With evening temperatures expected to descend into the 20s during the next few days, King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) is working in coordination with partners to open overnight severe weather shelters in Seattle and across the county. Daytime warming shelters will also be available in certain locations; however, in general, space and resources will be limited.
Erica C. Barnett of Publicola wrote about how the cold snap has put a spotlight on challenges the City of Seattle will face as it strives to “drastically reduce unsheltered homelessness” as part of its newly declared Partnership for Zero public-private collaboration announced by Mayor Bruce Harrell just last week.
King County estimates that 40,800 people experienced homelessness in King County during 2020, the most recent year for which reporting is available.
For people of in need of shelter now, KCRHA has created a blog post in which the most up-to-date information related to shelter openings will be available. A reference list with contact information provided by KCRHA is also included below. For transportation, King County Metro and Sound Transit have announced they will be running normal operations during this time.
Families with children are advised to contact King County Emergency Family Shelter intake line at 206-245-1026.
Natalie Bicknell Argerious (she/her) is Managing Editor at The Urbanist. A passionate urban explorer since childhood, she loves learning how to make cities more inclusive, vibrant, and environmentally resilient. You can often find her wandering around Seattle’s Central District and Capitol Hill with her dogs and cat. Email her at natalie [at] theurbanist [dot] org.
On March 8th, we’re excited to be joined by Anna Zivarts, director of the Disability Mobility Initiative. We’ll talk about how to make our transportation network work for everyone, disabled and abled-bodied, driver and nondriver. Register for the Zoom link.
On April 12th, our guest is Marc Dones, executive director of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, as we do a deep dive on the housing and homelessness crisis. Register for the Zoom link.
In February, we were joined by Seattle Chamber CEO Rachel Smith and discussed pandemic business aid, the state transportation bill, the housing crisis, and JumpStart Seattle. Watch the video. Register for the Zoom link.
State Reps. Nicole Macri and Jessica Batemen and Sen. Joe Nguyen joined us on January 6th for a state legislative preview edition of our monthly meetup. Watch the video.
State Traffic Engineer Dongho Chang was our December meetup guest on the 14th. Watch the video here.
