So excited to join @thirddoorsea today to launch a framework and path to end chronic homelessness in King County through investments in the only proven solution to homelessness: #housingfirst https://twitter.com/thirddoorsea/status/1262125999493279744

Along with leaders @votenicolemacri @ChoppRep @CMAndrewJLewis @Lisa_Herbold and folks from @DESCSeattle @PlymouthHousing @pagliacci & @ProfSaraRankin & more supporting proposal to create 6,500 permanent supportive housing units in King County in the next five years

Third Door’s analysis points to the same conclusion we’ve known: we are woefully underinvesting in affordable housing, even as people are dying on our streets and being pushed out of the city. We need the will and the investments to bring Housing First to the scale of the need.

The return on investment in affordable housing is huge in terms of health, social, and environmental outcomes—breaking the cycle of generational poverty, shared prosperity in our communities, better health equity outcomes, reduced climate impacts, and more.

The cost of NOT building affordable housing by far outstrips the cost of making these investments: emergency services, hospitalization, and policing, court, and carceral systems—these are all massive costs that fail to address the underlying cause of our homelessness crises.

As @thirddoorsea points out, it costs the same to provide ONE YEAR of permanent supportive housing as it does to provide THREE DAYS in Harborview or THREE MONTHS in the County jail. #HousingFirst

The City, County, and State have an important role to play in decreasing costs and removing barriers to affordable housing through our policies and regulations: We must change our outdated zoning laws, make surplus lands available at no cost, remove fees, & create more revenue.

And, together with our service provider, housing, advocacy & business partners—providing leadership to show that WE CAN DO THIS.