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 group had its inaugural meeting on Monday.
“To truly get the upper hand on homelessness, we must be more focused on preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place,” said Constantine said in a Jan. 19 county news release. “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 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.”
Members from Kent include Mayor Dana Ralph, School District Superintendent Calvin Watts and Kent Youth and Family Services Executive Director Mike Heinisch.
One Table work group meetings are scheduled through April.
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
Composed of city and county leaders in business, politics, nonprofits, and service provision, many of whom have extensive experience with housing and homelessness issues or have experienced homelessness themselves, One Table members include:
Co-Chair Nancy Backus, Auburn Mayor
Co-Chair Dow Constantine, King County Executive
Co-Chair Jenny Durkan, Seattle Mayor
Hamdi Abdulle, Somali Youth and Family Club
Joanne Alcantara, API Chaya
Sally Bagshaw, Seattle City Council
Connie Ballmer, Ballmer Group
Caleb Banta-Green, University of Washington
Don Blakeney, Downtown Seattle Association
Jan Bolerjack, Riverton United Methodist Church
Kelle Brown, Plymouth Church
Molly Carney, Evergreen Treatment Services
Chris Cates, REACH (Evergreen Treatment Services)
Ana Mari Cauce, University of Washington
John Chelminiak, Bellevue Mayor
Frank Chopp, Speaker of the Washington State House of Representatives
Debbie Christian, Auburn Food Bank
Maud Daudon, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
Deanna Dawson, Sound Cities Association
Rod Dembowski, King County Council
Dan Dixon, Providence Health & Services
Colleen Echohawk, Chief Seattle Club
Alison Eisinger, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness
Frank Foti, Vigor Industrial
Nick Hanauer, Civic Ventures
Patricia Hayden, YWCA Seattle-King-Snohomish
Mike Heinisch, Kent Youth and Family Services
Rex Hohlbein, BLOCK Project
Katie Hong, Raikes Foundation
Steve Hooper, Kigo Kitchen
Jane Hopkins, SEIU 1199
Lisa Howard, Alliance for Pioneer Square
Helen Howell, Building Changes
Laura Inveen, King County Superior Court Judge
Megan Karch, FareStart
Jeanne Kohl-Welles, King County Council
Paul Lambros, Plymouth Housing Group
Sharayah Lane, All Home Consumer Advisory Council
Annie Lee, Team Child
Sara Levin, United Way of King County
Julie Lindberg, Molina Healthcare
Laurie Lippold, Partners for Our Children
Andrew Lofton, Seattle Housing Authority
Esther Lucero, Seattle Indian Health Board
Joe McDermott, King County Council Chair
Gordon McHenry, Solid Ground
Tony Mestres, Seattle Foundation
Kolin Min, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Denise Moriguchi, Uwajimaya
Teresa Mosqueda, Seattle City Council
Sharon Nelson, Majority Leader of the Washington State Senate
Ariyetta Nelson
Stephen Norman, King County Housing Authority
Daniel Pitasky, Schultz Family Foundation
Shelly Pricco, Nexus Youth and Families
Ed Prince, Renton City Council President
Mark Putnam, Accelerator YMCA
Dana Ralph, Kent Mayor
Spencer Rascoff, Zillow
Dave Rodriquez, Plymouth Housing Group
John Schoettler, Amazon
Mary Snapp, Microsoft
Dave Stewart, Vulcan
Milena Stott, Valley Cities Behavioral Health Care
Kenny Stuart, Seattle Firefighters Union IAFF #27
César Torres, Northwest Justice Project
Laura Van Tosh, Seattle Area Support Groups
Shari Wade, All Home Consumer Advisory Council
Amy Walen, Kirkland Mayor
Joshua Wallace, Seattle Area Support Groups
Sally Watkins, Washington State Nurses Association
Calvin Watts, Kent School Superintendent
John Arthur Wilson, King County Assessor
Danielle Winslow, All Home
Hilary Young, Pioneer Human Services
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