Summary

Shelter locations offering beds for 215 individuals originally slated to close on April 15 will remain open for two more months, offering a warm and safe place for men and women needing emergency shelter overnight. In partnership with the City of Seattle, King County announced that it will extend its 100 winter shelter beds at the King County Administration Building through June 15, 2013. The City of Seattle will extend 75 emergency shelter beds at City Hall and the winter shelter beds at Angeline's Women's winter shelter through June 15.

Story

Shelter locations offering beds for 215 individuals originally slated to close on April 15 will remain open for two more months, offering a warm and safe place for men and women needing emergency shelter overnight. In partnership with the City of Seattle, King County announced that it will extend its 100 winter shelter beds at the King County Administration Building through June 15, 2013. The City of Seattle will extend 75 emergency shelter beds at City Hall and the winter shelter beds at Angeline’s Women’s winter shelter through June 15.

“These shelter beds will help men and women in our community tonight who need a warm and safe place to sleep, even as we continue to work with our partners to seek the longer-term solutions that will help bring an end to homelessness in our communities,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine, co-chair of the Committee to End Homelessness Governing Board.

The shelter extensions are possible in part due to action by the Seattle City Council to allocate an additional $150,000 for winter shelters. A planning group convened by the Seattle Human Services Department, including representatives from King County, the YWCA, Operation Night Watch, Salvation Army, WHEEL and the Seattle-King County Coalition on Homelessness, met to discuss shelter needs and make recommendations on shelter extensions.

“I am pleased that our partnership with the County and the community has enabled us to put these additional funds immediately to work to keep our shelters open for more than 200 people in need,” said Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn.

Seattle funds are supporting the extension of City Hall and Angeline’s Women’s Shelter, and providing funding for 50 of the shelter beds at the King County Administration Building. King County is providing funds to pay for the other 50 beds at the Administration Building and to cover the costs of the shelter site overhead for each night.

Additional efforts are underway through the Committee to End Homelessness in King County to develop strategies to address the needs of unsheltered people across the region. A broad-based Single Adult Shelter Task Force earlier this year presented their report on shelter needs in King County that calls for the development of more shelter options outside the city of Seattle and identification of the housing and supportive services needed to help “long-term stayers” in shelter move on to permanent housing.

Shelter extensions through June, 15, 2013:

• Seattle City Hall: Serving adult men and women, located on Fourth Avenue between James and Cherry streets. Shelter doors open at 7 p.m. Capacity is 75 people.
• King County Administration Building: Serving men only, located at 500 Fourth Avenue. Shelter doors open at 8:30 p.m. Capacity is 100 men.
• Angeline’s Center for Homeless Women: Serving women only, located at 2030 Third Avenue. Intake begins at 6 p.m. Capacity is 40 women.

For more information on King County shelter operations, contact Janice Hougen at 206-263-9089. For more information on Seattle shelter operations, contact Mary Flowers at 206-684-0231.