The annual one night count was conducted in the early morning hours on Jan. 23. King County officials and volunteers counted the individuals exposed to the elements and sleeping on the streets on a single night in King County.

The annual count is organized by the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness. The count is a figure to help determine the prevalence in King County.

That night the count revealed 3,772 people had no shelter in King County. Last year there were 3,123 people without shelter making this year a 21 percent gain. From those numbers, 2,813 individuals were unsheltered in Seattle.

“Being without a place to call home consumes your life.  If you’re homeless you don’t have a place to sleep.  If you’re homeless you have nowhere to keep your medications to stay alive,” Ballard Community Task Force on Homelessness and Hunger (BCTHH) wrote in a statement after the count. “If you’re homeless you don’t have a place to keep your personal papers.  If you’re homeless, you don’t have a place to shower or wash your clothes. If you’re homeless, it is hard to get or keep a job.  If you’re homeless you don’t have your own space. If you’re homeless, you aren’t treated with respect.

Last year, in Ballard, there was at least one death associated with lack of shelter. Jeff Bouck died on Feb 4, under the Ballard Bridge after not being able to make it back to his camp. Temperatures dipped to freezing that night. He was 48.

“We do the One Night Count to document how many people lack basic shelter in our community,” said Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness Executive Director Alison Eisinger. “We already know that homelessness is a crisis. We know that there are good and effective programs that have helped and housed many people. Yet we have not matched capacity with the need. This morning’s count shows that our region’s unmet need for shelter and housing is greater than ever.”

“We need to recognize homelessness as a crisis and not a given,” said Seattle Committee to End Homelessness Director, Mark Putnam. “All of us, our entire community, must rally together if we are to end homelessness, and today’s count gives us new data on the enormity of our challenge.”

BCTHH is not surprised that there is a rise this year.

“There are many reasons for homelessness. We lack enough living wage jobs; we lack enough low-income housing; we lack any way to prevent drastic rent increases; we lack any way to prevent the destruction of existing reasonably priced housing; Seattle holds the position of the fastest rising rents of any city in the nation; and we lack adequate human services,” wrote BCTHH.
BCTHH is among many who believe the cause of homelessness is a mutually rising phenomenon based on societal values and housing demand/cost.
“The results of last night’s One Night Count are shocking and tragic but unfortunately we are not surprised.  Indeed a 21 percent increase in homelessness over last year is huge.  This shocking rise in homelessness, which is occurring throughout Seattle and King County, including Ballard, requires a change in the way we are treating one another. …To bring the numbers down, we need housing.  We need to be honest with one another.  We need to open our hearts.” 
The numbers are rising in Seattle but efforts in Salt Lake City show that it is possible to end homelessness. Earlier this month Salt Lake City Mayor, Ralph Becker, declared the chronic homelessness among veterans has ended, making Salt Lake the second city to celebrate ending homelessness among veterans this year behind Phoenix.

CEH and BCTHH are hopeful that the same changes can be made here in Seattle. CEH reported that in 2015 the committee and King County focused energies on ending veteran homelessness by increasing shelter sizes in the county and Seattle. New permanent supportive housing was constructed and funding for programs that support rent assistance and job training was established.

Furthermore, the Seattle Times reported County Councilmember Rod Dembowski said officials need to “triple-down” on efforts to build more affordable housing to combat homelessness. Coucilmember Dembowski called for officials to evaluate the results of the $140 million expenditure CEH spent last year on emergency shelters and housing. Currently, King County emergency shelters and “transitional housing” has space for 6,000 individuals each night.

“Is this the Seattle that we want?  Because this is the Seattle that we have now. It doesn't have to be this way,” stated BCTHH.

To find the full report of both counts visit http://www.cehkc.org/