We Are In

Taking Action on Homelessness, Together

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We Are In’s 2023 Legislative Priorities: Send a Message to Our Legislators in Olympia.

We Are In’s 2023 Legislative Priorities: Send a Message to Our Legislators in Olympia.

The 2023 Washington state legislative session is on! For the next few months, our legislative champions from King County/Seattle will be fighting on behalf of us to deliver more state support for preventing homelessness and building more affordable homes.

Sign our petition to send a message to our legislators in Olympia: we need to continue to make long-term investments aimed to prevent homelessness and create affordable housing.

Washington has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country. If we are to reverse this trend, we need long-term solutions – not short-term fixes. Washingtonians have already made their voices heard: their top concerns are affordable housing and homelessness.

We Are In is proud to be a partner with the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance and the Housing Development Consortium, and to participate for a second year in the House Washington coalition. Last year, the state made historic investments in funds for affordable housing and homelessness services, and this year we can’t slow down.

With these partners, we are advocating for increased investments in the state Housing Trust Fund, and more funds for homelessness prevention, including rental protection.

Sign our petition to let our legislators from Seattle/King County know that we support continuing to make historic investments to prevent homelessness and build more affordable homes!

We Are In 2022 Year In Review

We Are In 2022 Year In Review

By: Felicia Salcedo, Executive Director

With 2022 drawing to a close, I’m encouraged by the progress we have seen over the past year and committed as ever to our fight to solve homelessness and create more affordable homes in our region. While there is a lot of work still to do, I remain hopeful and energized by our growing movement. In 2022, the We Are In community reached 12,000 strong. That means 12,000 and counting of our neighbors have come together to say that safe and stable housing is a basic human need, that homelessness is preventable, and that we all have a role to play in ending homelessness in our region.

This past year, in partnership with people with lived experience of homelessness, local government, and diverse, external stakeholders, We Are In continued to… 

 

Organize and build a movement of 12,000 and counting community allies, including those with lived experience of homelessness, providers, philanthropists, and businesses to advocate for solutions to homelessness in King County.

  Fund and advance innovative solutions to homelessness that are racially equitable, community-driven, data-informed, and sustainable.

  Build empathy and deepen public understanding of the causes of, impacts of, and solutions to homelessness, through virtual events, social media, op-eds, newsletters, and blogs. 

  Advocate for meaningful change at the local, state, and federal levels by meeting with elected officials, helping We Are In’s partners and members make their voices heard, and ensuring leaders know that there is a strong constituency in King County for compassionate solutions. 

 

Before we dive into the new year, it is important to take stock of where we have been and what we have accomplished. This report highlights the progress we have seen over the past year, and the work ahead. Thank you for being a part of this movement.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

Open Letter to the City and County Urging Full Funding for KCRHA

Open Letter to the City and County Urging Full Funding for KCRHA

We Are In and our partners are closely watching the 2023 city and county budget processes. As leaders in Seattle and King County continue to make final determinations about their budgets, We Are In and our partners have communicated to them our strong support for maintaining full funding of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA). Together with many of our partner organizations, we sent an open letter to members of the Seattle City Council and King County Council (copying Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and King County Executive Dow Constantine) urging them to renew their support for KCRHA. The full letter is included below.

Three years ago, the City of Seattle and King County took a courageous leap by forming the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) to end decades of fragmentation in the homeless response system. Unlike response systems in other regions, the KCRHA would forge a new approach that centers data and equity, that meaningfully includes people with personal experience of homelessness in its leadership, and that leaves decisions in the hands of experts. The recent announcement of KCRHA’s partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is proof that this innovative approach is working. 

Together, the agencies have developed a Housing Command Center, which empowers the Partnership for Zero initiative through a centralized emergency operations management system streamlining the actions required to house people. Utilizing best practices learned from years of emergency response to disasters like floods, fires and other major displacements, this partnership demonstrates what is possible when we prioritize collaboration, coordination, and action — and treat an emergency like an emergency. While this pilot is initially focused in Downtown Seattle and the Chinatown-International District, we look forward to working with the KCRHA to apply relevant outcomes and lessons to additional areas of the county, further working together as a region.

Since its inception, KCRHA has held strong in the belief that King County deserves more than short-term, quick fixes to homelessness. KCRHA is dedicated to addressing root problems to find long-term solutions, while meeting present needs.

Less than two years since KCRHA first hired staff, we are thrilled by the measurable progress already taking place across the region.

Beyond the Housing Command Center, Seattle and King County have officially handed over their service provider contracts to KCRHA, and numerous initiatives have started, including a new methodology for counting the number of people experiencing homelessness. These programs and others have already resulted in positive outcomes like resolving large encampments in Lower Woodland Park and Ballard Commons, with more than 1,400 households finding shelter and housing. Working with Governor Jay Inslee and the State of Washington, the KCRHA has resolved four encampments on state owned right of ways, successfully moving more than 110 people inside. Other promising developments over the first 18 months of the KCRHA include successfully distributing 1000 Emergency Housing Vouchers (at twice the rate of the national average), and deep relationships built with cities through more than 40 public engagement sessions. Just recently, KCRHA conducted regional town halls outside Seattle focused on receiving input from North, South, and East King County.

The vision that the Seattle City Council and King County Council showed in 2019 by voting to create the KCRHA was prescient and bold. Systemic change does not happen overnight, and more work needs to be done, but the KCRHA is moving in the right direction with other local, state, and federal government partners.

The collaboration between KCRHA, City of Seattle, King County, the Lived Experience Coalition, and providers has produced these successes in a short amount of time – and we are eager for what the future holds. The countywide, regional approach will solve homelessness if we continue to stay the course.

We are encouraged by the budget proposals from Mayor Harrell and Executive Constantine that continue the funding for KCRHA. Together, we urge the city and county councils to renew your support for KCRHA – to continue its operations and for it to continue to be the administrator of homelessness funds and programs in our region. It is critical that efforts to address homelessness be truly coordinated. Returning to the previously fragmented system will only slow our progress.

On the city side, we urge the Mayor and City Council to work together to support nonprofit providers and find an equitable solution to the issue of provider pay increases, and we also urge collaboration with KCRHA to avoid any reduction in services or beds due to the loss of one-time federal funds.

Change is not easy, especially at this scale. We are in the middle of a major shift that will lead to better outcomes for our neighbors without a safe and stable place to live.

Thank you for your leadership on these important issues.

We Are In Coalition Welcomes Marc Dones as First-Ever CEO of Regional Homelessness Authority

We Are In Coalition Welcomes Marc Dones as First-Ever CEO of Regional Homelessness Authority

We Are In, the campaign to solve homelessness in King County, celebrated today the announcement that Marc Dones will become the inaugural CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA).

We Are In and its numerous partners strongly supported the creation of the KCRHA in late 2019, and intend to work closely with the new agency, King County, the City of Seattle, and the Sound Cities Association on the long- and short-term plans to solve homelessness and build more affordable homes.

Founded around the same time as the KCRHA, We Are In is a coalition of nonprofits, philanthropies, businesses, the faith community, and people with personal experience of homelessness that will serve as an external advocate and partner to the KCRHA and other levels of government.

Statement from We Are In:

“Marc Dones is intimately familiar with the challenges of ending homelessness, both across the country and in our region. As the architect of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, they are perfectly positioned to be its first-ever leader. Marc’s national expertise, and local familiarity, are sorely needed and immensely welcome as we unite to face our community challenges of homelessness, an historic housing shortage, and the intertwined issues of racial and LGBTQ+ disproportionality. We Are In is thrilled to get to work on collaborating with Marc and the Regional Authority, King County, and the city of Seattle in the months and years to come.”

In 2020, many of We Are In’s partners released the Regional Action Framework, a roadmap forward for solving homelessness in our region. Read the Regional Action Framework here.

We Are In Coalition Praises Regional Homelessness Authority CEO Announcement

We Are In Coalition Praises Regional Homelessness Authority CEO Announcement

We Are In, the campaign to solve homelessness in King County, celebrated today the hiring announcement of Regina Cannon as the inaugural CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA).

We Are In and its numerous partners strongly supported the creation of the KCRHA in late 2019, and intend to work closely with the new agency, King County, the City of Seattle, and the Sound Cities Association on the long- and short-term plans to solve homelessness and build more affordable homes.

Founded around the same time as the KCRHA, We Are In is a coalition of nonprofits, philanthropies, businesses, the faith community, and people with personal experience of homelessness that will serve as an external advocate and partner to the KCRHA and other levels of government.

Statement from We Are In:

“Regina Cannon is a nationally respected leader in the fight to end homelessness, and her experience will be a significant benefit to the effort here in King County. Regina’s deep expertise on anti-poverty initiatives and the racial disproportionality of homelessness and housing instability will center equity as we seek to create communities where everyone can have safe and stable housing. We stand ready to collaborate with Regina Cannon and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority on the most important long-term issue facing our region.”

In 2020, many of We Are In’s partners released the Regional Action Framework, a roadmap forward for solving homelessness in our region. Read the Regional Action Framework here.