On Tuesday, the Puget Sound Chapter of Project Management Institute (PMI) awarded Friends of Youth the Project of the Year Award for the agency’s new Kirkland campus. The Kirkland campus, which is an important part of the agency’s strategic response to addressing youth homelessness, is located at 13116 N.E. 132nd St. in the Totem Lake area. (Friends of Youth also operates a youth emergency shelter in Redmond.)

“I nominated the Friends of Youth campus for the PMI Project of the Year to shine a bright light on a complicated and well-managed community project, which will produce a very tangible social and economic return for our community for many years to come,” said Rand Redlin, a developer hired by the agency to assist in the campus project.

Friends of Youth’s Kirkland campus was created in response to the agency’s strategic goal to serve more youth, better address youth homelessness, and create a “heart” for the agency. With the help of three construction teams, three architects and one developer, Friends of Youth set out to create a campus that would be consistent with the agency’s values, be completed on time and on budget, and be a positive addition to the surrounding neighborhood. The agency closed on the property in January 2012 and will complete construction on all six buildings on the site in August of this year.

The campus includes the Kirkland Youth Service Center, housing administrative staff and direct services for homeless youth and young adults, including: case management, employment services and counseling; a new home for the Youth Haven program serving up to 12 under-18 at-risk homeless and runaway youth; and two single family homes for 16-21-year-old homeless youth. The final two homes, which are currently under construction, will house youth ages 18-21 in extended foster care.

“To the homeless youth of the Eastside — whose number easily rivals Seattle’s — Friends of Youth is a key resource, providing street outreach, emergency shelter, access to essential services and transitional living and permanent housing programs. We are their chief lifeline and, for far too many, the first real ally they’ve known in their lives,” said Friends of Youth President and CEO Terry Pottmeyer. “After two years of intensive planning, fundraising and construction, our new, 1.7-acre campus is almost complete. Our campus project is a key component of our strategy for providing homeless youth a way off the street to a stable, independent future. We undertook our Kirkland campus project to achieve our mission for the youth of the community. We are humbled to have the project recognized by PMI, the professional organization of project managers.”