Plan responds to one of Seattle’s biggest challenges by delivering almost 1,000 beds by end of 2027
Seattle — Everyone in Seattle deserves a safe space to call home. It must be easier for people to get help before they lose their housing, and for those most in need to quickly access support and care with a clear path to stability. Year-over-year, Seattle residents say unsheltered homelessness is one of the biggest challenges facing our city.
Today, Mayor Katie B. Wilson is meeting the call with a bold action plan for expanded shelter and resources for people living unhoused. Building on steps taken earlier this year to speed up shelter expansion, the plan will increase capacity by nearly 1,000 shelter beds by the end of 2027, compared to the start of 2026. This means an estimated 1,750 people can be served every year.
This plan reflects effective governance. It uses existing City resources by directing funding proposed in the mayor’s 2027-2028 budget where it will make the biggest impact. The proposed budget will be released next Tuesday further laying out how this administration is tackling the inherited $175 million deficit and continuing to fund Seattle’s priorities.
“Seattle declared a homelessness state of emergency over a decade ago but despite laudable efforts and individual successes, the crisis stubbornly persists. For too long, we have fallen short of our goals to address this problem as a city, region, and nation — it is too easy for people to fall into homelessness and too hard for people to get the care and support needed to get out,” said Mayor Wilson. “This plan doesn’t promise quick fixes that paper over real problems. It invests in proven interventions like providing high-quality support and services and giving people struggling a path to stability. It is the first step to the real, sustainable solution Seattle has demanded and deserves.”
The plan looks at shelter capacity and beyond, focusing on what people need to move toward stability. It shifts from small, incremental increases to a strategy that makes meaningful progress for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. It includes investments to better connect people to services and housing, more specialized support for people with complex needs, and approximately $11.2 million in 2027 to help households at risk of homelessness remain housed. This is an increase of $1 million in funding to support rental assistance, eviction prevention, legal services, and case management.
“At last, a proposal rooted in reality: our shelters are full, with too many people left outside to struggle when they need, want, and deserve stability, hope, and a path home. Everyone can see the urgent need for Seattle to do more to help more people who have neither homes nor shelter. Mayor Wilson’s plan adds non‑congregate shelter and recognizes the specialized care required to meet some people’s needs,” said Alison Eisinger; Executive Director; Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness. “It is smart, necessary, and unprecedented. If our city commits to fund and follow through on these thoughtful, proposed actions, it will make a major, meaningful difference. Paired with investments in deeply affordable homes, these added shelters and services will help more neighbors get all the way home. I look forward to working with Mayor Wilson and City Councilmembers, with skilled service providers and community members, to implement these critical investments.”
Read the action plan executive summary on our blog.
Watch Mayor Wilson’s video about the action plan.
Bringing more people indoors
The first part of the plan expands shelter capacity by investing in new units, accelerating openings already in the pipeline, and preserving existing units at risk of closing. The City has already opened new shelter capacity in 2026 including the Bayside Enhanced Shelter, Brighton Village and Belmont Village. Additional projects are opening later this year such as Cloverleaf Village, Glassyard Commons, a Purpose Dignity Action (PDA) operated shelter, and expansions at three existing shelters. Looking ahead, an additional eight shelters are planned to open in 2027.
Taken together, the planned 960 beds are expected to serve about 1,750 people annually. As people move from shelter into housing more quickly, that capacity can serve more people over time. In 2027, the plan calls for opening 8 shelters with a combination of City funds and regional partnerships. This includes case management and housing navigation as well as several programs with specialized behavioral health, medical care, substance-use treatment and legal services.
“A strong homelessness response has to work at every level: helping people stay housed, creating more opportunities to come inside, and connecting people in shelter with the supports they need to move forward,” said Seattle Human Services Director Tanya Kim. “That is the work the Human Services Department will continue to lead with our partners.”
Investing in the necessary supportive services
Shelters provide more than a place to sleep. Depending on the needs of the people being served, the second part of the plan describes how new shelter investments will include case management and housing navigation as well as several programs with specialized behavioral health, medical care, substance-use treatment and legal services.
The need for more supportive services is large, the 2026 King County Point-in-Time Count found that 33 percent of individuals experiencing homelessness report having a substance use disorder while 27 percent indicate the presence of serious mental illness. This data show the need for shelter that provides more support for people with complex behavioral health needs. The plan includes shelter models designed to provide that level of care.
The plan also accelerates connections and service matching by improving the Unified Care Team’s outreach to people living unhoused and incorporating the successes of the Streets-to-Housing pilot in Pioneer Square and similar efforts in Ballard.
Early help to prevent homelessness
The final part of the plan outlines the work already underway and the upcoming steps that will drive systemwide improvements in the City’s homelessness response. Along with dedicating $37 million toward new shelter capacity, it includes:
- Investing nearly $11.2 million in 2027 to help residents at risk of homelessness including rental assistance, case management, and legal assistance, helping over 2,000 households to stay housed.
- Building a new online rental assistance application in /2027 simplifying the process.
- Streamlining site selection and permitting to bring emergency housing online faster.
- Stabilizing affordable housing as outlined in Executive Order 2026-04.
- Continuing long-term rental subsidies and onsite services to support those exiting homelessness with serious physical and behavioral health conditions in remaining stably housed.
The City continues to engage private-sector and philanthropic partners to leverage and expand the impact of public investment, including for new shelter projects. Philanthropic support not only can accelerate projects but helps preserve City funding for ongoing operations costs. City departments will build on this approach in the coming years looking for opportunities to stretch public dollars and expand capacity beyond with can be achieved through City funding alone.
This is a key moment to improving the entire system as homelessness contracts return to the City from the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA). As part of a broader review of the regional homelessness response, the City and King County are working together with providers, people with lived experience, regional partners, and KCRHA to shape services, guide future investments, and strengthen coordination across the system.
What People Are Saying
Derrick Belgarde (siletz & Chippewa-Cree); Chief Executive Officer; Chief Seattle Club
“The City of Seattle is showing what’s possible when leaders listen to providers, center our neighbors with the greatest needs, and work together toward real solutions. This investment creates immediate opportunities to bring our homeless relatives inside while strengthening the pathway to more intensive supports and permanent housing. I’m confident in the collaboration behind this effort and the leaders helping move it forward.”
Lisa Daugaard; Co Executive Director; Purpose Dignity Action (PDA)
“Mayor Wilson’s shelter expansion plan rightly focuses on the gap at the high acuity end of the continuum. Multiple successful encampment resolution projects since 2020 have found a very high prevalence of substance use disorder, serious mental health issues, & other complex barriers to stabilization. Shelter resources have long been thin or non-existent for this population — but, when we’ve created such shelter programs, more than 95% of people with these high barriers are consistently willing to accept help. We again saw the same concentration at the high acuity end of the spectrum in the recent pre-FIFA project in Pioneer Square.
We appreciate the Mayor listening to feedback that–while adding units is essential–the right level of support is even more important than the number of units added. Otherwise, money invested is unlikely to yield the results everyone wants to see. PDA commends Mayor Wilson for campaigning on, & seeing through, a commitment to dramatically expand, & change, Seattle’s shelter portfolio.”
John Scholes; President and CEO; Downtown Seattle Association (DSA)
“Seattle urgently needs more shelter and housing options to help people move off our streets and toward greater stability. Mayor Wilson’s plan to expand well-resourced shelter capacity is an important step in that direction and complements the work we’re advancing through DSA’s Streets-to-Housing initiative. By pairing effective outreach with more places for people to go and a clear pathway towards permanent housing, we can deliver better outcomes for our unsheltered neighbors and create safer, healthier public spaces for everyone.”