Councilmember Debora Juarez (District 5, North Seattle) issued the following statement following the Human Services Department’s announcement that they have selected 3 new potential sites for sanctioned encampments in Seattle:
“Today the Human Services Department announced that a new tiny house village will be located in North Seattle. This new site will be located south of N 88th St and Nesbit Ave N, close to transit lines.
“The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), which has been running operations for several other tiny house villages, will be operating this potential site as well. LIHI reports they have been able to work with people experiencing homelessness at their other sites to move 114 people into housing, 79 people have gotten jobs, and 17 people were reunited with other family. Seeing the success at other sites makes me hopeful for the possibilities of increasing health, wellness and housing stability for North Seattle residents who are in need.
“At a time when over 2,000 people are unsheltered in the city, now is the time to show compassion and determination to find stable solutions. The City Council is investing money and resources into identifying our long term solution with the Pathways Home effort, and this project will be our immediate response to the immediate needs while we focus on the long term changes.
“The site in North Seattle is expected to open around March of 2017, which gives us time to have conversations and address questions from the community. I hope you will join me in welcoming this new opportunity to District 5.”