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 legislative aids about voting for.
The group of 15 residents and workers of Legislative District 46 consisted of people from all types of housing situations. There were folks living in Tent City, market-rate renters, homeowners, and people in transitional housing. There were people who recently exited houselessness and people who were imminently faced with the possibility of becoming unhoused.
Two hours before their meeting, the group gathered to review bills and assemble the ask they would make, collectively, to their state representatives. Everyone had the chance to weigh in, add their input, and discuss what bills and budgetary concerns were the most important to bring up.
The meeting with the legislative aids from LD-46 lasted a mere 20 minutes, but it felt substantial. The group received confirmation that their legislators were in support of their priorities and had the chance to share their personal stories of living life and intersecting with homelessness.
“It was chance to meet my neighbors who believe in the same things I do,” said Danielle Palmer-Friedman, Communications Lead at the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness and resident of LD-46. “But I didn’t just meet people today, I got to know people.”
Another story Danielle heard that day was shared with her before she even got to Olympia.
She rode to HHAD on the Advocacy Express, a chartered bus sponsored by the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, the Downtown Emergency Service Center, and Evergreen Treatment Services/REACH.
A gentleman working the Evergreen Treatment Services’ Treatment in Motion vehicle stopped Coalition staff on their way to load the bus. He thanked them for going to Olympia, for speaking up and using their voices that day to advocate for the policies and budget that we all need to support people experiencing homelessness and housing instability.
“We had him fill out one of our postcards that have the priorities we’re advocating for on them,” Danielle said. “It’s a way for people to speak directly to their lawmakers even if they couldn’t make it to Olympia.”
The Advocacy Express, which left Seattle at 8:15 a.m. and returned at 5:45 p.m., brought people together who lived and worked at providers of shelter, housing, and supportive services across Seattle and South King County.
Riding the Advocacy Express helped make a day full of unknown faces a little more familiar, Danielle said. “It made me feel like I was really in community with others,” she added.
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, being an advocate can feel like a solitary task. That’s one reason days like HHAD are integral to the sustenance of advocates, both new and seasoned. HHAD is an opportunity for solidarity, connection, and community building. HHAD is advocacy made tangible.
“It feels solid,” said one participant after the day was done. Another said: “I knew that I fit in, and I knew where my community stands.”
That’s because we were all standing together.