Press release:

Effective Aug. 8, Navos, one of King County's two largest providers of community mental health services, will be moving a portion of their programs and services to a new campus which has been under construction for over a year.

The organization will open the completed first floor to clients in the new Mental Health and Wellness Center, located at S.W. 136th Street and Ambaum Boulevard, 2.2 miles from the current Burien location where Navos has been providing programs and services to low income children, families and adults in need since the mid 1980's.

The organization was forced to move its programs and services and build a new home for them as a result of the implementation of the third runway at Sea Tac Airport directly over its current campus. That location was subsequently rezoned and Navos must relocate by July 2012.

Of Navos' vast array of programs and services, the only programs that are scheduled to move as of Aug. 8 are:
ê Child & Family Services
ê Community Access Department
ê Domestic Violence
ê Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT)

All of Navos' other programs will continue to provide services from the existing Burien campus at 1010 S. 146th St. until the completion of the new Mental Health and Wellness Center scheduled for 2012.

The new building shell and the first floor are completed, while fundraising efforts and construction continue for the other two floors and for a community center which will be built adjacent to the main center and which will house Navos' employment training programs, including a catering and café business.

An open house is planned for the community to view the completed first floor on Oct. 6, 2011 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the site, 1210 S.W. 136th St. in Burien.

Navos, a private non profit organization with four locations, delivers critical services that dramatically improve the health and quality of life for 9,000 low-income and vulnerable children and adults annually with serious persistent emotional and mental illness. Through Navos' range of services - including mental health treatment, primary medical care, job training and supportive housing, people with mental illness are helped to reach their greatest potential for self-sufficiency.

For more information, please visit Navos at www.navos.org.