Horizon House is located near the core of downtown Seattle, with all the city’s activities a short walk from their front door. Next door to Horizon House is Freeway Park, famous for walks past flowing waterfalls and lush landscaping. One of the first things you notice when you walk into the lobby of Horizon House is the sense of community. Residents are greeting each other by name, the staff  is friendly, and the helpful and courteous receptionist welcomes visitors.

As a CCRC, Horizon House is designed to provide a full spectrum of services and care for residents, from complete independence to 24-hour-a-day skilled nursing in their licensed Health Center. It is also a community that provides a spectrum of choices. Residents may choose the services that will make their lives more enjoyable. They can prepare their own meals, or eat in the dining room, use the available hobby rooms, the library, styling salon, garden areas, chapel, and rooms for private entertaining.

Horizon House is affiliated with the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Church of Christ, and is governed by a 17-member Board of Trustees, including five voting resident members. It is accredited by the Continuing Care Accreditation Commission (CCAC).

The residents of Horizon House are a community of energetic, enthusiastic and involved members. They have formed a Residents' Council and support the thirty-three resident committees available at Horizon House. The residents direct most of the social activities, have a seat on the Board as a nonvoting member, and provide $20,000 in funding every year for the Residents Assistance Fund, with proceeds from their popular flea market. Living at Horizon House is all about people helping people and the spirit of community.

Horizon House works to contribute to their internal community, their immediate surrounding community and the Washington Association of Housing and Services for the Aging (WAHSA) not-for-profit community. It has been the recipient of two of WAHSA’s Awards of Excellence in the last two years.  Last year Horizon House received the Innovation of the Year award for their “Mock Survey”. This is a program developed by Health Services Administrator, Amy Mayes, and is made available to other WAHSA member organizations to help diminish the anxiety related to care surveys by helping staff be better prepared. This year the Residents’ Council at Horizon House received an Award of Excellence for Social Responsibility.  The Residents’ Council contributes to two communities:  the internal community within Horizon House, and their surrounding neighborhood.  They have recently achieved the status of a 501(c)3 organization, to more fully achieve the goals of social accountability and benevolence.  The council is comprised of 12 members elected by the residents.  Some of the contributions made, much of it through money raised with their flea market, include: 

• Supporting community programs through grants to Freeway Park, and the arts program of the WA State Trade and Convention Center;
• Sponsoring a variety of educational and cultural events, such as discussion groups on world affairs, through the work of 31 committees;
• Donating over $100,000 during the past seven years to support the Horizon House Residents’ Assistance Fund, to assist those who have exhausted their own resources so they can remain at Horizon House without relying on State Medicaid funding;
• Managing the Health Care Volunteer Program Committee, which provides chapel companions, menders, on-call escorts, plant & flower tenders, readers, and cookie bakers.

Horizon House contributes to the resident community and community at large with special projects. It was instrumental in organizing the businesses in its area to provide funding to help ensure safety in Freeway Park (a Seattle public park), located adjacent to Horizon House. It is in the process of organizing a program on financial planning to help residents make good decisions about their finances and estate planning.

Every resident is a valued member, and Horizon House has a Residents Assistance Fund that is used if residents should exhaust their resources during their residency. No resident has ever been discharged because of an inability to pay. It also has an “Entrance Assistance Fund” to help pay the entrance fee for some, otherwise qualified applicants. 

As a nonprofit organization, all income is reinvested in services. The driving motivation is to sustain and enhance services, while retaining a good business sense so they can continue to fund services and plan for future upgrades and expansions.  To help raise money for the costs of care and services, Horizon House has an active Planned Giving Program, which incorporates bequests, and gift annuities. It has different campaigns in the spring and fall to request donations from residents, business associates, families of former and current health care residents.