Seattle’s innovative homeless shelter has a home, still no opening date

More than a month after it was originally set to open, Seattle’s new Navigation Center homeless shelter at least has a location.

In a statement Wednesday morning, Mayor Ed Murray’s office said the innovative shelter, modeled after one in San Francisco, would be housed in the Pearl Warren Building, in the city’s International District.

The shelter still has no set opening date, so Murray said the city will set up temporary sites to start providing the same services until the Navigation Center opens.

“Getting them inside and getting them connected with the services they need is what we believe needs to happen,” said Sally Bagshaw, chair of the city council’s Human Services and Public Health Committee. Bagshaw visited San Francisco’s Navigation Center last summer and has been a big supporter of the plans for a similar shelter in Seattle.

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Homelessness in Seattle, viewed through the photographs of Seattlepi.com photographers.

SEATTLE, WA – NOVEMBER 3: Rain falls on a homeless encampment called Nickelsville on November 3, 2015, in Seattle, Washington. Seattle, located in King County, is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest, and is experiencing an economic boom as a result of its European and Asian global business connections. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

A group asking for Seattle Mayor Ed Murray to stop the homeless encampment sweeps moves through the Fremont Solstice Parade on Saturday June 18, 2016. (GRANT HINDSLEY, seattlepi.com)

Matt Hannahs (center), DesireŽ Hoffman and their son Devyn, 6, sit by the fire at Nickelsville Dearborn. Hannahs and Hoffman have been homeless for the past eight years. They are working to get into subsidized housing but have hit a roadblock, because neither of them have current Washington State ID.

Matt Hannahs (center), DesireŽ Hoffman and their son Devyn, 6, sit by the fire at Nickelsville Dearborn. Hannahs and Hoffman have been homeless for the past eight years. They are working to get into

Murray announced last June that he had signed an executive order to create the new shelter, intended to be open to partners, people with pets, groups of people living on the streets and with no requirements to come sober — though drug and alcohol use won’t be allowed on-site. With room for about 75 people at a time, the shelter will include laundry and shower facilities, a 24-hour dining room, and case management staff that could help route people into permanent housing, treatment and mental health services quickly.

City officials delayed the opening, initially promised by the end of 2016, after they had trouble finding a place to set up the new shelter. Today’s announcement is the first public mention of a location for the shelter.

The site, the Pearl Warren Building, was long the home of various Native American services providers.

Seattle’s Downtown Emergency Services Center, in coordination with Operation Sack Lunch, won the $1.67 million contract to operate the new shelter.

Murray’s office also announced the creation of a “Navigation Team” of outreach workers and Seattle Police personnel charged with connecting people who have the most urgent needs with shelter and services. The team will be the “primary access point” for access to the Navigation Center, though it wasn’t immediately clear how that would play out.

Murray’s executive order creating the shelter is among a slew of plans made since he declared a state of emergency over homelessness in November 2015. Of those plans, few have become tangible projects.

Bagshaw’s committee was set to hear an update Wednesday afternoon on the Navigation Center and other components of Murray’s “Bridging the Gap” short-term plan on homelessness from the city’s director of homelessness, George Scarola.

Bagshaw said she wants to see more action from the city in general on homelessness, but also the community. She wants to see people off the streets starting “tomorrow.”

“It’s just critical to get people inside,” she said. “And I have lost patience with somebody telling me we’ve got to keep planning.”

Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, business and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.

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