Fix Homelessness How to rebuild human lives
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mental illness

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SPD Brilliantly Handles Mental Health Crisis Downtown

Downtown Insanity Late Tuesday morning, Seattle Police (@SeattlePD) officers swarmed the encampment at the corner of 3rd Ave and Cherry St, just a block away from City Hall. The officers conducted a master class on responding to this mental health crisis. Look at the patience and care shown to this women who was literally spitting in the face of these officers. Thankfully the incident ended peacefully. Now imagine an unarmed social worker going into this scene without police? Well, that could happen very soon in this city. As Katie Daviscourt (@KatieDaviscourt) first reported, Councilmember Lisa Herbold (@Lisa_Herbold) is leading the charge to hire six unarmed “crisis responders” instead of police officers for emergency calls through a new 911 Dual Dispatch/Alternate Read More ›

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Michael Shellenberger: What Happened to Progressives?

Why are they letting crime run rampant in cities? Why don’t they mandate treatment to the people living and dying on the streets? Watch Michael Shellenberger speak on the ideology behind progressive cities allowing their citizens to live and die on the streets. Shellenberger created the North America Recovers Coalition that Discovery Institute is proud to be a founding member of. Watch the speech here. Read some highlights here: My own journey on this issue began after writing Apocalypse Never. I was getting ready to go on book tour, and save nuclear plants around the world, and then covid hit. It was very disorienting, as all of you can remember  I found myself feeling sad about it. I’ve been teaching myself Read More ›

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Jonathan Choe Chased by Man with Nunchucks Downtown Seattle

Lost Cause Day or night, this part of downtown Seattle near DESC’s (@DESCSeattle) Morrison and Lyon Building continues to be a blight on the city. Multiple 911 calls to this location each day. Zero accountability and city leaders like Councilmember Andrew Lewis (@CMAndrewJLewis) cannot keep up with the insanity. Drug addicts, tents, and mentally ill people flood 3rd Ave & Cherry St at all hours of the day. Even after more than a year of sweeps, the so called “trap tents” keep coming back. People are doing drugs under umbrellas and carry all sorts of weapons out here. As long as a DESC property is in your hood, city leaders must continue with the sweeps and have extra security on Read More ›

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Jonathan Choe on Newsmax: Pool at Homeless Encampment Causes Controversy

Jonathan Choe joins reporters on Newsmax to discuss the illegal takeover of Washington state property in Seattle where homeless occupants are felling trees, building driveways, and setting up pools. Watch the full clip here:

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Old Mental Hospital Sign
Old Mental Hospital Sign

The Story of Mental Illness in One Graph

Discovery fellow Robert Marbut provides this telling graph on the correlation of falling support for psychiatric beds and the rise of the mentally ill population in prison. Deinstitutionalization since the ‘60’s went overboard and helped create the current crisis.  Read More ›
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Seniors Pressure WSDOT for Removal of Encampment with Swimming Pool

Breaking Trespass notices are now up at a notorious West Seattle homeless encampment with the infamous SWIMMING POOL. It appears The Washington State Dept. of Transportation (@wsdot) is finally getting ready to take action. But some of the homeless say they’ve read the fine print and are not worried…at least for now. Meanwhile, neighbors at the Arrowhead Gardens Senior Living Apartments are putting elected officials on BLAST before tonight’s community meeting. They’re demanding a timeline on removal. And look at the disaster in the deep woods behind the pool! What a mess. On Notice The homeless pointing out there is ZERO language about tents and structures being removed this round. It’s Going National Diane Radischat is the president of the Read More ›

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Fight Breaks Out at Ballard Commons While Kids Play

No Words Sometimes you see a piece of video and are just left shaking your head. Tuesday evening, a witness says a fight broke out at Ballard Commons Park between a well known homeless guy and a dude with dreads. At the same time, a little kid just scampers through the outdoor fountain play area, totally oblivious to what’s going on. Thankfully it ended without anyone being seriously injured. Adults, let’s try to set a better example for the children. This all went down as the Seattle Parks (@SeattleParks) concierge was packing up the large chess set and signs. No park rangers or police nearby. Councilmember Dan Strauss’ (@CMDanStrauss) district remains problematic. But so far, crews have been able to Read More ›

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Another Night in Seattle, Another Overdose

Routine Night in Seattle Downtown fentanyl overdose, more drug/trap tents in front of #Seattle City Hall, and an arrest made a few blocks away in #Chinatown-ID for an altercation. Of course, the night would not be complete without a deranged person exhibiting menacing behavior towards me. Nothing to see here. Move along. This all happened within a 30 minute span Wednesday evening. Check the @seattlepd police blotter. Can’t make this stuff up. Wait until Major League Baseball (@mlb) fans see all this insanity next month. I’m gonna start charging for tours. Where’s Councilmember Andrew Lewis (@CMAndrewJLewis) and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (@kingcorha?) Councilmember Tammy Morales (@CMTammyMorales) remains MIA for her #CID district. For whatever it’s worth, City Hall Read More ›

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Understanding the Homeless Debate

This column begins year two of my weekly writing specifically about homelessness: 52 down, 52 to go, and then it’s time to turn columns into a book. People new to the homelessness debate often find the recommendations of various groups confusing. So here’s a simplified, maybe over-simplified means of understanding the big four prescriptions: Let’s unpack this. Housing First advocates in government and at the National Alliance to End Homelessness say homeless individuals should receive permanent housing with no questions asked: They cannot be required to address their alcoholism or addictions, nor should they be pushed to meet with mental health professionals or take any medications. Further, Housing First emphasizes “client choice” regarding the housing that is offered: Those who Read More ›