A homeless shelter in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood will have its current lease maintained by King County and will not expand services as had previously been planned, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced Friday.
The SODO shelter, which is operated by the Salvation Army, serves 270 residents. The county had previously planned to expand services at the shelter but announced Friday that those resources will instead be redirected to other projects across the region to reduce homelessness.
The current shelter will continue to receive funding from King County, and Seattle and will continue operating for the next five years, the county said.
“Over the past six weeks, community members have shared their feedback about the current state of public safety and other concerns in the Chinatown-International District and surrounding neighborhoods,” Constantine said. “It is clear that building trust and resolving underlying concerns about the conditions in the community today will take considerable time before we can move forward with any added service capacity. At the same time, the crisis of homelessness — and the health of every person living outside — requires urgent and immediate action.”
The county had planned to add a Services Hub at the shelter that would have provided 24/7 onsite support for 150 additional residents. Because the funding for the hub is one-time federal money, the county decided to redirect the funds.
According to the county, the SODO shelter provides “enhanced shelter that allows a person to stabilize without having to check out every morning and check back in every night.”
©2022 Cox Media Group
