Shelter Crisis in Seattle
There is not nearly enough shelter space in Seattle for homeless families with children.
Night after night, more and more homeless families are showing up at Nickelsville at Jackson Street. Many have infants or very young children. Some of the women are battered. One woman lived in Ballard her whole life and is now homeless. She has a three month old girl and had nowhere else to go. Another woman was in a wheelchair with a broken leg. Her ex-boyfriend had beaten her up. She had a one year old child. They should not be staying in a tent this winter!
Please call and email the Seattle City Council members below to ask them to fund a new family shelter for 30 homeless families. The Seattle Human Services Coalition is requesting support for $199,000 in the City's 2014 Budget.
We need one more vote! Please thank council members Nick Licata, Mike O'Brien, Sally Bagshaw and Bruce Harrell and ask the others to support the SHSC request for $199,000 in the 2014 Budget for a homeless family shelter.
Cold weather is upon us. This is the time of the year when the need for shelter is at its highest.* In very cold weather the City does open up severe weather shelters, including in City Hall, for homeless single men and single women. But these is no place for families with children. Since September 1st, LIHI and the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church began hosting the Nickelsville encampment at 2020 S. Jackson Street.
*In the 2013 One Night Count in King County at least 2,736 men, women, and children were found without shelter. This number is an increase of 5% over those found without shelter in 2012. This number is always assumed to be an undercount, because counters can't be everywhere, and because many people take great care not to be visible.
| Kids at Nickelsville helping improve the site |
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