District 1 Citycouncilmember Lisa Herbold shared this update in her newsletter to her constituents:

Over the past several months, I have been in communication with a number of concerned residents, business owners, and workers about an encampment obstructing the sidewalks on SW Delridge near 16th.  As of this week, most residents have accepted referrals into safe shelters from CoLEAD, or agreed to move their tents.   SPU has worked to clear away debris and arrange for the sidewalk to be cleaned.   

This positive outcome is the result of many people and teams working together, including homeless outreach workers with REACH, who provided survival items, referrals to services, and built relationships with encampment residents and local business owners; Seattle Public Utilities, who provided weekly trash collection services at my request starting in early March; NeighborCare, who sent nurses to the site; local business owners, who provided meals, purchased sharps disposal containers and contracted for augmented garbage pick up at their own expense, were willing to work towards a positive outcome for encampment residents as well as address their own concerns; and HOPE team-contracted outreach workers, who provided several shelter referrals early on.  I deeply appreciate all their efforts. 

Though the City had posted the encampment for removal, as reported by PublicCola last week, a “new outbreak of an unspecified gastrointestinal illness temporarily halted a planned sweep at a homeless encampment near White Center this week, after King County Public Health recommended strongly against uprooting people with severe symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting.” 

In my own inquiries about the outcomes of city contracted outreach providers working with the City’s HOPE team, I also received concerning reports that there is a lack of clear communication from the City’s HOPE Team about shelter referrals, and it is difficult to get encampment residents prioritized for safe shelter.  The key to successful outreach is the ability to provide safe shelter referrals and build relationships and trust over time.   

In light of these problems placing people prioritized for help by outreach workers into indoor alternatives that the City gatekeeps, and in the hope of avoiding an encampment removal when people had nowhere to go, I began to work with CoLEAD, bringing a new level of resources to the encampment residents reportedly not previously available with HOPE team engagement.  CoLEAD provides intensive outreach, services, and housing to people living unsheltered who have historically been contacted by police and often arrested and taken to jail for crimes of poverty and criminalization of substance use and homelessness.   

 The key to successful outreach is the ability to build relationships and trust and provide safe shelter referrals.  The HOPE team is a new approach to encampment management that I negotiated last year along with Councilmembers Lewis and Morales; the Mayor’s Office; and homelessness outreach providers, which focuses on problem-solving in order to achieve:  

• fewer encampment removals;  

• more voluntary compliance and good neighbor activities to address hazards and concerns;  

• improved health and safety for people living in encampments, their housed neighbors, and people who work nearby.  

This example of the HOPE team South Delridge encampment demonstrates that we need to ensure that City-contracted outreach workers who are paired with the City’s HOPE team have access to precious housing resources controlled by the City.  I will continue my work with City departments to ensure that shelter referral priorities can be better executed.