Mayor Wilson Announces Shelter Expansion Initiatives and Citywide Volunteer Opportunities
- aaronl67
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
On Wednesday, March 4th, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson held a press conference at LIHI and Sound Foundation North West’s (SFNW) shared Hope Factory in SoDo. Mayor Wilson announced three new pieces of legislation that represent an unprecedented commitment to getting our neighbors off the streets and connecting them to tiny houses and the necessary services to transition to housing.
Mayor Wilson reiterated her commitment to create 1,000 new shelter beds this year and a total of 4,000 new beds during her mayoral tenure. She made it clear that a community approach is necessary to support this rapid expansion of shelter and services: “We need your help to get sites ready, to build new shelters, to support our frontline service providers, and to be good neighbors with the sites that we need to open around the city. We need to choose to come together as a city because we can’t keep looking away from this problem. We can’t keep pushing people from place to place without bringing more people inside. And we can’t keep forcing our buses, our parks, our libraries to function as social service providers. Neighbor by neighbor, we can do this.”
A proposed new city ordinance would allow tiny house villages to expand up to 150 people, the current limit is 100. It will also allow one village in each council district to shelter up to 250 people at a time.
LIHI Executive Director Sharon Lee and SFNW Director of Operations Steve Roberts welcomed the large crowd of shelter providers, outreach workers, and community members.
“Sound Foundations NW volunteers are here day in, day out, week after week, month after month… All are focused on building homes that provide warm, safe, and dry interim shelter for those in need. To everyone who stepped through the doors or donated since we began building homes in 2018, we’d like to extend a huge and heartfelt thank you.” – SFNW Director of Operations, Steve Roberts.
“In addition to building tiny houses, we have volunteers that help out. If you don’t want to build a tiny house, you could paint, you could help furnish, you could put together a welcome basket. If you go to our villages, you will see how beautiful they are. It’s really been a true community effort. Last year, LIHI alone sheltered 1,600 adults and children in tiny houses. It’s phenomenal. It’s not just a small program. It has a significant impact in terms of the unsheltered homelessness in our city.” – LIHI Executive Director, Sharon Lee.
At the event, LIHI staff and Community Advisory Committee (CAC) members had an opportunity to speak about the impact of LIHI's tiny house village program.
Camp Second Chance Village CAC member Grace Stiller shared: “Without LIHI’s comprehensive service approach to serving the individual, most people would not be able to transition to permanent housing or jobs. The tiny house villages have the stats and the records of lives helped and changed... LIHI has and will continue to have success changing lives and giving people a second chance.”
True Hope Village CAC member Ann Pinedo-Haruki stated: “I live near True Hope Village, and I have seen firsthand how the village has grown and served hundreds of people including dozens of children. Over the years, we have had a huge network of support annually. We provide each and every villager with a Christmas gift. This usually comes from the community. The community support of the shelter has really grown over the years, and I think this is really where the success of the tiny home villages will come from.”
LIHI Case Manager Brandon Ashford-Whitfield and OPEIU 8 member shared: “What we know from doing this work is that change begins with stability. When someone has a roof over their head, they can start to breathe. They can start to plan. They can start to heal. That’s what programs like our tiny house villages make possible for people. They provide that critical first step from crisis to stability. And LIHI is proud to be a part of making that happen.”
LIHI thanks each and every person who has helped us support our clients on their path to housing – our staff, program neighbors, volunteers, CAC members, and many others.
Seattle District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka announced his support for the mayor’s legislation, adding: “[E]xpanding tiny home villages and adding more RV safe lots is a practical, effective, proven strategy that helps people move off the streets and into stable environments with services. We need more flexible tools to stand up shelter faster and more efficiently. This moment calls for ambitious goals, ambitious plans, and ambitious legislation. We need to meet the moment and address this crisis like the crisis that it is.”
Additional speakers at the event included:
● Fé LopezGaetke, Co-Executive Director, Purpose. Dignity. Action.
● Chloe Gale, REACH Program, Evergreen Treatment Services
● Jilma Meneses, President and CEO, Catholic Community Services
● Derrick Belgarde, Executive Director, Chief Seattle Club
LIHI celebrates Mayor Wilson’s commitment to taking bold, innovative steps to rapidly expand tiny house villages and shelters.
Media coverage of the event: