The fact that thousands of Seattleites lack a safe place to call home on any given night is immoral. As a city, we must do better. During my campaign for city council I used the opportunity to advocate for what is right.
As a child in the Reagan era I remember seeing people living in the streets in downtown Seattle and wondering how our wealthy society could allow so many people to go without. In the years since, the structural problems that cause homelessness have grown more intractable and federal spending priorities have shifted. However, just because solutions are difficult doesn’t mean we should give up.
Homelessness is symptomatic of a larger crisis of community that allows us to ignore the growing inequities around us even as we struggle to acquire more stuff, regardless of the impact on the environment or our quality of life. However, if we work together, we can provide homes for our neighbors and build a more livable city. We just need the political will to make measurable progress.
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