Events – Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness Blog

Annual Membership Meeting – May 21, 2026

May 23, 2026May 22, 2026 by Danielle

2026 Annual Membership MeetingThursday, May 21, 8:30-11 a.m. 9:15 – 9:30 a.m. Welcome and Introductions 9:30 – 10 a.m. The Power of Being in Coalition Together 10 – 10:40 a.m. Who Can Call King County Home? A conversation about the housing affordability crisis with: 10:40 – 10:50 Coalition Board of Directors Candidate Slate 10:50 – 11 a.m. Member Announcements Speak Up Against HUD’s Attempt to Dismantle the Equal Access Rule COMING IN AUGUST: Helping Homeless Students: McKinney-Vento 101 A training for public school, housing, and human services staff working with students experiencing homelessness in area public schools. SAVE THE DATE: Truth to (Staying) Power Thurs, Sept 17, The Royal Room – Tickets on sale in June Support the Coalition and celebrate a milestone of staying power for our Executive Director, Alison Eisinger (20 years!). PAST COALITION MEETINGS & TRAININGS: bit.ly/SKCCHYouTube INTERESTED IN MEMBERSHIP? Individual, Allied, or Organizational Email membership[at]homelessinfo[.]org or call 206-204-8350 for more information. Join our next Membership meeting Thursday, June 18, 9-10:30 a.m., Zoom Register here.

Access to services during the 2026 FIFA World Cup

March 18, 2026 by Danielle

This page was last updated Weds, March 18, 2026. We will update this page as we receive additional information and resources. The 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament—occurring Thursday, June 11 through Sunday, July 19—is the largest event ever to occur in Seattle. Hundreds of thousands of people will visit Seattle from all over the world and are expected to stay an average of 7.5 days each. Our entire city will see the impact on our roads and in our neighborhoods, but the most impacted neighborhoods are the ones immediately surrounding Lumen Field, i.e. the “stadium neighborhood”: Pioneer Square, the Chinatown/International District, and SoDo. Many people access services, healthcare, housing, and shelter in these neighborhoods. Your Coalition has been working with the local organizing committee—SeattleFWC26—to get good information to housing, service, shelter, and healthcare providers in the most impacted neighborhoods. If your organization is not currently involved in these information sessions and your services are in Pioneer Square, the CID, or SoDo, please contact Kevin Lee at kevin[at]homelessinfo[.]org. The information in this post is useful for us all to be aware of and is specifically important for frontline staff and the people who sleep or access services in Pioneer Square, the CID, and SoDo. Match Days There are a total of six match days: *Note: Since this game was announced, Iran has pulled out of the competition. We do not yet know if this match will still take place with a different team or who that team will be. Each match has the capacity for roughly 63,000 attendees at Lumen Field. The match on Juneteenth between U.S. and Australia will likely see the biggest crowd, but the Local Organizing Committee expects every match to sell out. Some matches are not yet set—who will play will depend on the tournament outcomes, but …

Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Day – Friday, March 14, 2025

March 25, 2025 by Danielle

At 12:30 p.m. on Friday, March 14, 2025, the steps outside the Washington state capitol building in Olympia were awash with handwritten signs, red scarves, and people chanting. “Rent hikes, let’s stop it! Put people over profit!” Rent stabilization, or House Bill 1217, was one of the primary bills people were advocating for at Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Day (HHAD), an annual lobby day hosted by the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. In addition to passing a rent stabilization bill into law, there was another unifying goal in everyone’s mind as they chanted loudly to the bright blue Olympia sky: vibrant Washington communities where everyone can secure a safe, stable home they can afford. HHAD is an opportunity for people to visit the state capitol with certain policy priorities in mind and meet with their state legislators to convey the importance of voting in favor of bills and budgets that will help people exit homelessness, stay housed, and survive the circumstances that drive homelessness. This year, these bills included House Bill 1858, sponsored by newly appointed Representative of state Legislative District 43, Shaun Scott. The bill closes a loophole in the collection of Document Recording Fees, the primary funding source for many homelessness shelters and services across our state. It would add approximately $25 million in funding, which is especially important since Document Recording Fees haven’t hit revenue projections for the past few years, and funding for these important services have needed to be backfilled (and will need to be backfilled again this year) to ensure no loss of capacity in our state’s ability to care for people’s emergent and basic needs. House Bill 1858 was just one of the priorities that residents and workers from Legislative District 46, which includes the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle, talked to their district’s …

Voter Registration & Voting during a Pandemic: August 4 Primary Election Edition

March 2, 2021July 17, 2020 by Alison Eisinger

Help people who you work with register and vote in the August 4 primary, and prepare for the November 3, 2020 General Election! This blog post is supplemental to the Coalition’s Guide to voting for people who are homeless and unstably housed. The Coalition has been helping people who are experiencing homelessness register to vote and vote for over 11 years. We want to make sure that folks know that their voices matter and are important, and that You Don’t Need a House to Vote! This year our August Primary Election on Tuesday, August 4 includes voting on Federal Congressional Representatives, State Governor, Lieutenant Governor and other leadership positions, and State Senators and Representatives. The top two from each of those races will be on the November General Election ballot, along with, of course, the Presidential Election. The Coalition does voter registration and education work because: We want to end homelessness and to do that we need to build political power. Voting is fundamental to political power. You will help with this. We want to make sure everyone’s voice is heard, want to help people who don’t have a home know that they can vote. We need to spread the word about Voting Rights Restoration for people with felony convictions. Due to COVID-19, this summer we are unable to send our volunteers out to help register voters (typically we sent trained volunteers to day and hygiene centers and meal programs), so we want to make sure that service providers have the tools you need to support people you work with in registering to vote, updating their voter registration, and voting. As a reminder, it is completely okay and legal for 501c3 nonprofits to help people register to vote, and provide education about the mechanics of how voting works. It is …

2020 Legislative Session Preview Meeting Summary and Resources – 12/19/2019

January 13, 2020December 23, 2019 by Alison Eisinger

Thank you to 95 people who filled the room for our December Membership Meeting and Annual Legislative Preview meeting. The first day of the 2020 Washington State Legislative Session is Monday, January 13. We were joined by State Representative Nicole Macri (LD 43), State Senator Patty Kuderer (LD 48), and Zach Hall, Legislative Assistant to State Representative Lisa Callan (LD 5) who shared priorities for the 2020 session related to housing and homelessness, childcare, public benefits, and more. We also had time for rich conversation after questions from the audience to lawmakers. After hearing from these state elected officials, four of our statewide advocacy partners shared about their priorities for the upcoming session. Below are handouts, a few of the actions we asked people to take at the meeting, and invite anyone reading this post to do the same. We also have information about contacting our partners and about upcoming lobby days. We shared our preliminary legislative priorities and invite you to get ready for the 2020 legislative session by signing up for our Action Alerts and attending a Homelessness Advocacy 101 workshop. Handouts from the meeting: Meeting Agenda Coalition on Homelessness preliminary priorities list. Please note: this list is not complete and we’ll be updating it throughout the legislative session. Advocacy Bingo Card Working Connections Child Care Homeless Grace Period Extension One Pager Strengthen TANF One Pager Child Support Pass-Through One Pager Take Action Now as you get ready for the 2020 legislative session: Sign up for Coalition Take Action Alerts to receive timely alerts to support legislative actions related to our priority issues. Play Advocacy Bingo with us throughout session (see instructions below). Sign on letter for Working Connections Child Care Homeless Grace Period Extension – sign your organization on or ask someone at your organization to sign …

2019 December 10 Public Benefits 101 Workshop

December 12, 2019 by Alison Eisinger

The Coalition hosted a Public Benefits 101 Workshop on Tuesday, December 10 as part of our on-going series of Case Manager Trainings. Over 90 direct service providers joined us for a three-hour training covering the basics of public assistance programs offered by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). Thank you to presenters Sara Robbins and Katie Scott from the Solid Ground Legal Benefits Assistance Program who led the training and shared their knowledge and passion with the room. A brief summary of the programs covered below. Click here for slides from 12/10/2019 Presentation The workshop began with an overview of cash programs administered by the state. The Aged, Blind and Disabled program (ABD) and Housing and Essential Needs Program (HEN) are the primary cash benefits available for single adults without children. Formerly called Disability Lifeline, ABD provides $197/month to adults with a disability who do not receive significant income from work or another public benefit program. HEN has similar eligibility requirements but does not result in a direct cash payment. Details differ by region, but the primary benefits consist of a rental payment voucher and case management services. Visit Washington Connection to see if you or your client may be eligible to apply for cash assistance. For families, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) is the primary cash assistance program available. TANF has a work requirement called WorkFirst that mandates TANF recipients be looking for work or be enrolled in some sort of job training program. Clients are required to sign off on an Individual Responsible Plan (IRP), failure to meet this requirement can result in a reduced or terminated award. The presenters stressed to the room that case managers should request copies of their clients IRPs and review them closely, noting they have …

2019 April 18 Membership Meeting Summary and CEA conversation materials

April 26, 2019April 25, 2019 by Alison Eisinger

Thank you to sixty-three people who joined us on April 18 for our lively meeting, including a walk through the Coordinated Entry For All process and the opportunity to give feedback on what is and isn’t working about Interim Dynamic Prioritization. Coalition staff were pleased to share news that we are hiring for our new Administrative Coordinator position, and invite people to participate in Project Cool (for information about getting backpacks for students who are experiencing homelessness, email Hillary). We sent Hallie, our Member Services Coordinator, off to her new job in Olympia with hearty thanks and well wishes. And, you got LOUD for Housing by contacting your lawmakers in Olympia asking them to #BudgetForHousing! We know that about 40 people used the email action alert during the meeting, and others made calls – thank you! Materials/Handouts from meeting: April 18 Meeting Agenda Coordinated Entry Deep Dive handout from Joanna (including CEA experience flow, CEA Priority Pool workflow, definitions, and prioritization formula). Prints best on 8.5 x 14 paper. Mobility Policy Handout also available online here. Mobility Request Form also available online here. Africatown International Diversion Fund Information. More diversion information available on All Home’s website and Africatown International’s website. CEA April Newsletter Coordinated Entry for All (CEA) Deep Dive Joanna Bomba-Grebb from Coordinated Entry For All prepared a chart of how the CEA process, from assessment to housing, currently works. Thanks to staff from member agencies, including Solid Ground and DESC, for attending the meeting to share their perspectives about how each piece of the process actually works day to day on the ground. Our discussion on the process and continuous improvement was still continuing when the meeting ended at 11, so we decided that we will set aside some time at our Thursday, June 20 Membership meeting (9 …

June 15, 2017 General Membership Meeting: Seattle’s RFP for Homelessness Services, CEA Listening Session

March 5, 2019June 16, 2017 by Alison Eisinger

Thank you to the 100+ people who filled the room for our June 15 General Membership Meeting! It was an important agenda (click here to view): a presentation and discussion about Seattle’s Homelessness Services RFP with Catherine Lester, Director of Seattle’s Human Services Department, as well as a Coordinated Entry for All Listening Session with Mark Ellerbrook, Regional Housing and Community Development Manager with King County Department of Community and Human Services. Handouts and materials related to these presentations are at the bottom of this post. We shared timely information about State (ESHB 1570 & Budget) and County (Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy) Advocacy priorities as well as the Coalition’s Voter Registration work. Please follow up on the Action Alert below! Did you fill our our Voter Registration & Candidate Questionnaire survey? If not, click here to let us know what information you want people running for elected office to know about homelessness, plus, information about voter registration work at your organization. Take Action Today! There are crucial issues before King County Council and the State Legislature — Lawmakers need to hear YOUR voice! Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy Renewal: Let King County Councilmembers hear from YOU as they decide whether to increase (yes!) or reduce (no!) Executive Constantine’s recommended funding package and put the levy before voters this November. Send a personalized note to County Councilmembers: Renew and extend the Vets, Seniors, and Human Services Levy. Help close the gap between what people in our community need and deserve, and what we are providing. Build on Executive Constantine’s proposal to ensure robust continued support for helping veterans, families, and seniors across King County. Take Action: Online Action: tinyurl.com/speakupVSHSL Call your King County Councilmember The State Legislature is currently in special session as they determine which programs to fund in the …

Mi Casa es tu Casa – A night of vibrant Latin Jazz to benefit the Coalition on May 18

April 26, 2017 by Alison Eisinger

Get your tickets today! Mi Casa es Tu Casa, Thursday May 18 at The Royal Room, will be more than just a high-energy Latin Jazz party to benefit The Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness. The Wayne Horvitz/Simon Henneman Quintet opens the evening recreating Marc Ribot’s legendary 2000 release of Marc Ribot y los Cubanos Postizos (Marc Ribot and the Prosthetic Cubans). The original project was in honor of Arsenio Rodriguez, one of the chief popularizers of the Cuban musical form known as son, who wrote nine of the 10 tunes. Postizos, according to the Miami New Times, “doesn’t so much reproduce Rodriguez’s music as it reimagines it from a decidedly avant-garde perspective.” As such it’s a fitting project for local luminaries Horvitz and Henneman, both steeped in mainstream jazz and a range of underground traditions, who have a fondness for interpreting the work of fellow genius travelers. Check it out and read on for more artists: Subsequent sets by Todo Es and EntreMundos Quarteto will ramp up the party. Todo Es plays original material combining Afro-Cuban, Caribbean and Brazilian sounds with contemporary Latin Jazz improvisation. EntreMundos Quarteto features traditional Brazilian music with jazz, funk, soul and world influences. Listen to Todo Es here and check out this video of EntreMundos Quarteto in studio with KNKX Public Radio: Tickets for the benefit show are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Doors open at 6:30, the music starts at 8. Advance tickets are available at tinyurl.com/musicforagoodcause. Please note: Tickets do not guarantee seating during shows at the Royal Room. For sold out shows standing room may be the only available space. If advanced tickets are sold out, limited tickets will be available at the door on a first come, first serve basis. Please come early to ensure you get a table. Reservations can be …

January 2017 General Membership Meeting: Accountable WA, Legislative Advocacy

January 25, 2017 by Alison Eisinger

Thanks to those who joined us on Thursday, January 17 for our first General membership meeting of 2017! We had an action packed agenda complete with a call in to Olympia to start off our 2017 legislative advocacy. We were joined by community members from Catholic Community Services & Catholic Housing Services, Crisis Clinic, Friends of Youth, Housing Development Consortium, Jewish Family Services, Low Income Housing Institute, Plymouth Housing Group, REACH, Real Change, Recovery Cafe, All Home, Youth Care, and more! We heard a great presentation, called in to Olympia about legislative priorities, and signed famous Coalition Advocacy Postcards. Please read on for a summary of our meeting & important actions YOU can take before our next General Membership Meeting on Thursday, February 16th. Accountable WA, Kelli Smith, WA Budget & Policy Center As we know, Washington State had one of the most inequitable tax structures in the country, we do not have an income tax and therefore rely on sales tax and property tax to fund vital programs our communities need and to raise revenue. This structure causes people with lower incomes to pay disproportionately more of their income to taxes than people in the highest income bracket. The WA Budget and Policy Center, working with many organizations, has developed a package of legislation that would fix some of our tax problems, and make it so that people who are earning the least are not contributing the most in taxes (currently people who are in the lowest 20% income group contribute 16.8% of their income as WA state and local taxes, compared to those in the top 1% who contribute just 2.4% of their income to WA state and local taxes). There are two main goals of Accountable WA, we encourage you to learn more at the links below and click …