homelessness

Seattle’s incoming mayor, Katie Wilson, will inherit a homelessness crisis that will define her ability to lead. Seattle’s homeless population needs more than another round of aspirational promises. They need and deserve an operational reset grounded in compassion, accountability, and the courage to confront realities the city has failed to address for years. She must replace press releases and ceremonial groundbreaking for housing that may never materialize with programs that support the homeless in reclaiming their lives from the grip of untreated mental illness, addiction, and dangerous encampments that have taken root throughout the city. The scale of Seattle’s crisis is staggering. HUD’s 2024 Point-in-Time count identified 16,868 people struggling with homelessness in King County — 7,058 sheltered and 9,810 Read More ›

For years, Americans have been told that “compassion” for the homeless meant writing ever-larger checks — more money, more programs and far less accountability. Now, at last, we have some answers for why homelessness has exploded even amid a tripling of public spending. A groundbreaking investigation, “Infiltrated” — backed by more than 50 pages of documentation from the Capital Research Center in cooperation with Discovery Institute — pulls back the curtain on a vast system of corruption. It reveals how billions in taxpayer funds intended to lift people out of homelessness have instead bankrolled radical activism and anti-American political agendas, betraying both the taxpayers who fund it and the homeless they were meant to help. Despite unprecedented resources, homelessness in Read More ›

Seattle’s homeless drug crisis remains a top three issue for voters. During a recent debate, Mayor Bruce Harrell and mayoral candidate Katie Wilson were asked the following: “Should homeless people be allowed to stay in tents in parks?” “Should homeless people be allowed to live in sidewalks?” “Should people be allowed to smoke or use drugs like fentanyl in public places?” The moderator was asking for a simple yes or no response. But Katie Wilson seemed to waffle and struggle.

United Gospel Mission of the Inland Northwest recently hosted Conversations on a Bench, during which CEO Phil Altmeyer spoke with people with diverse experiences of homelessness about the current state of homelessness in America. Discovery Institute was proud to participate in the event through the representation of Dr. Robert Marbut and Marsha Michaelis. Dr. Robert Marbut, Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness initiative, shared his experience working to bring people out of homelessness at the local and federal levels, the importance of data-driven research and solutions, why Housing First has failed, and much more. Watch his segment below: Marsha Michaelis, Project Coordinator and Research Fellow at Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness initiative, spoke about the compassionate response to homelessness, Read More ›

All Eyes on Seattle National media is now focusing on Homeless Inc.’s ties to far-left activists and Antifa in Seattle. The Trump administration is following the money and cracking down on this grift. When will local politicians wake up and admit there’s a problem?

“I’ve Been Pregnant Out Here” If San Francisco doesn’t want the National Guard, send the troops into Oakland. I spent the past week on the ground in this failing city. By some estimates, there are now dozens of children (babies) living in crime- and drug-infested encampments. The current plan is not working.

Who Cares for the Homeless Animals? Independent journalists Susan D. Reynolds and Kevin Dahlgren have been sounding the alarm about pets being abused in homeless encampments across America. In West Oakland, I personally counted more than 20 cats and dogs running wild near tents or caged in inhumane conditions. Some drug addicts living in permanent support housing are also allegedly running puppy mills in their rooms to support fentanyl habits. Where is the enforcement and accountability? No sign of advocacy groups or city workers trying to save these animals. How come?

Homelessness in California — and across America — has reached a breaking point. The crisis has climbed to the highest level ever recorded, even as billions more are poured into housing subsidies and bureaucratic programs that promise compassion but deliver only despair. No one bears the consequences more cruelly than the homeless themselves. Their death rate has soared by 77% in the country’s largest urban areas, a devastating indictment of a system that prioritizes housing units over human healing. Communities, too, shoulder the burden — streets overrun, neighborhoods destabilized and taxpayers funding a model that fails everyone it claims to help. President Donald Trump’s recent executive order marks the first real course correction in over a decade. By directing federal Read More ›

Washington, D.C. — Today, the Capital Research Center (CRC) released a new report in cooperation with Discovery Institute exploring how extremist ideological movements are exploiting America’s homelessness crisis, which can include hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people on any given night. Using financial data, legal records, and original research, the report uncovers a vast network of homelessness advocates that spend billions in taxpayer dollars and philanthropic grants on everything but obvious solutions. The report demonstrates that counterproductive policies have been used for years which do not solve the homelessness problem, but rather exacerbate common root causes of homelessness, including mental health challenges and substance abuse. The key findings of the report expose the groups that have co-opted the homelessness issue Read More ›

Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Jonathan Choe was recently invited to the White House, along with several other independent journalists, to discuss Antifa. He used the opportunity to present the new Capital Research Center report, “Infiltrated,” that was produced in cooperation with Discovery Institute.