As vaccinations ease the pandemic, and Washington state returns to a more normal life, DESC is working hard to find and prepare places for our temporary guests to go from their pandemic emergency shelter at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall and the Renton hotel shelter.
Since spring 2020, our clients have benefitted from the quieter, less crowded and more private living situations at Exhibition Hall and the hotel. We are seeking to maintain that quality of shelter without losing shelter beds, especially those serving the most vulnerable people.
DESC is working with King County to find hotels via the county’s Health Through Housing program, and is also considering remodeling the main shelter at the Morrison to offer about half of the previous emergency shelter capacity. It could, if approved, accommodate 40 beds for short-term, service-rich shelter.
Half of the 235 people who have been living in the Renton hotel shelter will be moving out soon, with the rest moving out around the year’s end. The estimated 130 people who had been living in socially-distanced beds at Exhibition Hall were connected to shelter beds at other programs in the community by June 28.
“Seattle Center has been a great partner,” says DESC Director of Housing Programs Noah Fay.
The DESC staff working there have been relocated to other DESC programs, depending on their preferences. There will be no job reductions.