Homelessness

In a recent ruling that defies both logic and compassion, a federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s effort to reform the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Continuum of Care program — the federal government’s primary funding mechanism for homelessness assistance.

The lawsuit — filed by a coalition of 20 mostly Democratic-led states, local governments, and nonprofit organizations and spearheaded by groups such as Democracy Forward — warns of “funding gaps,” winter instability, and the potential displacement of people currently housed. These alarms are sounded even though HUD includes a nearly 12% increase over last year’s funding allocation.

At the core of the complaint is a revealing claim: that reform would “upend longstanding projects that have been thoughtfully developed to comport with evidence-based, best-practices services delivery.”

But HUD’s own data make clear that the evidence on which they have long relied is catastrophically wrong.

Even after a Super Bowl win, Seattle leaders failed to clear out the downtown drug dens and black market of stolen goods. Watch as Seahawks fans try to celebrate in the streets while avoiding zombies and fentanyl addicts.

I’ve spent years working directly with Seattle’s homeless population, not studying them from university offices, or analyzing data sets from a comfortable distance, but on the streets, in the encampments, doing street-level engagement and intervention. When I read yet another opinion piece (“Homelessness in Seattle: We can’t unsee it.” Dec. 28, 2025) attributing our homelessness crisis primarily to housing costs, I have to ask: Are we really going to continue trusting consultants and researchers over what our own eyes tell us?

The December piece by Walter Hatch follows a familiar pattern in academia: Start with a conclusion, in this case, that “it’s a housing problem,” then find data to support it. However, those of us working on the ground are aware of a critical fact that these analyses consistently overlook: There’s a fundamental distinction between the “crisis population” living in visible squalor on our streets and individuals who are the working poor — couch-surfing, living with family or struggling with roommates to afford rent.

We cannot conflate these populations. They are not the same.

City Plays Whack-A-Mole Homeless outreach workers say encampment sweeps are rapidly picking up across Seattle under Mayor Katie Wilson. The latest one happened Wednesday morning near 6th Ave & Yesler Way in downtown. It’s unclear how many people chose to take services or shelter options. But by all accounts, it’s turning into another game of Whack-A-Mole as Wilson remains under enormous pressure to clear everyone out before the FIFA World Cup later this year. Meanwhile, notice how far-left activist group Stop The Sweeps Seattle is nowhere to be found. They were a constant thorn in the side of former Mayor Bruce Harrell and criticized him for using the same encampment removal methods as Wilson. But when it comes to comrade Read More ›

Even as many volunteers are taking to the cold streets to try to find and quantify the number of homeless Americans living there now, two lawsuits filed late last year in a federal District Court are blocking millions of dollars from reaching the neediest people. The first lawsuit was filed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), and the second by a coalition led by Washington State’s Attorney General Nick Brown. The lawsuits seek to stop the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from redirecting a larger share of public dollars to treatment-based homeless programs. Both suits seek to force the continued pretense that permanent subsidized housing projects will end homelessness. These efforts fail the smell test. Read More ›

A homeless man has burrowed himself beneath thousands of pieces of driftwood and built what can only be described as an apartment. I went inside and looked around. There are two bedrooms, one still under construction, framed by uneven piles of driftwood and debris. Two small windows let in slivers of natural light through the gaps, barely illuminating the space. Shadows crawl across the walls and floor, giving the room a claustrophobic, almost surreal quality. The living area is chaotic, more workshop than home. Boards, nails, and hand tools are scattered across the dirt floor, evidence of ongoing construction and repair. Among the clutter, hundreds of used needles glint dangerously in the dim light. The smell of damp wood and Read More ›

I interviewed Portland Mayor Keith Wilson on the streets of Portland about the state of the city and its response to homelessness. I asked whether his administration requires measurable outcomes from the homeless service providers it funds. In response, Mayor Wilson pointed to his new policy of ending the distribution of tents, arguing that tents do not help people exit homelessness and are not life-saving care. He cited the heightened danger faced by vulnerable women living outside, noting that women experiencing homelessness face roughly a 40% chance of being assaulted. I followed up by asking whether there are consequences for providers who fail to meet expectations or move people off the streets. Mayor Wilson said the providers are aligned with Read More ›

Marsha Michaelis appeared on The Earthvox Podcast with Ryan Keogan. After discussing Michaelis’ journey from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation to homeschooling to her current position at Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness initiative, they then discuss her recent article exploring the kinds of solutions society could offer a family in acute distress, homelessness, and drug addiction. The conversation continues with problems with the Housing First approach to homelessness, how the Trump administration is addressing homelessness, the nature of compassion, and more.

I went to the Ballard homeless encampment that has been dominating Seattle headlines, and what I found there was not clarity or compassion colliding with cruelty, but a system quietly failing almost everyone involved. Business owners and nearby residents are frustrated and exhausted. They’ve watched the encampment grow while public spaces deteriorate and safety concerns mount. On the other side, homeless advocates are fiercely defending the right of people to remain where they are, arguing that sweeps only deepen trauma and solve nothing. Caught in the middle is a city trying to signal change under new leadership, while offering very little evidence that real change is actually happening. This encampment was scheduled to be swept, but Mayor Katie Wilson halted Read More ›

Zero Solutions Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is getting hammered after another disruptive sweep under her new administration. But the criticism isn’t coming from her comrades with far-left activist group Stop the Sweeps Seattle. Homeless drug addicts say her promise to do things differently from the previous administration hasn’t materialized. The vast majority of the people living at the MLK Jr. Way encampment rejected services and shelter options Wednesday morning, then fled into the deep woods. We Heart Seattle’s Andrea Suarez calls them the “service resistant.” And right now, Mayor Wilson has offered zero solutions to address this group causing the most harm to themselves and the community.