Activists and Homeless Advocates gathered outside Seattle City Hall to lobby for new policies that help the unhoused
A recent court ruling made for a lively rally outside Seattle Hall Wednesday afternoon as advocates started lobbying for a ban on homeless sweeps during extreme weather.
“This coalition and those who are most effected are pushing this extreme weather ban” Services Not Sweeps zeros in on the homeless encampments swept away sometimes every day in Seattle “I work with people who are swept all the time and they have nowhere to go” says Tiffany McCoy with Real Change outside City Hall “The toll that takes mentally, emotionally, physically on people; we’re causing trauma.”
Fresh off a King County Court ruling that found portions of Seattle’s homeless sweeps policy unconstitutional advocates are pushing for more shelter space. “Putting the focus on that rather than realistically moving someone down the block” Councilmember Tammy Morales is working on legislation that would ban homeless sweeps during extreme weather “Limit sweeps during extreme cold, extreme heat, smoke and snow” Policy Director Devin Silvernail “Instead put resources toward getting folks into shelters.
Inside City Hall, the committee on homelessness got an update on the unhoused and encampments across Seattle “98% of requests are triaged within three days” during the first three months of 2023 Chris Klaesen told members, the city received more than 9,000 calls from just from one neighborhood “Teams in the field consistently have eyes on public spaces. Our goal is to be inspecting all active sites every 4 weeks.”
For the homeless it’s a life filled with chaos “Sweeping is just too much” says Chenel Horner who made the trip to city hall “It’s overwhelming and it’s hard to find somewhere to be and be OK.”
But the homeless and housing aren’t the match you might think “The UTC coordinated over 1,300 offers of shelter” says Klaesen “554 received referrals” but just “206 enrollments into shelter were confirmed.”
Councilmember Morales is expected to introduce that homeless sweeps legislation later this year.
