In 2015, Seattle and King County declared a homelessness state of emergency. Yet, despite the attention from local leaders, the homeless crisis has continued to worsen. At last count, there were 12,112 people homeless in King County — many sleeping in tents, cars, or parks.
And there don’t seem to be any signs that the crisis is letting up, or that there is enough money to solve the issue. So where do we go from here?
We want to give our readers the chance to ask their questions, and then we want to do what we do best: report them out and give you answers.
Ask. What have other cities done to address homelessness? Why are we spending so much money and nothing is changing? Ask us anything you want to know. If you want to be anonymous, just check the box and we won’t publish your name. You have until July 23 at noon to ask your questions.
Vote. Seven other news organizations are all sourcing questions from their readers, too. We’ll share pool all of the questions and each organization will choose which it believes it is best suited to report on. Then, you’ll vote for your favorite of three questions chosen by Crosscut editors.
We report back. Whichever question wins is the one Crosscut will answer — in the form of a story in August. You can also check our partner’s sites for their stories answering questions: The Evergrey, Geekwire, SeattlePI.com, Real Change, ParentMap, Patch and KUOW.
Big thanks to our partners — The Evergrey, GeekWire, Seattlepi.com, Real Change, Patch, ParentMap and KUOW for working with us on this project; to the media organizations participating in #SeaHomeless Day on July 19; to Hearken for letting us use their tool for this collaborative local project; and to all of you for thinking and caring about your city.