On January 25, 2019, All Home and hundreds of local volunteers conducted the 2019 Count Us In one night count of people experiencing homelessness in King County. They released the full report in May 2019. The report found an 8% decrease in the overall number of people experiencing homelessness in the county—from 12,112 in 2018 to 11,199 in 2019. There is more work to be done to determine if there are truly fewer people experiencing homelessness or if the report is an under-count of the population. But there are some important points to take away from this year’s count.
An estimated 830 individuals identified as veterans. (1) Compass Housing Alliance serves around 1,600 Veterans each year. People who serve our country and shouldn’t be unable to afford safe and healthy housing. We serve Veterans in all our programs, but we also have two programs that serve Veterans and their families: Compass Veteran Center – Renton and Compass Veteran Center – Shoreline. Visit those pages to learn more about our Veteran programs.
In 2019, the majority of individuals experiencing homelessness in Seattle/King County identified as people of color. When compared to the racial demographics of the county’s general population, the largest disparities were observed among those identifying as Black or African American (32% in the Point-in-Time Count compared to 6% in the general King County population), Hispanic or Latino (15% compared to 10%), American Indian/Alaskan Native (10% compared to <1%). (2) People of color are disproportionately represented in our region’s homeless population. The long-term effects of racism, housing discrimination, and redlining are still impacting our neighbors today. Efforts to prevent discrimination by landlords are crucial.
At Compass Housing Alliance, our affordable housing programs operate on a unique model whose pillars are stability, growth, and community. Our residents gain stability through our permanent affordable housing properties. They work on personal growth through learning life skills and setting goals, such as employment and education. The third pillar, community, provides a network of support from Compass Housing staff, other service providers, and perhaps most importantly, the other residents living in Compass Housing programs. When neighbors help each other, each becomes stronger. Gaining stability and building community doesn’t mean that you never struggle again. It means that when you do, you have a support system to lean on. Building connection between neighbors means no one has to struggle alone. And because our housing is permanent, residents can stay in their apartment as long as they want.
Approximately 31% of survey respondents indicated that issues related to housing affordability were the primary conditions leading to their homelessness, including eviction (15%), inability to afford a rent increase (8%), family or friend could no longer afford to let them stay or refused to let them stay (6%), and foreclosure (2%). (3) Eviction research finds that poor women of color, domestic violence survivors, and women with children have a high risk of eviction, with most people being evicted because they cannot pay their rent. Finding housing after being evicted can be extremely difficult—even harder when you’re searching for housing with children. And there’s no question that Seattle/King County has a housing affordability crisis. King County needs thousands more affordable housing units for our neighbors already living here. Compass Housing Alliance is committed to building new permanent affordable housing properties that help families, individuals, and Veterans find safe, dignified, supportive homes.
Seventy-five percent (75%) of Count Us In Survey respondents indicated that rental assistance and more affordable housing would help them to obtain permanent housing. (4) Diversion funds—funds that offer rental assistance to help people avoid homelessness—can make the difference in securing a new apartment by providing first and last months’ rent and deposits, which is often out of reach for low-income families. Additionally, as we mentioned above, Compass Housing is committed to building new permanent affordable housing to help our neighbors—as well as the rest of us—find housing we can truly afford.
1: 2019 All Home Count Us In Report, page 10.
2: 2019 All Home Count Us In Report, page 11.
3: 2019 All Home Count Us In Report, page 12.
4: 2019 All Home Count Us In Report, page 34.