Michael Jackson had hoped by this time to be able to stand in the parking lot outside Nexus Youth and Families on Auburn Way South and see the new HVAC system doing its thing atop the 38-year-old building.

And much more importantly, he’d hoped for the people inside the building, staff and youth alike, to be able to breathe freely, without inhaling dirty air or pausing to clear irritated throats and wipe irritated eyes.

But that is not the case.

Because last spring, the Washington state legislative session adjourned without passing a capital budget, causing real problems in Auburn and throughout the state.

“We have a $500,000 ask into the state Legislature for capital improvements on our property” explained Jackson, development director for Nexus Youth and Families.“We’re trying to put an HVAC system into our executive offices that also house our substance use disorders department. Basically, we have no air conditioning, no way to get fresh air in and out of that part of the building, and it’s causing discomfort for our staff and some of our young people who are trying to get off drugs.”

Indeed, thousands of Washingtonians are feeling the hurt, with the state standing to lose approximately $260 million in sales tax revenue from these projects. That’s a direct hit to the state’s operating budget, which is counting on that revenue to fund education, social service programs, and vital community programs.

Nexus Youth and Families, formally known as Auburn Youth Resources, is an Auburn-based nonprofit that supports more than 5,000 at-risk and in-crisis youth across greater South King County. It asked for funds in this budget to update basic amenities in part of the building used to treat substance use disorders. They’d like their buildings and rooms to reflect the safety and warmth they strive to ensure, to make their clients feel safe.

The building opened in 1979 as a veterinary clinic, but now serves approximately 50 at-risk youth in South King County a week, with up to 15 youth using its emergency shelter. In addition to an inadequate ventilation system, staff hope to remove bars that are currently on the windows, and bring warmth to patient’s rooms with a fresh coat of paint.

For Auburn and the South King County region, Nexus Youth and Families has been a refuge, bringing resources and hope to those who have already experienced some kind of trauma or depression. Every month that the budget is delayed, construction costs continue to rise, and South King County youth have to make do.

“We would certainly be very happy to see some progress down there, yes,” Jackson said. “It’s been delayed since they left the third session. We had hoped they would get done in one session, and we would start hiring contractors and get going on this thing. But when you’re dealing with kids who have already been traumatized, who have got some factors that are against them to begin with, and you bring them into a facility like we have here that needs these improvements done, we’re retraumatizing them.”