King County

Tukwila Speak up NOW: Don’t Banish Tukwila Residents

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Do you work or live in Tukwila? Your city councilmembers need to hear from you NOW to stop a bad bill that would punish and banish people experiencing homelessness. The city council is poised to vote on this dangerous bill this Monday, July 20 at 7 p.m. The proposed new ordinance would make it a crime to “camp” on public property, punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $1,000 fine. We know laws like these are designed to punish and banish people experiencing homelessness.  Please SPEAK UP TODAY! Send your message to Tukwila elected officials and Interim Tukwila Police Chief Eric Lund using the sample message below. Let them know that when thousands of people in King County communities lack basic shelter every night, it makes no sense to punish people who have no place to stay, or to push them out of their community. This proposal is cruel, shortsighted, costly, counterproductive, and it will NOT help people experiencing homelessness in Tukwila. Speak up before Monday at 7pm to stop this bad bill! Email Template Note: It’s great to personalize the subject line and the message if you have time. If you don’t have time, that’s OK! Just copy, paste, and hit send – numbers matter! TO: verna.seal@tukwilawa.gov; armen.papyan@tukwilawa.gov; hannah.hedrick@tukwilawa.gov; dennis.martinez@tukwilawa.gov; kate.kruller@tukwilawa.gov; joe.camacho@tukwilawa.gov; jane.ho@tukwilawa.gov; Mayor@tukwilawa.gov; E.Lund@TukwilaWA.gov SUBJECT: No Tukwila Banishment Law Dear Tukwila City Councilmembers, Mayor McLeod, and Chief Lund, As a Tukwila resident, I want all my neighbors to have a safe place to sleep at night, and I want our community to help people when they don’t. I’m glad that we have some shelter in our city but right now, we don’t have nearly enough affordable homes or shelter. As a result, too many people must try and survive outside. We should use our public resources to help people meet their basic needs, not punish them when they have …

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Annual Membership Meeting – May 21, 2026

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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.

Resources to prepare for federal immigration enforcement agents

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This page was last updated Weds, March 18, 2026. We will update this page as we receive additional information and resources. If you have resources you believe should be included here, please email us at contact[at]homelessinfo[dot]org. Find an upcoming virtual training hosted by the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) here. Trainings offered in both English and Spanish: Know Your Rights! Family Safety Planning Legal Counsel for Children and Youth (LCYC) offers the opportunity to consult with families as they develop Family Safety Plans, with resources in multiple languages. Eastside Legal Assistance Program (ELAP) has compiled good information as well. For Service and Housing Providers Take these basic steps to prepare for federal immigration enforcement agents at your service or housing site: In partnership with the King County Regional Housing Authority and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), we hosted a training to prepare service providers in April 2025. While information about the most effective protections changes rapidly, this training reviews key information and includes links to more resources. This training is for educational purposes ONLY. The information provided is not individualized legal advice. Individuals with immigration questions should seek the advice and counsel of an experienced immigration attorney.  Take Action to Keep Families Housed The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed a new rule that would strip federal housing assistance from entire families when a single family member cannot provetheir U.S. citizenship or eligibility. This jeopardizes housing for 80,000 people nationwide including 37,000 children. One in four children—who are U.S. citizens—have a least one immigrant parent. HUD’s proposed rule would force families to separate or stay together and become homeless. Learn more from the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition. TAKE ACTION TODAY HUD is accepting comments on this proposed rule until Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Submit a comment in opposition here. Find templates for your comments …

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General Membership Meeting – November 20, 2025

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During our November meeting, we were joined by Poverty Action and Solid Ground to review and discuss upcoming changes to SNAP (starting Dec 1, 2025). We also talked about the recently announced changes to HUD that will impact our region and heard an inspiring presentation from DESC’s new ORCA Center. If this wealth of information is something you want to share with others or access again, please subscribe to the Coalition’s YouTube channel, where our membership meetings and trainings are collected. Dec 2025 Changes to SNAP Thank you to Lianna Kressin from Poverty Action and Patricia Bowen from Solid Ground for presenting on the changes coming to SNAP starting Monday, December 1. Jump to 00:7:49 to see this section of our meeting. HR1 & Federal Context On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the “Big Beautiful Bill” (HR1) into law. The impacts of this bill will go into effect over the next 5 years. Individuals will have an increased burden of “proof of need” to maintain eligibility for programs and states will be required to pay more to provide the same, or lower, benefits. Changes to SNAP are already taking place but impacts will roll out over time. Even though new work requirements start Dec 1, 2025, there are still many unanswered questions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Work Requirements New work requirements—expected to be about 20 hours per week—start Monday, December 1, 2025. More than 100,000 people are expected to be impacted by new work requirements with 57,000 Washingtonians losing some of their food assistance. The following groups will have new work requirements: People with “verified” disability status will remain exempt from work requirements. Jump to 00:34:40 to hear more about disability status. Immigrant Eligibility Changes to SNAP eligibility that will impact immigrants started July 4, 2025. …

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In-Person General Membership Meeting with the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence – October 30, 2025

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Our combined membership meeting with the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence (CEGV) covered the intersection of homelessness and gender-based violence to better equip service providers, advocates, and community members to serve people with complex needs. Meeting attendees included a broad representation of homeless service providers and gender-based violence advocacy programs and organizations, which provided valuable opportunities for connection and allowed us to collaboratively explore resources offered by the program attendees represented. The broad representation of providers and organizations also aided in a robust discussion and exploration for future collaborations. The Lay of the Land CEGV’s Housing Systems Manager Hannah Whitworth grounded our discussion by sharing the first minute and thirty seconds of the following video:  The two issues of gender-based violence and homelessness can perpetuate each other, causing cycles where a survivor feels they have no other option but to stay in an unsafe living situation to maintain housing, or they become unhoused due to their experiences of gender-based violence. Additionally, people experiencing homelessness are more at risk of experiencing sexual violence before, during, and after periods of homelessness. Our community and systems must develop and maintain housing responses that fit the needs of survivors at any point in their lives, which can be wide ranging and diverse depending on where they are in their journey as a survivor and in navigating homelessness.   Hannah highlighted the existing network available to support survivors and the entry points into the DV Coordinated Housing Access Point (DVCHAP) including the DVHopeline for survivors and anyone working with survivors: While supportive and necessary, these efforts are underfunded and insufficient to address the needs of all impacted in our region. We learned of the complexity of disclosure and personal identification as a DV survivor, and how support in those circumstances result in homeless service providers working with …

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General Membership Meeting – July 17, 2025

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During our July 17 General Membership Meeting we shared some great program updates, heard from the Seattle Disabilities Commission, and learned resources for tenants in Washington from Kasey Burton of Catholic Community Services’ Tenant Law Center. If this wealth of information is something you want to share with others or access again, please subscribe to the Coalition’s YouTube channel, where our membership meetings and trainings are collected. Upcoming at the Coalition Welcome Meghan! The Coalition brought on a Summer Programs Associate, Meghan Piotrowski, to assist with our two big summer initiatives, Project Cool and voter registration. If anyone has a program they think would benefit through voter education and registration, please contact vote[at]homelessinfo[.]org to talk about scheduling a visit by the Coalition and our team of trained volunteers. If you’re looking for voter education resources, check out our webpage with our You Don’t Need a House to be a Voter guide.  Our Project Cool needs a few more helping hands for July 29 & July 30. These are days when program coordinators from our member orgs will come pick up their backpacks orders. All volunteer days are hosted at the Bryn Mawr Methodist Church (8016 S 116th St, Seattle, WA 98178): Sign up for a volunteer shift here and email contact[at]homelessinfo[.]org if you have any questions. Next up at the Coalition In place of our August General Membership Meeting, we are hosting a training on Helping Homeless Students: McKinney Vento 101 on Thursday, August 21. This two-hour training will provide case managers the tools they need to understand and use the federal McKinney Vento Assistance Act, which allows certain rights to students and families experiencing homelessness so they can maintain their public school education. If you or someone you know works with families experiencing homelessness, you can register for that …

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Pandemic EBT Benefits – Updated August 11 2020

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Click here for a copy of the PowerPoint used in the above presentation 8/11/2020 Update: Thanks to advocacy efforts across the state, the USDA has approved DSHS to extend the application deadline to Friday, September 11, 2020. Approved EBT cards must be sent no later than September 30, encourage those you work with to apply today. The Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer Program (P-EBT) is a one-time award available to families with children who qualify for free or reduced-price meals through the school they attend. Families with children eligible for free and reduced price meals may be able to receive as much as $399 per child in this benefit. This benefit does not consider immigration status and is not subject to the Public Charge Rule. This means that P-EBT is one of the few benefits available to undocumented communities excluded from much of the COVID relief funds so far. Click here to review the program in more detail. With schools closed for the summer and deadlines fast approaching, we are concerned that struggling families may miss out on this crucial support. To Apply: ONLINE: Households enrolled in free or reduced-price meals apply for P-EBT through the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). Eligible household can apply online at www.washingtonconnection.org. Click here for Step-by-Step Instructions on applying online. OVER THE PHONE: 1-877-501-2233. Due to state budget cuts, DSHS will be taking furlough days every Monday through the end of July. Families can still apply online, however those requiring phone assistance will have to reach out Tuesday through Friday between 8am and 5pm.

May 21, 2020 Coalition Annual Membership Meeting

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Thank you to everyone who attended our Annual Membership Meeting! Sign up for Coalition emails to make sure you receive updates and notice of upcoming meetings. Highlights and resources shared on the call are below. Click here to view the Coalition’s PowerPoint Presentation. 9:00 – Welcome and Introduction Opening Ceremony by Chief Seattle Club Drummers – thank you Randy Tippins-Firstrider, Youth Outreach Case Manager with Chief Seattle Club ——– New Coalition Mission, Vision, and Values – Thank you to Coalition Board members for sharing our new guiding principles. And thank you to all our members who contributed to this process Kate Baber, President, Coalition on Homelessness Board Anna Strahan, Coalition on Homelessness Board Member Derrick Belgarde, Treasurer, Coalition on Homelessness Board ——– Board of Directors Election: Each dues-paying member organization has one vote to elect the slate of candidates for the Board. We are pleased that four Board members have agreed to renew their terms of service: Derrick Belgarde, Katie Escudero, Benjamin Miksch, Jenn Romo. Primary membership contacts will hear from us directly about this. If you think you are the person who should vote, or have a question, please email us Highlights from the past year with the Coalition – see photos in our PowerPoint Presentation linked above! ——– City, County and Statewide Advocacy Opportunities Regarding sweeps currently happening in the City of Seattle, Alison shared: “We don’t find it to be acceptable under any circumstances that people are left to fend for themselves. We have proudly and successfully wrangled with multiple mayoral administrations over these kinds of dehumanizing and morally wrong actions. And now this. In the context of a global health emergency, in context of interim guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that clearly states in the absence of individual housing options people living unsheltered should …

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

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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 …

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2019 December 10 Public Benefits 101 Workshop

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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 …

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