For Immediate Release: March 25, 2026
Contact: Sam Wolff, Seattle King/County Policy Director, [email protected]
200+ labor unions, organizations, and community members pen open letter supporting focused investment in high-support shelter and throughput to housing.
A vast and intersectional coalition of Seattle area labor unions, community-based organizations, and community members has formed to support Mayor Katie B. Wilson’s proposal to accelerate shelter access citywide–while highlighting the need for deep investment in high-support shelter units, neighborhood impact mitigation strategies, and throughput to housing.
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Dear Seattle City Councilmembers,
We are a broad coalition who have come together to voice our strong support for robust funding of Seattle’s shelter and housing system. We support a focused investment in high-support shelter programs while stabilizing and expanding the critical investment in operating permanent supportive housing.
People can take a variety of paths to exit homelessness. And, we know that many people living outside in our neighborhoods today have unaddressed behavioral health needs that require more support than what current shelter or housing options are generally able to provide. REACH, the largest street based outreach program working with unsheltered people in Seattle, captured data from encounters with 4,500 unduplicated individuals in 2025. Of this population, they found that 63% of people living outside had some kind of substance use, mental health, or medical need, with many experiencing overlapping needs.
To effectively serve people with complex needs, we must significantly increase the number of high-support shelter units available to Seattle’s unhoused population. High support shelter models require an intentionally built environment, with participant-centered program design, skilled case management, access to recovery resources, and overdose prevention protocols. As this shelter surge moves forward, it will be important to assess whether the level of support provided is adequate to match the behavioral and other health needs of the majority of those unsheltered who need and deserve intensive services.
Ensuring that shelters are able to skillfully serve people with complex needs can set up success in subsequent permanent housing placement. Immediate and acute needs can be addressed in shelter, along with a more accurate assessment of ongoing needs. This benefits not only tenants, but housing providers, whose staff then isn’t forced to grapple with more extreme behaviors that can sometimes occur as a result of transitions that do not align effective resources with tenant needs.
Shelters must also be designed with intentional throughput to housing. With reliable throughput, shelter participants can move into permanent housing once their case management plans have identified their ongoing support needs and the right housing match. If shelter users do not have a clear and consistent path to housing, their progress halts, shelters lose capacity to work with new people, and Seattle’s continuum of care loses cohesion. As it stands, we do not have enough high-support shelter space or supportive housing — and we need both.
Finally, we believe in ensuring neighborhoods are supported with dedicated funding for neighborhood impact mitigation efforts when accepting new shelter locations. Key elements in these efforts should include additional program staffing for these shelters, access to dedicated safety ambassadors, and de-escalation teams. We applaud that Mayor Katie Wilson has already recognized the importance of this component of the work, and we emphasize the need for dedicated funding to follow.
We’ve gained so much knowledge in the more than a decade since a Seattle Mayor declared homelessness to be a city emergency. We’ve tested models, expanded resources, and nurtured trust. We must pave all the possible paths to housing to ensure no one is left out in the cold.
Sincerely,
Organizations
Alliance for Pioneer Square
Arms Around You
Ballard Alliance
Ballard Food Bank
Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence
Chief Seattle Club
ChuMinh Tofu and Vegan Deli
Circle the Square
CISC
Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence
Compass Housing Alliance
DESC
Disability Rights Washington
Downtown Community Council (DCC)
Downtown Seattle Association
Eastside Academy
Eggrolls Mutual Aid
Elizabeth Gregory Home
Evergreen Treatment Services
For Seattle Project
Friends of Little Sai Gon
Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA)
Got Green
HealthPoint Community Health Centers
Hellbent Brewing Company
Highland Park Action Coalition
International Organization of Human Right Protection and Global Peace
Jones Community Solutions LLC
Lake City Community Council
Lavender Rights Project
Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI)
Melbourne Tower
Metropolitan Improvement District
Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream
Neighborhood House
North Helpline
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Operation Nightwatch
People Power WA
Plymouth Housing
Purpose Dignity Action (PDA)
Queen Anne Helpline
Queer Power Alliance
Rainier Beach Action Coalition
ReblX
ROOTS Young Adult Shelter
Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness
SEIU Healthcare 1199NW
SHARE/WHEEL
Southeast Seattle Education Coalition
Services Not Sweeps Coalition
Turntables & Trails Social Purpose Corp
U District Partnership
UFCW 3000
University Heights Center, Vehicle Resident Outreach
Washington Defender Association
We Deliver Care
West Seattle Junction Association
Westside Interfaith Network
Westside Neighbors Shelter
YouthCare
YWCA | Seattle King Snohomish
Community Members
Aaron Burkhalter
Aaron Wheeler, MSW
Ailie Speer
Alison Law
Alvin Gutterman
Alvin Novack, M.D.
Andra Kranzler
Angel Z.
Ann LeVeque
Anna Urband
Anne Morellato
Ashley Nerbovig
Barbara Bennett
Betty Sanders
Carissa Knipe
Carole Jo Williams
Carolyn Corvi
Carolyn Presnell
Cathy Short
Celia Michael
Charles E. Pope II, M.D.
Charlotte Lindsey
Cheryl Cooper
Cheryl Marshall
Christine Moss
Christopher Archiopoli, Member, King County Board of Health
Clark Rowan
Colleen Roman
Connie Aslaksen
Corey Guilmette
Dan Howes
Deborah Berger
Dee Endelman
Devin Tegelberg
Diane S. Holmes
Dominique Davis
Dona Golden
Donald L. Patrick, Ph.D.
Ed Maquand
Elizabeth F. Laxton
Elliott Lovett
Ellissa Parnon
Eunice Askov
Fred Herzon M.D.
Genevieve Porter Eason
Ginny Sharp
Graham Golbuff
Harumi Hashimoto, MAC, LMHC, SUDP
Helen Roberts
Helen Stusser, Downtown resident
Hilary Santini
Ikaona Kea
Jack Harlan, program manager
Jacob Hanson
James Eason
Jan Behr Block
Jane Blackwell
Jane Reich
Janice Kaplan-Klein
Jared Curtis, Publisher, The Mirabella Monthly
Jay A. Reich
Jenee Curran, Condominium Agent, COMPASS
Jody Foster
Judith Baggs, Ph.D., RN
Judith Foley
Judith Stein
Judy Waring, SLU resident
Julia Beabout
Julia Wan, Retired
Julie Holland, SLU Community Council
Karen Calvo
Katherine Gudgel, Member, King County Board of Health
Katherine Bogue
Kathryn Boyer
Katie Hara
Kelly Shaffer
Kevin Allen
Kimmy Reedy, Director, Peer WA
Knut Ringen
Kristi Pangrazio, Downtown resident
Kristina Garcia
Kyler Parris, housing advocate
Laura Bailey
Linda Bevis, educator
Louis Shackelford, MPH
Lynne Werner
M K Rogers
Marcy Golde
Maria Lopez Jimenez
Mark Fleming
Mark Law
Mary Jossen
Mary Scobee
Megan Kruse, Downtown resident
Meredith Regal
Michael Rowe
Michael V. Vitiello
Michele Hasson
Mike Waring, SLU resident
Mustafa Mohammed, President & Co-Founder, International Organization of Human Right Protection and Global Peace
MS Pitlick
Nik Hagen
Nolan Brickwood
Nora Wright
Pam Silverstein
Patricia Gaillard
Patricia Harris
Patricia Kushmerick
Patricia Maria Fiore
Paul Kostek
Peter Clear, Program Coordinator, Project NEON
Phyllis Leventhal
Raaka Kumbhakar, M.D. MPH
Rachel Bender Ignacio
Rachel Werther
Ramonda Wertz
RaNae Vodder, Pioneer Square resident
Rebecca Novelli
Rebecca Sayre, Downtown resident
Rian Watt
Rosalita Hillary
Ruth Benfield
S. Dillon
Sabrina Arey
Sally Hayman
San Juanita G. Tovar
Sandra Justen
Sandra O’Shea
Sarah K. Hanh
Sarah Loebner
Sarah Stewart, Manager, Max Clinic
Shannon K.
Shaun Scott, 43rd LD, Washington State Representative
Stephen Bryant
Stuart Greenman
Stuart Simon
Susan W. Herring
Susanna M. Lane
Sylvia Fisher
Teena Ellison
Terrance J.
Tierra Jones
Tina Bueche
Tom Sheehan
Vebjorn Antonsen
Vishnu Pydah
William Broesamle
William Justen
Wilson Edward Speer