The Puget Sound region is known for innovation and prosperity, we pride ourselves on the beauty of our natural surroundings, we share an independent spirit and we come together to solve tough challenges.
Yet we continue to find ourselves in the middle of a humanitarian crisis of homelessness – our unhoused neighbors are suffering and our communities are suffering. We all want to feel safe and comfortable on our sidewalks, parks and streets. And we all agree that people shouldn’t have to live outside.
A myriad of factors contribute to people experiencing homeless – inequitable structures and systemic racism, rising rents and fewer affordable places to live, zoning policies, wages and workforce, policing, and access to health care; plus personal experiences of abuse, violence, trauma, and struggles with mental and behavioral health. These challenges aren’t limited by our city boundaries – they impact families in all of our communities.
The truth is that homelessness is a regional issue. Our futures are bound together and a regional issue needs a unified, coordinated, regional response. Solving this crisis calls for the 39 cities across King County to work together to make sure people have safe, stable, permanent housing and services that are human-centered, sufficiently resourced, nearby and available when needed, and that work for the whole community. It will require new levels of cooperation, resources, empathy, and care – shared responsibility for solving tough challenges.
“The streets change you a lot. I’m so coldhearted right now that I don’t even know what niceness is anymore – and that’s what I want to find. I want to find my hope, my dignity, and my worth. And out here, you can’t keep them.” Those were the words of a person named Jessica at the beginning of the powerful Outsiders podcast from local public radio station KNKX, and they serve as a reminder that what our communities choose to do next will impact people’s lives – people who are our neighbors, our relatives, and who are all deserving of the very basic needs of food, shelter, dignity, and hope.
Rather than sweeping the issue under the rug or pretending it’s somebody else’s problem, we can lean into our spirit of collaboration for the common good. Businesses, philanthropies, service providers, local governments, and people with personal experience are already working together on smart, proven, regional solutions to homelessness. And the building blocks are coming into place.
The new King County Regional Homelessness Authority is uniting resources and coordinating a system that is built around what people need to move from outside to inside. The Lived Experience Coalition is ensuring that people who have personal experience with homelessness are leading conversations about dismantling the systemic barriers that perpetuate homelessness and creating policies that support healing. New federal funds are available for investments in housing stability, behavioral and mental health care, developing more affordable housing, and buying housing now for those who need it most.
With leadership from former Governor Gregoire and Challenge Seattle, businesses are calling for statewide action on chronic homelessness, and both the Lived Experience Coalition and the Regional Homelessness Authority are key collaborators in the recommendations. For example, a system of peer navigators could transform outreach into more stable and predictable case management, and intermediate stops set up like adult family homes could provide a safe and supportive place to stay while more affordable housing is being built.
These solutions can start taking effect now – especially if more communities sign on to support the county-wide Regional Homelessness Authority – because we all agree that we cannot continue to let people live on the streets. We have to act now.
With human-centered design, real-time granular data, clear accountability, and the public and political will that comes from people like you, we can make real progress on reducing homelessness and creating more thriving communities for all our neighbors.
Jane Broom is the senior director for Microsoft Philanthropies and leads Microsoft’s affordable housing initiative in the Puget Sound region.
Marc Dones is a social entrepreneur, policy strategist and social justice activist who brings deep experience in equitable systems transformation to their role as CEO of the newly formed King County Regional Homelessness Authority. Marc was previously Executive Director of the National Innovation Service, a consulting firm that partnered with governments across the country.
