Government
In a Growing Crisis, Seattle Uses City Hall as a Homeless Shelter
Each night, 80 beds are laid out in the lobby of city hall. It’s meant as a temporary solution—but long-term fixes are proving elusive.
On a recent Monday night in Seattle, Salvation Army staff members spent half an hour arranging green cots in an emergency homeless shelter. They set out thick blankets, earplugs, and facemasks, in hope of making the space, which opened in July, slightly more comfortable for the people who would sleep there that night.
By the time the doors opened at 9:30 p.m., at least a dozen people had lined up to come in. The team checked in returning guests and sat down with any first-timers to go over their “rights and responsibilities”: no drugs or alcohol, no fighting, and no reentry.