Seattle aims to move people from streets to shelter before World Cup
A group of nonprofits and business leaders are working to get every homeless person in a portion of Pioneer Square into shelter before the World Cup.
In doing so, they hope to prove a bigger point: that Seattle can address homelessness effectively if people receive the right kind of help. The homelessness service providers argue that means following a tested model that matches people with the right kind of shelter and services without a bunch of requirements.
"We do know how to do this," said Lisa Daugaard, co-executive director of the nonprofit Purpose Dignity Action.
Their test is chosen partly for its high visibility as a busy destination for tourists and locals, and for the high concentration of people on the streets. While their deadline is the World Cup, they're looking beyond June.
That is because Daugaard sees a "once in a generation" opportunity. Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has pledged to deliver 1,000 new beds in temporary shelter by the end of this year. While Wilson has fallen short of her goal of 500 new beds by the FIFA games - she has announced 175 so far and few are expected to open soon - her team said they're still intent on the promise overall.
How those beds will be allocated is still up in the air. Daugaard and the other providers hope to create a shelter system with more services that will get more people on a stable path - even if it comes with higher costs.
Their work before the World Cup may not reach most people living in the vicinity of the stadiums, where the city is continuing encampment clearings at its regular, weekly pace. But for the 40 people within the section of Pioneer Square, they've quickly seen success, moving almost half of the people into shelter within a few weeks.
On a recent morning, Michelle Anne Chambers, 55, who had been sleeping in a tent with her senior dog Bandit, couldn't hide her excitement. Just a couple of weeks after meeting an outreach worker, she learned she was headed to a tiny home.
"She asked me some questions. I talked with her. And then bam," Chambers said.
A pre-World Cup sprint
The project in Pioneer Square starts with a simple premise: Outreach workers and shelter providers focus on a specific area and commit to getting each homeless person inside.
It's a model Purpose Dignity Action piloted during the pandemic as encampments ballooned in size due to "shelter in place" orders. The nonprofit worked to clear encampments throughout downtown by moving each person into shelter, rather than pushing them along. Before and after this effort, Seattle has largely given people in encampments or RVs a heads-up 24 to 72 hours in advance that they must leave, whether they go to shelter or not.
Purpose Dignity Action was then hired through a state program to do the same thing for encampments along highways and bridges.
But those programs ended last year. Still wanting solutions for Seattle's core, the business lobbying group Downtown Seattle Association proposed trying the model again. The World Cup and mayor's shelter plan added new urgency.
The group identified the area of Pioneer Square where they saw the highest concentration of unsheltered homeless people, from South Alaskan Way to Fourth Avenue South. Then, in early May, outreach workers started going out at dawn to talk with them.
They came up with a list of 40 people. Many have significant mental or substance use issues. Nichole Alexander, head of outreach at Purpose Dignity Action, said shelter that would meet their level of need has been scarce in the city.
"All the folks we're working with have experienced the shelter system in one way or another," she said. "And there's been barriers or it hasn't worked out for them."
But for this pilot, nonprofits - including The Salvation Army and Downtown Emergency Service Center, in addition to Purpose Dignity Action - worked together to pool available space within their shelters, so the outreach team could have an array of choices and find the right fit.
For some, a tiny home with limited help from a case manager might be appropriate. But for those with greater challenges, the team has been able to offer shelter with individual rooms, on-site mental health care and addiction treatment.
Daugaard said this level of coordination is atypical in the city but it could happen any time if there are the right resources. And she believes the Pioneer Square project will show the value.
"If we could do this, we could probably work through any list," she said.
Out of the 40, the team has already moved 19 people into shelter as of Tuesday and helped two others return to family in other cities. Outreach workers discovered another on the list had housing but slept outside. Two have refused to give information to outreach workers or declined shelter but Daugaard said they are continuing to work with them.
For Chambers, who was staying outside in Pioneer Square with her dog, her time outside has only lasted a few months.
But it's a chance to get her life back on track, she said. She'd come from Eastern Washington to be with her daughter and things didn't go as planned. While she tried a shelter, she lost her spot when she had to leave for a few days. The tiny home, she hopes, will give her the space to find housing again in her hometown.
"All my prayers are being answered," Chambers said.
A question of funding
Past iterations of this model have already proven effective at getting people into shelter. During Purpose Dignity Action's pandemic-era efforts downtown, outreach workers surveyed 428 people in encampments and about 77% came inside. Many of those left already had housing or shelter. The statewide program focused on highways and bridges brought 80% indoors.
A high-profile effort to use this model to end visible homelessness downtown from the King County Regional Homelessness Authority fell far short of its ambitious goal but still ultimately brought about 230 people indoors. Partially because the authority created an outreach team from scratch, the effort was slow to start but had picked up steam when it ended a couple of years later.
The problem has often been long-term funding.
Federal pandemic relief funds supported Purpose Dignity Action's original efforts downtown but the Seattle City Council was hesitant to pay the $10 million to keep it going once those ran out. Similarly, when the budget got tight in 2025, Washington lawmakers cut the state program's annual funding from $75 million to $45 million - halting new outreach efforts to encampments because most of that money is needed to support the ongoing costs of people already moved into shelter.
Now government leaders, including those in Seattle, respond to complaints about encampments by simply forcing those homeless people to move if they don't immediately take whatever shelter bed is currently open.
The Pioneer Square project is also running on existing funding, some of it shifted from already approved city contracts with the sign-off of the mayor's office.
If city leaders want to expand the Pioneer Square effort to reach more people, Daugaard said the most important expense will be the shelter needed to make it successful. With more legal, housing, medical and behavioral health services, shelter can range from $45,000 per unit per year to about $90,000 at the highest level of care.
That's the kind of shelter Wilson and her staff have said they want to create for her shelter surge. But they have not released details about how many units will include such services and where the money will come from.
For now, the mayor's staff is supporting the Pioneer Square project by offering existing shelter space that is usually reserved for people affected by the city's encampment clearings, which are aimed at freeing up public space more than resolving homelessness. Those are otherwise continuing as usual in advance of the FIFA games.
Deputy Mayor Brian Surratt said they are excited but at this time, he wouldn't commit to adopting the model as the city's main approach to homelessness.
"It's really about just a mindset and a level of desire and willingness to coordinate," Surratt said.
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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 6:37 AM.