Homelessness is consistently a top issue for King County voters. With the general election fast approaching, We Are In and KNKX Public Radio hosted the 2023 Homelessness Debates, so our community can learn about where their Seattle City Council and King County Council candidates stand. 

Held at Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium and moderated by KNKX reporter Scott Greenstone, the debates provided a platform for a powerful dialogue around homelessness and housing in our region. With 250 attendees present and over 1,100 watching the livestream recording, the desire for progress and solutions is clear. In fact, nearly 100 insightful questions were submitted by our attendees, reinforcing our community’s commitment to this cause.

Night 1 featured candidates from Seattle City Council Districts 2, 6, and 7, covering neighborhoods stretching from South Seattle to Queen Anne. The second evening spotlighted candidates from Districts 3 and 4, along with King County Council District 8, which together include areas from Northeast Seattle down to Tukwila and Burien.

The recordings of these debates are available, providing everyone the opportunity to learn what the candidates running to represent Seattle City Council Districts 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7, along with King County Council District 8, believe about the issues of homelessness and housing. 

Watch the recording from Night 1, which featured candidates from Seattle City Council Districts 2, 6, and 7.

Watch the recording from Night 2, which featured candidates from Districts 3, 4, and King County Council District 8.

Remember, election day is November 7th, 2023. Look out for your ballots in the mail and plan ahead to return your ballot. To find drop box locations in your area, visit the King County Elections website here.

Special thanks to the candidates who joined us to engage in this necessary dialogue: Alex Hudson, Andrew Lewis, Bob Kettle, Dan Strauss, Joy Hollingsworth, Maritza Rivera, Pete Hanning, Ron Davis, Sofia Aragon, Tammy Morales, Tanya Woo, and Teresa Mosqueda.

2023 Homelessness Debates | October 10-11, 2023 | Seattle University – Pigott Auditorium | Both nights start at 5:30pm

As November’s Seattle City Council and King County Council elections near, homelessness remains top of mind for voters. Join We Are In and KNKX Public Radio to hear candidates running in some of our most competitive races discuss and debate how they plan to address and prevent homelessness. The 2023 Homelessness Debates  will be hosted and moderated by Scott Greenstone, reporter at KNKX, and will be open to the public at Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium over the course of two nights. Save your free seat before they run out!

Night 1, on October 10, will include candidates from Seattle City Council District 2 (Chinatown International District, Beacon Hill, Columbia City, Othello, Rainier Beach), Seattle City Council District 6 (Magnolia, Ballard, Green Lake, Fremont, Phinney Ridge), and Seattle City Council District 7 (Downtown, South Lake Union, Interbay, Queen Anne).

Register to attend Night 1 in person.

Night 2, on October 11, will include candidates from Seattle City Council District 3 (Eastlake, Madison Park, Capitol Hill, Central District, First Hill, Leschi), Seattle City Council District 4 (Wallingford, Wedgwood, Ravenna, Roosevelt, University District, Laurelhurst), and King County Council District 8 (Southern, Western and Central parts of Seattle, White Center, Burien, Tukwila).

Register to attend Night 2 in person.

 

Night 1:

Seattle City Council District 2: Tammy Morales vs. Tanya Woo

Seattle City Council District 6: Dan Strauss vs. Pete Hanning

Seattle City Council District 7: Andrew Lewis vs. Bob Kettle

Register to attend Night 1 in person.

 

Night 2:

Seattle City Council District 3: Joy Hollingsworth vs. Alex Hudson

Seattle City Council District 4: Ron Davis vs. Maritza Rivera

King County Council District 8: Teresa Mosqueda vs. Sofia Aragon 

Register to attend Night 2 in person.

 

The debates will also be streamed virtually on We Are In’s Facebook page (@WeAreInKingCo). A Facebook account Is not required to watch. We hope to see you there!

Register to watch the livestream on Night 1.

Register to watch the livestream on Night 2.

Dear We Are In community,

Today, We Are In partner Marc Dones announced their resignation from their position as the inaugural CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCHRA). We are deeply grateful to Marc for the energy, vision, and heart that they brought to the movement to prevent and end homelessness in our region.

Under Marc’s leadership, the KCRHA moved from a concept established by King County and the City of Seattle, with strong support from We Are In, in the Regional Action Framework on Homelessness to a tremendously impactful organization leading coordinating, funding, and policy for homeless response services in King County. The KCRHA was formed to end decades of fragmentation in the homeless response system, with the ultimate goal of ending homelessness for all. In the two years Marc has led the KCRHA, we’ve seen tremendous progress in these efforts. Dones’ leadership has made a lasting impact on KCRHA and the homeless services community in King County by:

– Successfully moving more than 5,600 individuals, couples, youth, and families experiencing homelessness into permanent housing.

– Distributing President Biden’s Emergency Housing Vouchers at twice the rate of the national average.

– Launching Partnership for Zero and establishing the Housing Command Center to streamline the critical services needed to move people into emergency shelter and housing in Downtown Seattle.

– Giving folks with lived experience of homelessness a seat at every decision-making table, improving our outreach and data collection, and unifying what was a previously fragmented response system.

– Diligently reframing narratives about homelessness to focus on root causes and decades of systemic policy choices, while promoting hope that we can make different policy choices to get different outcomes.

This work is far from done, but Marc leaves KCRHA in a strong position to continue its critical work. We look forward to working with interim CEO Helen Howell as KCRHA moves to hire a new permanent CEO worthy of the community the KCRHA serves. Helen Howell has served as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of KCRHA since September 2021. Prior to that position, she held senior leadership positions at the City of Seattle’s Human Services Department, King County Housing Authority, Building Changes, and the Pierce County Human Services Department.

We wish Marc the absolute best in all of their future plans and endeavors, and are excited for the path ahead for KCRHA.

Onward,
Felicia Salcedo

VOTE YES ON PROP 1

By: Erik Houser, Managing Director of External Affairs

Too many in our community are in need of better mental health and addiction care than our current behavioral health system provides. This is a county-wide challenge that impacts us all, especially the most vulnerable among us, which includes our neighbors experiencing homelessness. 

On April 25th, we have the opportunity to vote YES on King County’s Proposition 1, known as the Crisis Care Centers Levy, which will vastly improve and increase our system’s capacities to meet the needs of our neighbors in crisis. 

It’s clear that the time is now for bold and decisive action to ensure a thriving, safe, and healthy community for all. We Are In is excited to join a broad coalition of labor unions, health care providers, businesses, and community organizers in support of  Prop 1. The proposed behavioral health package will create five new regional crisis care centers, preserve and restore the loss of residential treatment beds, and grow our behavioral health workforce pipeline.

Right now, there aren’t enough treatment facilities to help our neighbors in need of mental and behavioral health as well as substance use service. Our region has no walk-in behavioral health urgent care facilities and only one limited-capacity behavioral health crisis facility. With only one crisis center throughout the entire region — which requires a referral to access — the most vulnerable in our communities have been lacking support for far too long.

Improving our behavioral health services is also an essential component of preventing and ending homelessness in our region. In King County, 31% of the population experiencing homelessness has a mental health disorder, but when services aren’t accessible, the cycle of homelessness is only perpetuated. We know that tackling the crisis of homelessness requires not only more affordable places to live, but also greater investment in the services that will keep individuals healthy and stable, and support them as they reintegrate into the community. Expanding access to behavioral health care in our region will help people exit homelessness AND prevent people from falling into homelessness in the first place.

Later this month, we all have the opportunity to stand up for our most vulnerable neighbors and push for an effective, accessible, and equitable behavioral health system — and our whole community stands to benefit. On April 25th, vote to invest in our community’s health and wellbeing. Vote YES on Prop 1. 

How can I vote in the April 2023 Special Election?

Ballot Drop Box (No stamp required.)

Ballot drop boxes are available 24/7 until 8 PM on Election Day, April 25. 

Learn more and find the closest ballot drop box near you HERE.  

By Mail (No stamp required.)

You may return your ballot through the U.S. Postal Service as well! 

Make sure your ballot is postmarked by Election Day, April 25. 

Need assistance registering to vote, updating your records or completing your ballot? Find a voting center near you HERE. 

How can I volunteer to support Proposition 1?

If you’re interested in phone- or text banking or even some door knocking, please fill out THIS FORM, and we will be in touch with you about how you can help!

We Are In is a community coalition of King County unhoused and housed neighbors, local advocacy organizations and philanthropies, service providers, and businesses who are uniting to end homelessness and create more affordable homes in King County. This is the first in a series of posts that will introduce you to some of our partners and members. First up: Symetra Financial. 

Symetra, a key partner of We Are In, is an insurance company headquartered in Bellevue with a strong commitment to social impact. Read our Q&A with Beth Osborne, Symetra’s Director of Local Public Affairs, below. 

Q&A with Symetra Financial

In February 2022, Symetra and other private partners announced their commitment to support Partnership for Zero, a public-private collaboration to dramatically reduce unsheltered homelessness in targeted areas of King County, starting with Downtown Seattle and the Chinatown/International District. Partnership for Zero is showing us what is possible when private capital aligns with a new model of government strategy, allowing us to catalyze much-needed infrastructure and systems change.

What led Symetra to join Partnership for Zero? What felt different about this initiative? 

Addressing housing affordability and homelessness is a core focus of Symetra Empowers Communities, a program that specifically works to reduce barriers and improve outcomes for underserved women, youth and BIPOC communities. That is what led us to join We Are In, a community coalition of local advocacy organizations, service providers, businesses and philanthropies working to end homelessness and build more affordable homes in King County. Partnership for Zero stands out because it prioritizes the needs of people with lived experience and unites a broad group of stakeholders – from community, government, philanthropy, advocates and businesses – on a common goal to house individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in downtown Seattle.

Can you speak more about the role that you believe Symetra and other private sector actors play in our region’s efforts to create more affordable housing? Why is private sector involvement key?

As a company committed to our people and our communities, Symetra believes that we can influence and drive meaningful, positive social change. We combine our support through nonprofit giving, advocacy, employee engagement, and partnerships. On a broad and challenging issue like affordable housing, we believe our efforts are most impactful when we work together with aligned community members, nonprofit partners and businesses. 

What would you say to peer companies who are looking to make a difference in this area? Why should they act and what should they do? 

All companies – small, medium and big – have a role to play, especially when it comes to working together. This issue is essential to the health and vitality of our region, not just from a community perspective, but also from a business perspective.  Businesses thrive in healthy communities that feel welcoming and safe to employees, visitors and all community members. The quality of life in Washington state helps attract and retain the best talent in our small businesses and companies. Through funding, advocacy or both, companies can make a difference by joining coalitions or supporting nonprofits that align with their values.

Why is Symetra committed to ending homelessness and the affordable housing crisis in our region?

Our vision is to create a world where more people have access to financial freedom. Historically, it has been systems that have created barriers that ultimately lead to homelessness. We believe a concerted effort to increase affordable housing and end our homelessness crisis will drive the long-term change needed to improve outcomes for women, youth, and students from underserved BIPOC communities.