What We Do

DESC works to end chronic homelessness by combining permanent supportive housing with health services that support people’s mental and physical needs. For more than 45 years, we’ve partnered with people who have lived for years, sometimes decades, without a stable place to call home. Many face complex health and mental health challenges and have not found the support they need through traditional paths. 

We’re working every day to change that.  

The people we work with have complex needs, including serious mental illness, substance use disorders, chronic medical conditions, physical disabilities, and histories of trauma. Many have cycled through hospitals, jails, shelters, and the streets, with no clear path toward stability. At DESC, we don’t give up on people. We believe everyone deserves housing, and that with the right support, recovery and stability are possible. 

Our Approach  

A Continuum of Care 

At DESC, we provide a continuum of care to address chronic homelessness at its roots — combining housing, health services, and individualized support to help people achieve long-term stability. 

Our model is grounded in the Housing First approach — an evidence-based model that we helped pioneer in the 90s. It’s based on a simple truth: People often need housing before they can begin to address other challenges in their lives. That’s why we focus on permanent supportive housing — long-term housing paired with wraparound services such as behavioral healthcare, medical care, and case management. Today, we operate nearly 2,000 supportive housing units across the Seattle area.

But housing alone isn’t enough. That’s why DESC, for years, has been building behavioral healthcare capacity, creating partnerships with primary care organizations to tailor services to our clients’ unique needs and goals. We meet people where they are — whether they’re living on the streets, staying in a shelter, or already housed — and support them every step of the way: 

• Street Outreach: Multidisciplinary teams build trust with people living outdoors and connect them to survival resources, healthcare, and paths to housing. 

• Emergency Shelter/Emergency Housing: Low-barrier shelters and non-congregate emergency housing units offer safety, meals, and support services to help people move toward stability. 

• Crisis Response: Mobile teams and our Crisis Solutions Center provide immediate care for people experiencing behavioral health crises, reducing reliance on jails and emergency rooms. 

• Behavioral and Medical Health Services: Integrated mental health, substance use, and medical care is provided at several DESC housing sites, shelters, and in the community, ensuring people have access to care wherever they are. We’re continuing to build the capacity needed to offer these services at all our sites. 

• Permanent Supportive Housing: DESC operates nearly 2,000 housing units, each paired with intensive, long-term services like case management, daily wellness checks, employment support, and life skills training. 

Ending chronic homelessness takes more than shelter — it takes housing, healthcare, and real commitment. DESC is here for the long haul, building a community where no one is left behind.