Drafter

Clerk 11/04/2015

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A MOTION expressing support for an expansion of the King County Homeless Winter Shelter for winter 2015-2016 and for a continued partnership with the city of Seattle for joint funding of an expansion of the shelter.

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                     WHEREAS, despite this region's prosperity, homelessness in King County is in a state of crisis, with nearly ten thousand people experiencing homelessness on any given day, and

                     WHEREAS, people of color are disproportionately more likely to experience homelessness, and

                     WHEREAS, in early 2015, the One Night Count of people experiencing homelessness identified three thousand seven hundred seventy-two people who were unsheltered during that night, and

                     WHEREAS, sixty-six people experiencing homelessness have died on the streets of King County to date during 2015, and

                     WHEREAS, the cold and rainy winter weather poses increased challenges and safety risks for those who are homeless, and

                     WHEREAS, King County has recognized a particular need for emergency shelter during the winter months and has provided winter shelter for more than twenty years, and

                     WHEREAS, King County currently provides funding for a winter shelter for single adult men operated by the Salvation Army at the King County Administration Building, which is called the King County Homeless Winter Shelter, is open outside of normal business hours and for winter 2015-2016 will provide shelter for fifty men between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. each night from November 1, 2015, through April 15, 2016, and

                     WHEREAS, in January 2015, the city of Seattle agreed to provide $117,000 to help King County expand the capacity of the King County Homeless Winter Shelter from fifty to one hundred men for the remainder of the 2014-2015 winter season, and

                     WHEREAS, in response to this contribution from the city of Seattle, the King County council approved an emergency appropriation through Ordinance 17966 that provided $53,000 in county funds to cover the remainder of the funding needed to expand the capacity and hours of the shelter for the remainder of winter 2014-2015, and

                     WHEREAS, on November 2, 2015, the King County executive and the mayor of the city of Seattle declared a state of emergency in response to the growing crisis of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Seattle and King County, and pledged, among other actions, to address immediate need through the expansion of shelter capacity in Seattle;

                     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:

                     A.  The King County council supports efforts to expand the capacity of the King County Homeless Winter Shelter from fifty to up to one hundred fifty beds for winter 2015-2016.

                     B.  The King County council supports providing a location for an expanded King County Homeless Winter Shelter for winter 2015-2016, either at the current location of the King County administration building or at another King County-owned facility in downtown Seattle, or at both, and identifying new funding partnerships sufficient to cover any combination of rent, utilities, security and facility improvements as needed.

                     C.  The King County council, as part of its continuing partnership with the city of Seattle in addressing the crisis of homelessness, encourages the city to renew its support for the King County Homeless Winter Shelter by appropriating funding sufficient to

cover the costs of shelter management for up to an additional one hundred beds for winter 2015-2016.