Mayor Katie B. Wilson joined with community leaders, neighbors, and service providers at the Hope Factory in SoDo today to announce citywide, all-hands-on-deck effort to rapidly expand shelter across Seattle and start bringing people inside.
The mayor announced she is transmitting a package of new legislation to City Council which will accelerate her efforts to open 1,000 new units of shelter and emergency housing with wrap-around services to bring people inside. The legislation will speed the development of new shelter, allow successful shelters to serve more people, and allocate the necessary funds to bring people inside and match them to the right services.
The mayor also launched a citywide call to volunteer to show support and be part of the solution. More information on options to get involved in support is available on the mayor’s blog, and people can sign up online to show their support.
“We’re moving faster than ever before, but I want to see the ground start breaking, the hammers start swinging, and fewer people left to sleep in doorways and tents,” said Seattle Mayor Katie B. Wilson. “That’s why I have transmitted legislation to city council that will help us deliver on the goal of opening 1,000 new units of shelter with supportive services across the city this year. Now I need your help to get sites ready, to support our front-line service provides, and to be good neighbors with the shelters we need to open around the city. Neighbor by neighbor, we can do this.”
The mayor’s package of legislation will take Seattle several big steps closer to opening 1,000 new units of shelter and emergency housing this year by treating this emergency like an actual emergency. Specifically, this package of legislation will:
- Speed the development of new shelter. By empowering the Director of Finance & Administrative Services to directly sign lease agreements with property owners, the City can significantly accelerate the process of opening new shelter. This will eliminate bureaucratic obstacles and allow the City to prepare sites, which can then be turned over to service providers to operate shelter.
- Allow successful shelters to serve more people. Even the most successful shelters that do the best work and have the best relationships in their communities are currently limited to serve only 100 people. This is an extremely low limit which is out of step with national best practices and what cities like Los Angeles, Austin, Tampa, and Chico, California do. And it just doesn’t make sense when we have so many people sleeping outside with nowhere to go. The mayor’s proposal would increase this limit to 150 people per site on an interim basis, provide support to address any potential public safety impacts, and additionally allow one location in each district to serve up to 250 people in cases where it makes sense.
- Allocate the necessary funds to open new shelter and emergency housing with wrap-around services this year. $4.8 million has been identified from existing underutilized city sources which can be used to fund shelter and wrap-around services. $3.3 million would be appropriated from an underutilized revolving loan program that was difficult to deploy and not previously appropriated. An additional $1.5 million would be appropriated from the Downtown Health & Human Service fund, which is a program from the 1990s that has not been used for a decade.
Councilmember Rob Saka (District 1):
“Seattle urgently needs more shelter capacity to meet the scale of our homelessness crisis, which has gone on for too long without meaningful progress. After touring Sound Foundations’ ‘Hope Factory’ in my district, I saw firsthand how tiny homes can be built efficiently at scale. Expanding tiny home villages and RV safe lots is an effective, compassionate way to move people indoors and connect them to services. I commend Mayor Wilson for addressing this crisis with the urgency it demands and partnering so closely with my office to get it done.”
Councilmember Bob Kettle (District 7):
“Expanding shelters in the city is critical to addressing Seattle’s ongoing public health and public safety challenges. Today’s announcement of creating potentially 1,000 new units of shelter is welcome news for it builds capacity. I appreciate Mayor Wilson’s focus on this issue. My office will continue to support ways in which the city can assist our most vulnerable populations and create that safe base for all.”
Alison Eisinger, Executive Director, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness
“Mayor Wilson understands that urgent action is necessary. It’s refreshing to see a mayor take quick steps to invest and deploy city resources to do more of what works. Seattle and other cities across King County can and must add shelter options and support their residents who can’t access existing shelters because they are at capacity. Our region has to close the terrible gap between the thousands of families and individuals who do get assistance, and those left outside without the basics. As Seattle and King County stand strong in the face of attempts by Trump’s HUD appointees to undermine decades of progress on housing, I hope these local investments are a harbinger of what is possible when we use local resources and policies to strengthen our social contract with each other.”
Speakers at the event included:
- Steve Roberts, Hope Factory / Sound Foundations NW, with Sharon Lee, Executive Director of LIHI
- Seattle Mayor Katie B. Wilson
- Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka (District 1)
- Fé LopezGaetke, Co-Executive Director, Purpose. Dignity. Action
- Grace Stiller, West Seattle resident and neighbor of Camp Second Chance
- Ann Haruki-Pinedo, Central District resident and neighbor of True Hope Village
- Chloe Gale, REACH Program, Evergreen Treatment Services
- Jilma Meneses, President and CEO, Catholic Community Services
- Derrick Belgarde, Executive Director, Chief Seattle Club
- Brandon Ashford-Whitfield, Front-line service provider and OPEIU 8 member
The City has a responsibility to make sure that everyone can access and enjoy our parks, trails, sidewalks, and other public spaces. But we can’t just keep moving people from place to place and calling that progress.
The single most important thing we can do to address our city’s homelessness crisis is to rapidly expand shelter with supportive services. That’s why the mayor is determined to add 1,000 new units of shelter and emergency housing this year, with services matched to people’s needs.