Regional leaders come together to craft community plan to prevent homelessness

Constantine, Durkan, Backus convene the first meeting of One Table to develop a community-driven crisis response

January 22, 2018 9:30 am
Dow Constantine, Jenny Durkan and Nancy Backus. FILE PHOTOS

For the Reporter

King County Executive Dow Constantine, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, and Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus announced the membership of One Table – a high-level work group with an aggressive timeline for developing community action steps to confront the root causes of homelessness.

The inaugural meeting of One Table is Monday, Jan. 22.

“To truly get the upper hand on homelessness, we must be more focused on preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place,” Constantine said. “With One Table, we are convening regional leaders who can help find the answers and unite the community to take on the many root causes of this crisis.”

“The One Table task force was designed to create a regional, coordinated approach and holistic response to our homelessness crisis,” Durkan said. “To tackle this challenge, we need everyone at the table and pulling in the same direction. The One Table initiative is an incredible opportunity to best tackle this problem to ensure expansive and lasting solutions. I look forward to receiving the task force’s recommendations for unified, holistic action and strategies to address this urgent issue.”

“The convening of the One Table task force is a critical piece in addressing the homelessness crisis facing our region,” Backus said. “By calling together experts and leaders from every sector of our community, we will be able to share ideas and proven solutions that we can draw on collectively. I look forward to the opportunity to work together to create a strategic path forward in addressing this challenge.”

One Table members will work together to create scalable strategies for preventing homelessness and develop specific recommendations regarding five root causes of the crisis, including:

• the lack of affordable housing region-wide,

• inadequate access to behavioral health treatment,

• negative impacts on youth involved in the child-welfare system,

• prior criminal justice involvement impacting the ability to gain housing and employment,

• education and employment gaps making housing unattainable and unaffordable.