Our February 2025 General Membership Meeting featured the Disability Empowerment Center, Rep. Shaun Scott from the 43rd Legislative District, an advocate at Columbia Legal Services, and an important message from our Executive Director about our lawsuit against Burien’s unjust banishment ordinance.
Get to know the Disability Empowerment Center
This Coalition has always understood and worked at the intersection of homelessness and disability. The 2024 PIT count reported that 49% of people experiencing homelessness in Washington state live with a disability such as a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability. That’s the highest rate in the country.
The Disability Empowerment Center (DEC) is an essential resource for people experiencing homelessness and service providers. DEC serves people across King County from the age of 14 and up.
DEC does NOT ask for proof of diagnosis. No doctor’s note required!
DEC operates under a peer model. People working and volunteering for DEC have disabilities, too! Mariel Woodley, DEC’s Outreach & Education Coordinator, shared that’s proof that having a disability does not have to limit you what you do.
Services are free and individualized to help people meet their goals. DEC can help clients get a job, transition to living independently, go back to school, enroll in social services, and get better support from their community. DEC does NOT offer case management, as their employees cannot call places on behalf of someone when they’re not physically together.
DEC has two offices, one in Seattle and one in Redmond, where they host Peer Group events (check out their event calendar here). DEC can also meet clients at any public space, like a coffee shop or library.
To access DEC services, call 1-866-545-7055 or fill out the form on its website: https://www.disabilityempowerment.org/contact. Individuals seeking services, case managers, or family/friends of people who need services are welcome to reach out.
Download the slides from DEC’s presentation here.
The Latest on our Lawsuit Against Burien’s Banishment Ban
The City of Burien has passed multiple versions of their banishment ordinance. We filed our lawsuit with our co-plaintiffs—Alex, Beth, and Carlo—last January. Our lawyers from the Northwest Justice Project filed for a motion for summary judgment. Our original court date was set for Friday, January 31, 2025.
On Monday, January 27, Burien City Council met in what they described as “emergency action” and revised their ordinance yet again with the intention of making our lawsuit moot. They made the law even worse and banned people from sleeping in public places anywhere in the city of Burien at any time.
Our competent lawyers recouped and filed new motions, which were heard in court, finally, on Friday, February 14 in Judge Michael K. Ryan’s courtroom at the King County Superior Court.
Judge Ryan took things very seriously. He asked lots of questions. He posed some challenging questions and hypotheticals to both sides. He did not issue a ruling and said he would take deliberate time to decide the outcome of this consequential case.
If the judge rules favorably toward us, we expect Burien to appeal it. And likewise, if the judge rules in favor of Burien, we will likely appeal it.
This Coalitions knows that there are plenty of jurisdictions all over King County and Washington state have passed cruel and unjust ordinances like this. We also know that a single lawsuit, while extremely important, is not going to be the answer. What we need is more homes. Please help us continue our advocacy at the state for renter protections, new affordable homes, and supportive housing services.
State Legislative Advocacy
We started our segment on state legislative advocacy with a visit from the newly elected Rep. Shaun Scott (LD-43), formerly of Solid Ground.
Rep. Scott is sponsoring a bill in the state legislature this year, House Bill 1858, pertaining to Washington’s document recording fees, a fee assessed on real estate transactions of various kinds.
Document recording fees fund county housing services across the state. They fund building new low-income housing, the acquisition and maintenance of low-income housing, and maintenance for landlords or housing providers that provide housing for low-income tenants.
There is a loophole in the processing of document recording fees that major corporations and big banks have been able to benefit from. House Bill 1858 would close this loophole and, by doing so, would create between $25 and $30 million in revenue for document recording fees.
This is especially important this year because document recording fees are facing a massive deficit of $250 million, and funding for housing services like shelters will be cut if the revenue cannot be recouped.
House Bill 1858 will be voted on in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, February 26 at 1:30 p.m. This bill needs to be voted out of Appropriations by Friday, February 28 for the opportunity to be voted into law.
Thank you, Rep. Scott, for working on this important piece of legislation and looking out for housing and homelessness services at the state.
Next we heard from Sarah Nagy from Columbia Legal Services (CLS), a statewide civil legal aid organization that is currently advocating for House Bill 1240, which would create additional protections for people who live in their vehicles.
House Bill 1240 grew out of a lawsuit CLS was involved with a few years ago (City of Seattle v. Stephen Long), Sarah told us. The bill would:
- Create an expedited process for someone to vindicate their right to their vehicle in front of the court
- Provide paths to quicker release from an impound lot
- Create an expedited court process so someone can get in front of a judicial officer and assert their homestead rights and get their fines and fees reduced as quickly as possible
- Add protections for people whose vehicles might be declared abandoned junk vehicles
House Bill 1240 was heard by the Transportation Committee a few weeks ago and is now waiting for an Executive Committee hearing.
If you work with vehicle residents or if you have personal experience of homelessness where you lived in your vehicle, you can take action to support this bill by sending a message to members of the Transportation Committee who represent you. Find members of the Transportation Committee here.
Our Community Policy Manager Hali Willis then shared updates on other priority bills for this year’s legislative session, House Bills 1380 and 1195.
If you’d like to dive deeper into legislative advocacy, please register for our Advocacy Power Half Hours, hosted the first Wednesday of each month of session from 12-12:30 p.m. over Zoom:
- Mar 5: https://homelessinfo.secure.nonprofitsoapbox.com/mar-advocacy
- Apr 2: https://homelessinfo.secure.nonprofitsoapbox.com/apr-advocacy
And please join us for Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day (HHAD) at the state capital in Olympia on Friday, March 14. This all-day event features a rally and the opportunity to speak face-to-face with the lawmakers of your legislative district.
The Coalition is offering free rides to HHAD via the Advocacy Express, a bus that will stop in both Seattle and South King County to transport eager advocates from our member organizations (both staff and people who receive services). Please register for the Advocacy Express by Friday, February 28: https://forms.gle/S1o5Ziy7zEeWuj1X6. We want you on the bus with us!
A Closing Note about Federal Funding
Our Executive Director Alison Eisinger closed our February meeting with a note about the federal government’s current initiative to fire half of the HUD workforce.
“The federal situation is dire,” she said.
Alison reminded us that advocacy works. Please expect some federal action alerts from this Coalition as we fight to protect federal benefits like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and food stamps.