |
| First Hill (7XX CHERRY) | 80 | 416 | 436 | 414 | 381 | 1,647 | 232 | 5.1 |
| Campbell Place (1XX 12 AV) | 103 | 111 | 546 | 621 | 746 | 2,024 | 157 | 4.9 |
| Stewart (1XX STEWART) | 87 | 311 | 308 | 388 | 293 | 1,300 | 184 | 3.7 |
| Humphrey House (1XX CEDAR) | 84 | 265 | 270 | 244 | 238 | 1,017 | 132 | 3.0 |
| Pat Williams (2XX PONTIUS N) | 84 | 247 | 186 | 142 | 119 | 694 | 19 | 2.1 |
| Toft Terrace (64XX 15 NW) | 81 | 14 | 161 | 162 | 112 | 449 | 7 | 1.4 |
| Benson Place (6XX 2 AV N) | 93 | 178 | 129 | 105 | 120 | 532 | 8 | 1.4 |
| Colwell (1XX YALE N) | 126 | 128 | 122 | 100 | 80 | 430 | 32 | 0.9 |
| Pacific (3XX MARION) | 112 | 195 | 122 | 28 | 69 | 414 | 76 | 0.9 |
| Blake House (10XX BOYLSTON) | 115 | 0 | 43 | 186 | 174 | 403 | 62 | 0.9 |
| TOTAL | 1,332 | 3,893 | 4,459 | 4,318 | 4,603 | 17,722 | 1,853 | 3.3 |
17,722 police calls across 14 Plymouth buildings in four years
1,853 overdose calls (all-time, from SPD dispatch data)
Sylvia Odom's Place (65 units): 7.5 police calls per unit per year. A police response every 7 weeks per apartment.
Campbell Place: 572% increase in calls (111 to 746) between 2022 and 2025
Simons Senior: 295 overdose calls, the most of any single Plymouth building
Note: SPD data is reported at block level. Volumes include all activity on the block, not exclusively Plymouth buildings. However, Plymouth buildings are typically the dominant residential structure on their respective blocks. Data source: data.seattle.gov, dataset 33kz-ixgy, field dispatch_address.
The Seattle City Auditor's July 2024 report, "Addressing Places in Seattle Where Overdoses and Crime are Concentrated," found:
On a two-block stretch of Third Avenue between Blanchard and Virginia Streets, where Plymouth's Sylvia Odom's Place and Simons Senior Apartments are located, 10 of 11 fatal overdoses occurred in or outside the three permanent supportive housing buildings.
Across King County in 2023, 279 fatal overdoses occurred in permanent supportive housing.
The auditor's conclusion: more people are dying of drug overdoses behind closed doors in permanent supportive housing than on the streets.
Plymouth's audited Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (FY ending December 31, 2024, FAC Report ID 2024-12-GSAFAC-0000375377) shows $26.8 million in total federal expenditures, of which $22.5 million (84%) comes from HUD:
| Program | CFDA | Amount | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continuum of Care | 14.267 | $17,241,322 | 9 grants via City of Seattle ($1.3M) and King County ($15.9M) |
| CDBG Mortgage Loans | 14.218 | $5,483,911 | 5 properties via City of Seattle |
| HOME Mortgage Loans | 14.239 | $1,103,600 | 2 properties via City of Seattle and Thurston County |
| Total HUD | $22,490,484 | ||
| ARPA/SLFRF (Treasury) | 21.027 | $4,346,010 | State of Washington |
| Total Federal | $26,836,494 |
The CDBG and HOME loans are secured by specific Plymouth properties. HUD has a direct financial interest in those buildings. The CoC grants fund ongoing PSH operations. HUD has programmatic authority over all of it.
Every Plymouth expansion has faced organized resistance:
Kenmore (Dec 2023): City Council voted 5-2 to block a 100-unit Plymouth project. Residents accused Plymouth of a bait-and-switch: marketing the project as housing for veterans and seniors, then switching to chronic homelessness with no treatment requirements.
Redmond (2024-2025): 50+ protesters at City Hall. 2.5 hours of testimony. City gave Plymouth a $5.5M property for free plus $3M in funding. Legal appeals filed. Public excluded from the groundbreaking ceremony.
Kirkland: La Quinta Inn conversion. Neighbors: "free housing for a felon."
Bellevue (Plymouth Crossing): Became "the city's top source of 911 calls." A resident with 57 prior warrants was committing car thefts from the building.
Plymouth reports a 95% housing retention rate. It does not publish:
Mortality data. How many residents die per year? From what causes? At what age? The 279 fatal overdoses in PSH across King County suggest significant deaths, but Plymouth does not disclose building-level mortality.
Exits to independence. How many residents leave Plymouth for independent housing? Employment? The "will die there" statement from a Plymouth representative (March 2026) suggests the answer is: almost none.
Incident reports. No public accounting of assaults, overdoses, or building conditions.
Journalists are banned from facilities. CEO Karen Lee has dismissed all criticism as "misinformation."
1. How does Plymouth justify a CEO salary of nearly $400,000 while running a $22.4 million annual deficit and generating 17,722 police calls across its portfolio?
2. What specific outcomes does Plymouth track beyond retention rate? How many residents die per year, and from what causes?
3. What operational changes were made at Plymouth Crossing after police calls increased from 5 to 148, and at Campbell Place after calls increased from 111 to 746?
4. Is the 95% retention rate calculated inclusive or exclusive of resident deaths?
5. Why are journalists banned from Plymouth facilities? What are the conditions inside Lewiston/Scargo, where a case manager was murdered and calls remain at 600-700 per year?
6. Do the CDBG and HOME loan properties (contract IDs DL35131B, DL2825AK, DL39045B, DL577089, DL55036B) meet HUD Housing Quality Standards given the conditions documented by the Seattle City Auditor?
7. At the current burn rate ($22M/yr deficit against $159M reserves), when does the reserve fund run out?
Single Audit: Dauby O'Connor & Zaleski, LLC, signed June 26, 2025. FAC Report ID: 2024-12-GSAFAC-0000375377.
SPD 911 Data: data.seattle.gov, dataset 33kz-ixgy, field dispatch_address. No authentication required.
Seattle City Auditor: "Addressing Places in Seattle Where Overdoses and Crime are Concentrated," July 2024.
990 filings: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (EIN 91-1122621).
On April 12, 2026, The Burnham Civic submitted a formal complaint to the HUD Office of Inspector General (hotline@hudoig.gov) citing building-level 911 data, the Seattle City Auditor's overdose findings, and the audited Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards for Plymouth Housing and other HUD-funded providers in the WA-500 Continuum of Care. The complaint requests a monitoring review of Plymouth's HUD-funded properties, an audit of KCRHA's subrecipient oversight, and disclosure of resident mortality data. TBC does not publish reports and wait. We file complaints, we name decision makers, and we follow through until there are consequences.
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DESC · Catholic Community Services · Low Income Housing Institute · KCRHA · HDC