homelessness Archives | Northwest Public Broadcasting

To Address Homelessness, Spokane Is Starting To Put Relationships Before Punishments

By NPR News February 19, 2020

Julia Garcia started the nonprofit Jewels Helping Hands, which began by operating mobile shower units to serve Spokane's growing homeless population. CREDIT: Kirk Siegler/NPR

There's a growing consensus that a more punitive approach hasn't worked for Spokane. Nationwide, the homeless population is rising. In many communities, it can feel like an intractable problem. Yet cities like Spokane are starting to show some incremental progress with some prevention programs. Read More

Gun Safety, Homelessness, Fate Of Matt Shea: Big Issues Loom As Washington Legislature Convenes

By Austin Jenkins January 13, 2020

File photo. The Washington State Capitol campus in Olympia. CREDIT: WSDOT - TINYURL.COM/YDDSPL8B

When Washington lawmakers convene a short, election year session on Monday, Jan. 13 they’ll confront a range of issues from homelessness to gun control to whether to expel state Rep. Matt Shea. Continue Reading Gun Read More

Seattle Shelter Steps In To Address Needs Of Native Peoples Experiencing Homelessness

By NWPB News December 30, 2019

Eagle Village resident Jolene Neiss says it's important to make each room feel like the resident's home with decorations, knickknacks and family photos. CREDIT: Casey Martin/KUOW

A new homeless shelter in Seattle is exclusively serving Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Pacific Islanders. It's one of the first facilities of its kind in the country helping to house the more than 1,000 Native people in the city experiencing homelessness. Read More

Boise Is Trying To Address Homelessness Through Courts. It’s Rippling Across Western Cities

By NPR News December 16, 2019

This undated file photo shows the entrance to an alley known as Cooper Court, a homeless camp in Boise, Idaho. A federal appellate court says cities can't prosecute people for sleeping on the streets if they have nowhere else to go. CREDIT: Adam Cotterell/Boise State Public Radio via AP

It's billed as one of the most livable places in the country with its good schools, leafy streets and safe neighborhoods. That's what makes Boise, Idaho, an odd backdrop for a heated legal fight around homelessness that is reverberating across the western United States. Read More

Tensions Rise In Olympia As People With Few Options Park RVs Outside Washington Capitol

By Austin Jenkins November 22, 2019

Austin Hall, left, his fiance Victoria Swan and a man who identified himself as Mark Goddard sit in one of the RVs parked on Deschutes Parkway on Washington's Capitol campus. CREDIT: Austin Jenkins/N3

The state of Washington now finds itself grappling with an issue that’s been front and center in Seattle, Portland and many other cities -- people who are homeless living in dilapidated recreational vehicles parked on public streets. Read More

Seattle Man’s Toilet Kit For Homeless Individuals Brings Privacy, Opens Doors

By NWPB News August 3, 2019

Seattle tech worker Mark Lloyd navigates the city's homeless encampments, giving away toilet kits and connecting with people. Gabriel Spitzer /KNKX

Mark Lloyd started his guerrilla toilet distribution project after he saw encampments popping up and spreading in his Seattle neighborhood, just east of downtown. He felt compelled to become involved, get to know the people and see what they needed. Read More

Seattle Faces Backlash After Easing Up On Punishing Crimes Involving Mental Illness

By NPR News July 12, 2019

In this incident in April, captured on a police officer's body camera, it took nearly two hours of negotiations and at least a dozen police officers to safely subdue a man with mental illness who had taken over an alleyway. Courtesy of city of Seattle

Seattle is grappling with a crisis of what is sometimes called "visible homelessness" — people who live in the street and struggle with mental illness or drug addiction. It's a population that often commits small crimes, such as disorderly conduct or shoplifting to pay for drugs. And public frustration is growing. Read More

Rural Homelessness Is Very Real — But Harder To See And Help

By NPR News July 4, 2019

Homeless residents often live outdoors in tents in rural Kentucky. Rarely pitched out in the open, like this one in Lexington, most are hidden in thick bushes of wooded areas. CREDIT: Mary Meehan/WEKU

Homelessness is often considered an urban phenomenon. But those who work on homeless issues say rural homelessness is a growing problem, too. That's true across the state and across the country. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NPR, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reported in May that one in three rural Americans say homelessness is a problem in their Read More

Homelessness On The Palouse

By Murrow News - Lindsey Jensen February 24, 2019

A new proposed bill aims to employ the homeless in three cities in Washington. Washington State Senator, Hans Zeiger of District 25, sponsors this bill and hopes it passes in April. Continue Reading Homelessness On The PalouseRead More

Microsoft Pledges $500 Million To Address Homelessness And Affordable Housing In Seattle Area

By NPR News January 17, 2019

Brad Smith, president of Microsoft Corp., speaks during a presentation on affordable housing in Bellevue, Wash., on Thursday. Microsoft Corp. said it will spend $500 million to develop affordable housing and help alleviate homelessness in the Seattle area. CREDIT: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Microsoft is investing $500 million to help develop affordable housing and address homelessness in the Seattle area as the growth of tech companies in the region continues to flood the real estate market with high-salaried workers, leaving many other people behind. Read More

Ruling Favoring Homeless Individuals Could Have Big Impact On Northwest Cities’ Anti-Camping Laws

By Dirk VanderHart September 5, 2018

Taz Harrington, right, sleeps with his girlfriend, Melissa Ann Whitehead, on a street in downtown Portland, Oregon. CREDIT: TED S. WARREN/AP

The city of Portland will not change how it enforces its anti-camping law, following a sweeping opinion by a federal appeals court on Tuesday that similar rules might violate the constitutional rights of homeless citizens. Read More

First-Ever Evictions Database Shows: ‘We’re In the Middle Of A Housing Crisis’

By NPR News April 13, 2018

Matthew Desmond estimates that 2.3 million evictions were filed in the U.S. in 2016 — a rate of four every minute. "Eviction isn't just a condition of poverty; it's a cause of poverty," he says. Continue Reading First-Ever Evictions Read More

‘Don’t You Live With Ms. Juana?’ Student Homelessness In Migrant Central Washington

By Esmy Jimenez November 22, 2017

Listen Orondo, Washington, lies on the Columbia River between Chelan and Wenatchee. Its population fluctuates with the growing season as migrants work surrounding fruit orchards. This small town’s school district has the largest percentage of homeless students in the state. For the 2015-2016 year, nearly half of the 156 students in Orondo were in a… Read More

Former Washington Gov. Mike Lowry Dies

By Austin Jenkins May 1, 2017

Former Washington governor Mike Lowry, an unapologetic liberal who advocated for higher taxes and social programs, died Monday from complications related to a stroke. He was 78. Continue Reading Former Washington Gov. Mike Lowry DiesRead More