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King County Regional Homeless Authority (KCHRA) is planning to preserve its current 270 person shelter and expand it to support 150 more residents. This facility will also ​add 50 pallet homes​ ​and support for 50 RV’s on a 6.9 acre property

Our concerns:

• There has been no transparency​ in the planning of the expansion of this shelter
• KCRHA has not done adequate community engagement plan on the county-level
• KCRHA has not used  the City of Seattle Racial Equity Toolkit
• King County ​is pitching to use an emergency ordinance to bypass permits that includes community outreach plans ​as ​required by the city
• The process demonstrates the continued pattern of systemic racism in decisions that affect the CID community
• King County has never addressed the concerns regarding the Navigation Center
• King County and Seattle have shown that they have an overly​ simplistic view of the homeless ​crisis with a​n​ one​-size​-fits-all model​ with no understanding of the CID unhoused community
• ​There are 5 shelters ​within the immediate vicinity ​already in existence that are already taxing the limited resources of the CID. KC and Seattle want to expand that even further without providing any neighborhood support. 
• Homelessness ​is ​up 14% since 2020.
• ​CID has the highest ​rate of homicides as compared to the rest of the city. Bringing in more people will only increase the crime rate.
• King County Regional Homeless Authority ​has ​no proven record of success in its three years of operation.
• KC and Seattle have not addressed CID’s concerns regarding open​-air markets, drug trade, and prostitution.
• There are over 1,200 frail, non-English speaking elderly residents in CID. How is the city planning on keeping the area safe for them and the children who attend the public and private schools, day cares, and other programs in the CID?
• CID is a community already battered by the pandemic. There have been higher than ever ​Anti-Asian Hate crimes. The city and county have not done anything to make this area safer nor reduced the number of incidents.

What we want:

• Stop the expansion unless the concerns are addressed
• A pause to receive the full performance audit of KCHRA
• Community engagement process
• Resources to help the CID
  • Priority for SPD response
  • Priority access for referrals to the shelter
  • More security cameras
  • Culturally competent services for seniors and youth in the CID community

We are asking you to participate in our email campaign to the below Key Influencers, King County Councilmembers, and Seattle City Councilmembers.