Seattle City Council Housing & Human Services Committee 6/25/2025

All right.

Good morning, everyone.

The time is 9.31, and the June 25th meeting of the Housing and Human Services Committee meeting will now come to order.

I'm Cathy Moore, chair of the committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council President Nelson?

Present.

Council Member Rink?

Present.

Council Member Saka?

Here.

Vice Chair Solomon?

Here.

Chair Moore?

Present.

We have five present.

All right, thank you.

All right, thank you everyone for being here today for the June 25th meeting of the Housing and Human Services Committee.

On today's agenda, first we have appointments to the Seattle Women's Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the LGBTQ Plus Commission, the Disability Commission, and finally the Community Roots Housing PDA.

Because of the many appointments, they will be voted through the consent calendar.

We also have a presentation from the More We Love with an update from their survivor program participants.

If there are no questions about today's agenda, we will move into public comment.

And I'm not seeing any questions.

All right.

So we will now open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comments should relate to items on today's agenda or within the purview of this committee.

Clerk, how many speakers are signed up today?

We have one speaker.

Okay, each speaker will have two minutes.

We will start with our in-person speaker.

Can you please read the public comment instructions?

The public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

The public comment period is up to 20 minutes.

Speakers will be called in the order in which they registered.

Speakers will alternate between sets of in-person and remote speakers until the public comment period has ended.

Oh, and we just have one more that signed up remotely.

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left on their time.

Speakers' mics will be muted if they do not end their comments within the allotted time to allow us to call on the next speaker.

And the first in-person speaker is Andrea Suarez.

All right, thank you.

Hello?

Hi.

Hi, my name is Andrea Suarez.

I'm the founder and executive director of We Heart Seattle.

I'm here to really just thank Councilwoman Moore and the Moore we love for what's happening here in the city of Seattle to support these women here.

I actually wanted to talk about WeHeart Seattle's own impacts to the city as well, and use this boilerplate that council member Moore used in writing in new services and new providers into bills that might be forthcoming.

Our year-to-date impacts, we've raised over $2.5 million.

Last year, We Heart Seattle raised a million dollars from private sector to clean our green belts, to work in the trenches, under the bridges, on the blade, on the track, referring men and women and youth to programs like The More We Love, like Hope and Chance, like Battlefield Addiction, like Camp United We Stand.

I have housing, too.

We fund...

and donate towards the More We Love, Battlefield, Hope and Chance, Camp United We Stand, and other partners that have a recovery-based and transformative program so people reach self-sufficiency.

To my knowledge, We Heart Seattle is the number one referring partner to Lakeside Milam, a 24-7 detox facility.

Madison here graduated.

We're really proud of her and the other men and women who have graduated from that program.

So I'm a little bit concerned that Chief Barden is saying there's no place for people to go.

There's no system.

Where we have a system, it's picking up the phone and calling people like Christine.

We're getting phone calls from police officers, other outreach providers to provide transportation and tickets home to treatment, to family unification, back to work, back to jail.

We believe accountability is love.

And when we continue- people from serving their time, they sort of devolve into the same old pattern.

So really just wanted to continue to push the impacts we're making in the city and to be heard and seen and to support the more we love.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker.

The next speaker is David Haynes.

David, go ahead and press star six to speak.

Hi, David Ames.

It's obvious the landlords on city council have absolutely no desire or legit effort to solve the homeless crisis.

It's more like an attitude of not in my district and more passive-aggressive cowardice war on homeless, acting more tough on innocent houseless than actual drug-pushing criminals that untrustworthy progressives sympathize with at the detriment of society imploding.

This council meeting is about more unelected appointments to button push favors for Democrat party voting blocs.

Just look at the housing and human services agenda for the next two months.

Nothing but canceled meetings in July and vacation in August, as if progressive landlord Democrats are okay with homeless suffering in summer because the weather might be nicer.

Proving once again, Democrats don't want to solve the homeless crisis Instead, y'all want to line the pockets of racist, subhuman, mistreating, corrupt nonprofits like Low Income Housing Institute, who pads the cost of subhuman shelters and services offered by Sharon Lee, the most prolific donor and insider in City Hall, who gets an exemption from scrutiny for all her ill-suited, rundown real estate and failed offerings of service that sees Low Income Housing Institute remortgage their subsidiaries, such as Urban Restop, at taxpayer's expense.

overcharging taxpayers on inflated, dilapidated leaps of her own rundown real estate while only offering five showers for downtown Seattle at 9th and Stewart, proving how two-bit chump change Seattle truly is.

I guess we have bad faith untrustworthy in City Hall whose self-feeling greedy conflicts of interest never had the best interest of the whole of community because council is more focused on personal and family investments that benefit from bad policies and an outsider's perspective on what the Seattle sellouts want they don't have the best interest of the whole of community it would be great if the council president appointed somebody to run the housing and human services while they look for a replacement because it's obvious that the co-chair has self-dealing conflicts of interest and has absolutely no interest in solving the homeless crisis or the housing crisis the only ones to solve his

chair that concludes our public comment all right thank you so there are no additional registered speakers and we'll now proceed to our items of business members of the public are encouraged to either submit written public comment on the sign-up cards available on the podium or email the council at council at seattle.gov we'll now move on to the first item on our agenda We will now consider the proposed consent calendar.

Items on the consent calendar include appointments 3190 through 3193 to the Seattle Women's Commission, appointments 3194 through 3201 to the Seattle Human Rights Commission, appointments 3202 to 3207 to the Seattle LGBTQ Commission, and appointment 3208 to the Seattle Disability Commission, and appointment 3209 to the Community Roots Housing Public Development Authority.

Are there any items council members would like to remove from today's consent calendar?

Okay, I'm not seeing any online.

Okay.

Hearing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It is moved and seconded to adopt the consent calendar.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the consent calendar?

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Rink?

Yes.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Vice Chair Solomon?

Aye.

Chair Moore?

Aye.

Five in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The consent calendar items are adopted and will be sent to the July 1st City Council meeting for final confirmation.

all right will the clerk please read agenda item 21 into the record agenda item 21 update from the more we love survivor program participants for briefing and discussion all right thank you if you would like to join us at the council table all of you Do you want to move down to the end of the table?

Bring you all closer.

All right.

So thank you.

So today we welcome Christine Moreland.

Unfortunately, Sarah Ann Hamilton can't join us today from The More We Love.

And Shaley McLavery and Shunty Jeffers and another person.

Madison Reinor is taking Sarah Ann's place.

Thank you.

who are participants in their survivor program.

We were contacted by The More We Love, who let us know that they would like the opportunity to come to committee to share the ways that funding has helped the participants in their survivor programs and allow them to share their stories.

I thought it would be a nice thing to do and a helpful thing because this committee and most of our committees always hear from the providers, which we need to be hearing from the providers because we oversee the work that they do in terms of funding.

But we rarely get to hear from the people who are the recipients of the service services that we are always talking about and debating and funding.

And so I thought this would be a marvelous opportunity to actually hear from the people who are the individuals that are receiving the services who we're here to try to serve.

And so that's why I'm delighted that you are all here today to talk to us about and share your stories.

So with that said, I'll turn it over to you, Christine.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council, for having me here today, having these beautiful women here with me as well.

My name is Christine Moreland, and I'm the executive director of The More We Love.

We are an organization that is rooted in human dignity, spiritual conviction, and collaboration.

Our mission is simply to walk alongside the most vulnerable in our city and offer real, lasting pathways to recovery and restoration.

We currently run shelter beds, transitional housing, and outreach services for our community impacted by commercial sexual exploitation, addiction, domestic violence, and homelessness.

Every day, we work to partner currently with the Sheriff's Department, members of the Seattle PD, and growing networks of dedicated organizations.

Together, we're not just responding, but we're building outcomes that change lives.

And we do it by being people's constants.

In a world that so often turns its back, we show up over and over again.

We listen, we stay, we love people where they are, and we walk with them towards where they're going.

Not perfectly, but faithfully.

That's why today is so meaningful to me, because we also get to honor someone who's been a constant for the city's most forgotten.

In the short time that I have known Councilmember Kathy Moore, she has been a voice of truth and courage in a time when it's easier to remain silent.

She has stood firm, not for political gain, but for the human beings, especially the women that are being exploited every day in our streets.

Kathy saw what was happening on Aurora and she refused to look away.

She didn't simply support the soap order.

She pushed it relentlessly.

She fought to ensure that funding was attached, not just to enforce, but care that the resources were there, that there was safety and that there was hope.

Because of your leadership and the incredible team within the Seattle's Human Service Department, The More We Love was awarded a short-term pilot to operate 10 dedicated shelter beds for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation.

These beds are already creating real opportunities for women to find freedom, safety, and healing.

But Cathy's legacy is bigger than one ordinance or one grant.

She showed us how to lead with both strength and compassion.

She reminded us that when people are put first above politics, above rhetoric, we will all win.

And that's the vision we are committed to carrying forward.

At The More We Love, we believe that true changes happen when we set aside our differences, when we come together around what matters most, the people.

We know not everyone in this ecosystem shares the same philosophies or strategies, and quite frankly, that's okay.

Because it's not about being right, it's about being effective and being loving.

It's about building bridges, not walls.

It's about meeting in the middle with humility and resolve.

Whether someone ideology aligns with me or whether we are committed to working hand in hand because our city doesn't need more division, it needs more healing and healing comes through unity, consistency, and love.

Council member Moore.

Thank you for being that kind of leader.

You've led a path that so many of us are now walking.

And I promise you, we will not let it go dark.

We will continue to love boldly, to partner wisely, and to keep the focus where it belongs, on the people that we serve.

On behalf of our entire team and every woman whose lives are changed because of what you made possible, Thank you.

Thank you for your faithfulness, your grit, and your heart.

And to everyone in this room, we continue to show up, to collaborate, and to listen, and to be somebody's constants because this is how we win.

But most importantly, I am sitting next to three of the most amazing women I've been able to be a constant to, and it's important that you hear from them.

Madison.

Good morning, I am Madison, a survivor, confident peer leader in recovery.

Standing, sitting in front of you is a smart, funny, single mom of two.

Six years and 63 days ago today, I don't think that I would have ever imagined a life I have accomplished in such a short amount of time.

The more we love, Officer Jordan and my number one supporter, Christine, tell me that I was one of nine to get on the list for a full 28 day treatment paid for by Seattle City Council.

All I had to do was commit.

I was a seven-year meth addict, homeless and scared.

When I set foot into Lakeside Milam, I had no idea of the woman I'd become.

I stuck it out and was ready for the accomplishments that not only God had sent out for me, but my women and leaders involved.

I owe everybody in this room, including, but not limited to, Andrea, for getting me the opportunity and having faith in somebody that they didn't even know.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I'm finally the mom, daughter, and sober sister I get to be and want to be for the rest of my years to come.

Thank you for having faith in someone you never knew because I love the women I admire and adore ever so much.

I can't wait to be an inspiration to women just like the one I used to be.

Hi, I'm Madison.

I'm a survivor, a confident peer leader in recovery.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Shay, a survivor, thriver, and leader in recovery.

At 17, I got a job at Rick's strip club.

On my second night as a waitress, a man came in, bought me a ladies drink.

He slipped something in my drink.

When I came to, able to realize my surroundings, I was on a plane landing at the LAX airport in California.

For two years, I was forced into prostitution and injected with drugs daily.

24-7, there was a gun to my head and told if I ran away, he was going to kill my family.

Not wanting anything to happen to the ones I loved, I did as he asked.

I was a scared young girl.

I didn't know if I was going to see my son, hug my mom, or tell my sister I love her again.

We got into a bad car accident.

I injured my right arm.

Bad enough, I was ambulance to the hospital.

Finally able to escape him, I called my mom, who immediately made arrangements for me to come home.

I returned home injured with a drug habit.

This trauma led to 20 years of prostitution, selling and using drugs, thefts, violence, basically any illegal activity.

any illegal activity to supply my drug habit.

I was convinced a convict, felon, prostitute, drug dealer, and addict was all I was ever gonna be.

I really believed I was gonna die in the game.

I can remember a few times looking in the mirror, thinking, today might be the day I finally use too much fentanyl and be released from this world of drug, sex, and crime, and then wondering if my current state God was even going to open heaven's gate for me, and if drug addicts and prostitutes even get to see heaven.

Two days later, I was in a lifted, stolen super duty under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Cops lit me up, and I started to ram them.

I ended up in a gel cell detoxing the fentanyl.

I was finally freed from that drug.

My attorney talked to me about treatment.

I decided to give it a try, and I gave it my best shot.

28 days later, I graduated.

But the judge declined my release plan, and I had two hours to turn myself in, and I did.

At this point, I now had the love and support of my family behind my newfound sobriety.

Friends put my bail together, and back to the house I used to use at for two days, or back to the house I used to use at, The first two days was great, and I was on my Suboxone.

Day three, I woke up to girls in thongs and drugs everywhere.

We got into an argument.

He punched me in my face for sticking up from my recovery.

I grabbed my dog, some fentanyl, and left.

I tried to commit suicide.

Two hits and I was dead.

I woke up in the ER with papers.

My dog was in the pound.

Got my dog out and was walking down the street.

Ran into a friend who offered to help.

He called Christine Moreland.

She told me it was gonna be okay, and since then it has been.

Here's a poem I wrote for Christine back in December after she helped me out.

Oh, sorry.

When I was broken in every way possible, you loved me.

When I was lonely and completely lost, you saw a beautiful soul.

You make the world a better place because you see good in it.

You made me a better woman because you showed me how to be one.

Days when I felt like an ugly human being, you showed me I was beautiful and worthy of love.

No matter how hard my shell is, you open your arms and I fall apart every time.

Because of my angels from the more we love, Oh my gosh, I can't see, sorry.

And my PTSD service dog, I finally feel like I fit in.

I cannot thank the ones who showed up, helped me change my life, showed me love, guidance, and let me know that I have a voice.

I now work for the more we love, chair meetings at the safe location for the survivors, and have recovery sisters.

I show recovery can be fun.

Hi, I'm Shay, a survivor, thriver, leader, and I'm in recovery.

hi can you guys hear me

Okay, hello, my name is Ashanti Jeffers.

I met Christine Moreland, probably one of the worst years of my life.

My mother, 2023, my mother passed away of a drug overdose following, my father did the same when I was 15. Just after my mother passed, I lost my daughter to SIDS.

I had just had a baby the 23rd, my mom died the seventh.

And so I was needless to say despondent, angry, aggressive, didn't care.

all of the things.

And I was spinning my wheels in the game, trying to not feel or not need anyone or do it all on my own.

And progressively my life got worse.

September 20th, or no, September 14th, my life came to a head.

I was straight out of options, out of money, fighting with the father of my child, beat up, I had experienced assault.

I was in the hospital in Bury in Washington and the police called Christine and told her my situation.

And about an hour after that, I was in an Uber with everything I owned on my way to a safe hotel room for me to gather myself.

And that appointment at the hospital, I found out that I was nine weeks pregnant with my son.

and i knew at that point i was done either either somebody was gonna care and help or i was i was i was done for i didn't want to be here anymore and uh christine and her partners came and literally changed the trajectory of my life um I would not be here if it was not for Christine and her understanding and kindness and support through the literal hardest time of my life.

Because of her influences, I have, almost two years clean and sober.

I have my own apartment.

I live with my son.

I now have a relationship with my 13-year-old daughter.

I have my own car.

I'm working towards schooling and employment.

And if you would have asked me if any of this was possible in 2023, I would have laughed in your face.

and probably done a lot more rude things, but it just didn't seem possible.

Life can really knock you for a loop, but when there's people who can see through your pain and anger to who you really are and give you a chance to change, that's what's important.

That's the headline, to know that there's ability to move through your grief and pain and loss and still smile.

I'm immensely grateful for everyone who had a hand in that change.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

Sorry, it's quite emotional sitting and listening to these incredible women.

I just want to say for what it's worth, those 10 beds that were awarded to the More We Love, that the confidence from the Human Service Department to be able to give to us are going to change people's lives.

It's a very short-term pilot program, but to us, this is not a pilot.

These are real people's lives.

These are real pathways that we get to create.

We get to walk alongside the people who need us most.

And so we just ask that the city council sees that work for what it is and continues to support us.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing what you do every day.

It matters.

And council member, Kathy Moore, just again, thank you for your bravery.

Thank you for stepping up.

Thank you for being there for those who need us most.

It matters.

Thank you.

Thank you for those very kind words.

That it was truly a community effort.

Are there any questions from my colleagues?

This is not a good way to wrap this up, but it's just your stories are so compelling and we lose them.

So often we lose the sight of who's out there and the work that we're doing.

Sorry.

I'm so grateful, so grateful for, I met two of you before and I remember being just so impressed with the fact that while you had the journeys that you had made and I think even then you've come even farther and it's really humbling I think you know to we we sit up here and we make judgments and determinations and uh and coming from such a place of privilege um it's always so important to be grounded um so thank you for being here thank you for sharing your stories and um thank you for validating the work that we do, right?

Making us know that it matters and it is possible to have success.

And I guess I would like to hear, and I'll call on my colleague in a moment, but you know, Was it the access to treatment?

I know the Council President has been instrumental in getting money for treatment at Lakeside Milam.

That's been one of her major accomplishments and passions.

Just wanting to hear about the value and effectiveness of that, what we can continue to do better up here to support women such as yourselves and others who are on the track and struggling.

That will be important for us to hear.

But I'm going to turn it over to Council Member Solomon first.

Thank you very much, Chair Moore.

And I want to just take the opportunity to echo comments expressed by our speakers for your work, your bravery, your efforts to support these heroes, these survivors, these warriors in the work that they're doing.

Because when I look at Okay, now I'm gonna get emotional.

When I look at every one of you in this room, you are impacting lives.

You are changing lives.

You are saving lives in the work that you're doing.

Whether it's what you're doing with We Heart Seattle or what you're doing with The More We Love, you are saving lives and saving trajectories.

Kristi, when I had a chance to first meet you and then the conversations that we've had subsequently, been very meaningful for me.

And those conversations will continue.

And when I hear the stories from Madison and Shea, I have hope.

And quite frankly, I need it in my own life right now.

So thank you.

Again, my gratitude to you for your work, my gratitude to you for saving lives and my gratitude to you for.

Helping make it happen.

So thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Your presence at the table matters.

And let me, for example, just to explain how much I appreciate you coming in.

When the council was deliberating on the soda and soap legislation, I remember a reporter asking me why I supported soap.

And it was something, they were sort of equating it with all kinds of sex work, what was going on in Aurora.

And I felt like it was just very black and white thinking.

And I remember being able to talk about the stories that I heard from The More We Love and the people that came in that day.

And it allowed me to make a nuance and to, I don't know, just really show the actual not necessarily impact of the work that we're trying to do.

We were, our legitimacy rests on the degree to which we as policymakers are responding to the problems that are brought to us from our constituents, plain and simple.

We shouldn't be making things up for some other reason to pursue for whatever, we represent the interests of our constituents, and that's already complicated enough.

But my point is that your presence at that table allowed me to really make...

I knew already how I was going to vote, but it allowed me to sort of educate other people about why this...

legislation was so important.

Of course, it was important because Council Member Moore put it before us.

I mean, it wasn't important for that, but I have you to thank for the bravery of doing that and also the wisdom to bring people to the table to be able to, so that we all knew what was really going on and so our constituents could know why we were making the decisions that we were making.

So the point is that At its best, government works together with the people that we represent.

And it takes courage on both sides to really show what needs to change.

What are the problems and what are the solutions?

So thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Saka.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

First off, I want to thank you, Madam Chair, for accommodating the community's request to appear before us today and really share out some of the real life, tangible human impact and results of our collective work, uh, and some of these, these council and city investments.

Um, I praise, uh, and commend Christine, Madison, Shay and Ashanti for, how do you, how do you pronounce it?

Ashanti.

Ashanti.

Ashanti.

Uh, beautiful name.

I praise you all for your courage.

I am moved indeed by your conviction and your bravery in being here today, sharing out your stories.

I think you're more than just survivors.

A survivor implies someone who, you know, just experienced something traumatic and they made it through on the other end.

That's table stakes.

The goal is for that to be table stakes.

I'm really proud of you all for taking the extra step of overcoming fentanyl addictions and meth, and overcoming these really traumatic experiences, personal, family, community experiences, and putting yourself, being empowered by community, on a better path to creating a better life for yourself and your families.

That is the American dream.

That is what every last penny that we invest in our $8.5 billion budget should ultimately be designed.

That is the goal that every last penny should ultimately be designed to achieve.

So you are more than survivors.

You are achievers.

I like Councilmember Solomon's warriors.

You are warriors.

You guys are beasts in a good way.

But again, I am incredibly inspired by you all, and I want you to know, I mean, I think everyone has experienced some level of trauma, pain in their life, myself included, but I want you all to know that whenever, and anyone, not just you all just happen to be at the table here, But everyone who receives services or benefits for the programs that the city has to offer, I want you all to know that your city loves you, cares about you, and is truly committed to your success.

You belong here, not only literally in this space, in this esteemed chamber but you belong in our city and you are worthy of the support and so much more that, and I wish we could do more, but you are loved, you are appreciated and you are worthy from a city's perspective and from the community's perspective.

So we might have these, policy debates on vision and approach, and those debates are as old as time, to be honest, and we're gonna continue to have them on how we best address some of these complex societal challenges.

That doesn't take away from what I said earlier.

You all matter and your voices and perspectives and the collective lived experiences that you all embody and reflect matter.

So I'm really proud of you all.

We're gonna continue to have these policy debates.

People probably know I'm never scared to have these debates And me and my colleagues might disagree on the approach, and we have, and we will continue to do that.

Again, these debates are as old as time, but here's one other thing I do know, one universal truth.

I can say this confidently of all my eight colleagues.

We all care, and we all are committed to your success.

So thank you again for being here.

It's really good to see and hear out, again, as the chair noted, we often hear from the service providers.

We very rarely hear from the service recipients.

unless we do our own work outside of this chamber.

So thank you all.

Thank you, Chair Moore, for your leadership on this issue.

Sure, it's a community effort.

I couldn't agree more.

But it also, all of these things need at least one champion.

And on this floor, from a legislative perspective, and you absolutely, are and were that champion.

So I just wanna say thank you for your leadership and advocacy on this issue in particular.

So thank you all.

Thank you very much, Council Member Solomon.

Council President?

I have a question.

Um, you mentioned that you received support from the city for a 10 bed, um, place.

Uh, was that the first time you had received support from the city or any kind of contract from the city?

This is our first Seattle contract.

Yes.

Who else, what other municipalities do you work with?

I am currently contracted with the city of Beery and the King County Sheriff's Department.

Okay, got it.

I asked that question.

Thank you for letting me know.

That seems to be a real...

This is an issue that does...

It's confusing to me and it is also frustrating because we see nonprofits that are doing really good, unique work and I like to understand better how they break into the city contract system because you answer a request for proposals and then Somebody's awarded and somebody isn't.

And I'm also thinking about WeHeart Seattle, who is in the audience and who made comment today.

Doing incredibly important work, not just cleaning up green belts and places where there were formerly encampments, but getting people into treatment, getting people into job training skill, you know, services.

I mean, but has never received a contract with the city of Seattle or with King County or Seattle, Public Health, Seattle, King County.

So I believe as we are looking at restricted funding sources, which we always are, but you know, now that what's going on in the other DC, in Washington DC, we don't, there's a lot of uncertainty.

we really need to make sure that we have clearly set performance metrics and that we are looking at our contracted service providers.

And if they are not living up to those metrics, then we consider contracting with somebody else and spreading our resources around to other nonprofits because we, We owe it to our constituents to always be looking for the services that help the most.

And I'm so glad that Seattle has recognized your value because clearly the transformative work that you are doing, all of you, just being up here, it's a note to self, I will say.

Thank you.

may i yes i would have to say that i think the big key piece here is that the more we love and we heart seattle is recovery based we are focused on recovery and so that may be why we have not necessarily received some contracts in the past but i do think that the city is moving in that direction around recovery i'm glad to see that as you funded the lakeside opportunity that people are being gifted with At this space, I hope that with how the changes are going, there is more and remain focused on recovery.

And if so, then you'll see, I hope, the We Hearts of Seattle breakthrough get the city contracts.

And the city contracts that are being given to the more we love will be sustained because it is recovery-based.

So I think, yeah, Ashanti, could you please?

Can I speak to that?

I work with, I've worked in this two-year period, I've worked with about 15 to 17 different organizations, all promising that it'll be better, we'll be there for you.

intention and action are two different things.

And having someone like Christine who, I kid you not, I have texted angry text about my son or the bottle warmer is broken, like all kinds of things, like having somebody there for you through those things and actually being there and being willing to collaborate with other organizations to make sure that we are successful is what is most important for me.

I'm tribal, I'm Choctaw native and the more we love along with Mother Nation, First Nation Foundation, Spirit Women's Coalition have all helped me to get back where I'm, you know, back on my feet.

LifeWire, all these organizations willing to work with each other instead of in competition is one of, like, there's a couple that I can just, off the top, where I was just like, I can't, you can't, because their services wouldn't coincide with other services.

And my big question mark and having people like Christine who understand what you're going through and are able to sift through all the things that you have to say to get to the problem and help you solve it, that's rare.

And I have found it in a few places and I'm grateful.

but the ability to co-exist and work as a community to get us back to a functioning state, no longer surviving, but living, enjoying.

All that thriving around here.

Thriving, yeah.

It's not over.

It's not done.

We still need support.

We need those people that can show up for us in different ways now.

Two years ago, it was, I don't have food.

I don't know where I'm going to sleep tonight.

Today, it might be like, I ran out of money for toilet paper.

It just depends and life changes, but having someone willing to be there through all of that when you don't have maybe family or people around that would support you intrinsically just because of who you are, now you have people and that's the biggest thing for me is that I have people now.

Yeah, I'm curious about what was it that sort of got you to the point where you were willing to do the treatment, get into treatment, and how did that work for you?

What was that path for all three of you?

Strapping because it's a big one.

Seven years of being homeless and stuck on these streets with myself and a dog, you could only imagine.

You could only imagine the hurt and scaresomeness that I went through.

I was so ready to just be done, but because of my living situation, being homeless, it wasn't, it was not possible.

I kid you not, it was not.

It was not possible.

And I thought one day I sat there and I was like, God, is this the end for me?

Am I just going to be a meth head for the rest of my life or my kid's not going to get to know their mom?

Is my dad not going to know the daughter that he wants to know when, you know, like he healed me as a baby.

Like, did he know that this is what was going to happen?

Did he have any idea that I was going to become this garbage of a person?

When Christine, an officer, met up with me and told me that my stay at Lakeside Milan was paid for and all I had to do was commit, that's it?

You mean to tell me all I have to do is say I'm in and I'm in?

You got it.

Let's go.

Let's do it.

Like, there was no hesitation.

I had 45 minutes to pack a bag.

I hugged my dog for 15 of those minutes, but I had 45 minutes to pack a bag, and I left this trap house that I stayed at for the last year and a half.

Almost a year, sorry.

I lived in a tent in their backyard and was comfortable living like that.

Never in my life did I think that a daughter, a mother, a sister was going to be in someone's backyard living lavishly.

That's trash.

And now I get to be in my own space with my dogs safe.

My kids are this close to coming home with me and all I had to do is sit down and strap myself in for 28 days.

That's crazy.

And I did it and I tried so hard to get there years ago, but I never, I was never given the light.

And because of Christine and the city council, you guys gave me the light I never thought I was gonna have.

Can I also say that the moment that I put Madison in my car to driver to Lakeside, my phone rang and it was another young mother who had just reported to me that she lost her son of a fentanyl overdose.

I had her on speaker while putting Madison in the car and letting Madison know this is the most beautiful opportunity you could have.

And your mom's not gonna be the one calling me to let me know that your life was lost.

These things really, really matter.

Treatment was the best thing that ever happened to me.

It was an arm and a leg, the cost of treatment, and I had not even a penny of what it cost to get me through what I accomplished.

28 days is such a short time, but I have accomplished years, and I mean years worth of success in such a short amount of time.

I celebrate 63 days today.

And I'm gonna continue celebrating.

I want the next years of my life to be to be thriving, to be full of love, to be a mom, to be able to be a grandma one day.

Like, I get to do that now, and I never.

Seven years ago, you could have told me that this would have been my life, and I probably would have laughed at you too, because that's not where I saw my life going.

I celebrated my 30th birthday in treatment, and all I told Christine was, I see this place with a big birthday bow on it.

I don't even remember the last time I got a birthday gift.

I couldn't even tell you.

I was probably a teenager.

But I got to open up my present on my 30th birthday at Lakeside Milam, and I felt accomplished.

I felt this sigh of relief.

The heaviness on my shoulders totally gone.

And I mean gone, like I have no...

no regrets about anything I did, and I know I'm going to accomplish much more, and I really, really want to aspire and inspire other women, men even, just like me, to know that it's okay to feel those things, but you're not alone anymore, and you don't have to be, and the fight is not just your fight, it's gonna be our fight, and we're here to battle it with you, because that's all the More We Love has shown me was that my battle was not just for me, it was for everybody included.

I get to be home with a sober sister now, and she and I have the most amazing relationship.

I've got three sisters of my own I don't even know.

And I get the biggest sister, the best biggest sister I could ever have asked for in such a short amount of time.

They currently occupy our transitional housing units that we are using after people recover from detox treatment.

It's the best thing that ever happened to me, so I thank you.

You know I went there too, you know.

One more time.

Do you know I went there?

Really?

Yeah.

I love that place.

If I could go back just for a day, I would.

It was so much fun.

Well, I say that here at the dais because I just want people to know that addiction is not, it's everywhere.

It's everywhere.

And putting our resources into a service that gets people into comprehensive treatment And then just pays the check afterwards is really the simplicity.

It has to be on demand.

Treatment has to be there when you want it.

And the city can just make it easy by paying the check afterwards.

What's really important, though, is what I'm fighting for right now is what happens when people are finished with their program.

there are, you can still go do all the counseling groups, but where do you live?

And it's important to have a recovery-based home if that is the path you choose for yourself.

It is, it is.

And I love it so much.

I'm held accountable for all the things that I have going on in my life.

I hold myself accountable.

And treatment's not for those who need it.

It's not for those who want it.

It's for those who do it.

And I walk foot by foot through my recovery every day of my life.

congratulations on your 63rd day that's amazing thank you i told her she was going to speak in front of council one day when she was doing her intake at lakeside here you go i kind of thought it was a joke not gonna lie i thought it was just my way her way yeah i got something bigger for you but no here i am and i get to finally show you this works and i thank you because you saved my life from a world of hurt so thank you shaley

So for me, recovery, honestly, I've had four suicide attempts altogether.

I've tried treatment two different times.

It wasn't until I was absolutely off of everything and really actually said a prayer in my unit with my mom on the tablet, basically asking God just to come into my life and figure it out for me.

Basically, Jesus, take the wheel.

And since then, it's not that I had some bright awakening, no clouds didn't open, nothing, no sunshines, but there has been definitely a big difference in my life.

So I think also the recovery, but also having something to look forward to.

So like I get to look forward to being somebody's sister.

I get to look forward to having a God I never had before.

I get a new way of life, but...

When you look at everything that you've done in the past and you think, wow, that was really terrible.

Or how about this one?

Wow, I really survived all those suicide attempts.

Like, wow, that's big.

So for me, recovery was honestly, I was just, what's my next way out?

Something's got to give.

I can't do the drug life no more.

I can't do the prostitution.

I don't want to do it.

I literally was ready to get up on life one more time.

You know, like I told you guys, before I met Christine, I really tried a suicide attempt.

And I was just done.

And then she said, you know what?

It's okay.

It'll be okay.

And literally since that day, it has been.

I got to meet on Easter, around Easter.

I finally got to meet a grandson that is four years old.

And I was always drugging and drinking, you know?

I didn't get to ever meet him.

I didn't even know who this little guy was.

He's cute, but you know what I mean?

So since then, I've actually got...

Since having going to treatment and recovery, and after Christine told me everything was going to be okay, I actually got to meet, you know, my grandbaby.

How crazy is that?

I'm a grandma, you know?

Surprise.

You know, but...

I also wanna say that I was invited to a meeting last Friday at our emergency shelter.

I was on the road, so I had to zoom in, and before me was Shay running our very first recovery meeting for the women staying at our emergency shelter.

It is profound what they are doing through their recovery, but it's also about their purpose.

Yes.

You got one.

Yeah.

And that's all.

Thank you.

Chante?

Um, it's pretty simple.

There were no other options.

Um, I'm one of those people.

I'm very, I said this the other day to Christine, I planned my own demise.

I'm a planner.

I never do anything without thinking about it far too much.

And, um, Losing my mom didn't do it, right?

I lost both of my parents to drugs and I didn't do it.

I was still like, I got this.

I can do whatever and I'm gonna live and it's gonna be great.

I had my heart broken, I didn't do it, none of it did it.

I'd spent quite a bit of time homeless, never actually like outside, but like, you know, just bumping around, not being safe, using, around a lot of men and I don't know, I never, I just, I never, I felt like it wouldn't touch me, right?

If I just keep you, cause why do we use, right?

To cover up pain.

So if I keep using, I won't feel it.

And I have to do that forever because this is what's behind me is way too much.

I can't feel that.

I can't feel a lost child.

I can't feel the loss of my entire family.

If I do, I don't know what's going to happen.

I had other organizations offer, you know, the bed's ready.

All you got to do is say yes, Chante.

No.

The difference for me this time was that I wasn't alone.

I was nine weeks pregnant and running the street and getting beat up and you know all kinds of craziness and was I gonna was I gonna lose another baby right was I gonna was I gonna let that happen and I decided really exhausted that I didn't want to do that anymore.

So I got on the phone to my counselor.

I was working with the YMCA.

And I said, look, Monica, either I get into treatment like right now, right now, or goodbye.

And the police officer who took the statement from the situation I had just left came in and had Christine on the phone and asked me to talk to her.

she said hey queen i'm gonna get you a room and i'll see you later tonight and i had no idea who this person was i was grumpy and angry and very tired um and yeah i don't know i just i the support of another person who is going to treat you like a person not like a junkie or a problem or somebody who's scaring the regular people or you know i'm a I'm a generational user.

Both of my parents used and abused the real of it is like either I was gonna do what my mom did to me to my children or it stops with me.

And I gotta carry a little more than I want to.

And if you meet my kids, they're so cute and awesome.

I could never to them, right?

I could never.

And so it stops with me.

And that's the decision I made the day I met Christine.

That's the key, though, what you said, Ashanti.

It's that it needed to happen then, right now.

When she said she was ready, it happened then, now.

And the result is very clear, right?

We can't wait.

We can't say, call us next week.

We're in eight to five.

Check a box.

We have to help now.

so key right right and then and then um 60 days of treatment 60 days of treatment um she got me to a detox she got me into northwest indian for a 45-day program and then all because of my pregnancy i ended up going back to the detox center because they can manage the medical stuff better But 60 days of treatment and then out to Oxford and all because of you guys.

I'm really appreciative and yeah, you just have to decide.

It's hard, it's scary.

You don't know what you're going into, you're an adult, you wanna do what you want, but you just have to decide you're ready.

And then there's people here.

Well, thank you so very much for sharing your stories, for being willing to come here today.

It's scary being in a public light.

And I just can't tell you how grateful I am that you've been here to share.

I'm sorry, Council President?

I just had a quick question.

I'm sorry to interrupt.

Christine mentioned twice that there was contact with law enforcement and that there was a referral, right?

Is our law enforcement doing that or care?

Ask Christine that question.

I've had a relationship with the Seattle Police Department for about 10 years.

So we have officers that do call us not for it because it's been a formality that's been put together.

However, just because there's personal relationships and they have a level of trust in the city of Berrien.

I work with the King County Sheriff's Department.

They call me 24 hours.

We have a hotline.

Um, I will say that the importance of law enforcement playing a role in connecting these resources quickly and finding the resource providers that will show up quickly matter.

Um, it also creates a different relationship, but there is no formal relationship with the law enforcement now for us to answer calls quickly.

We just do it.

Okay.

That's, but that should be, that should be coming.

That was part of the, um, the funding package was that there would be contracts put out with community-based organizations who could be available almost 24 7 to work with patrol and also the vice so that they aren't you know the three people in vice aren't having to do all of the referral steps themselves and so now that we have the curriculum in place which More We Love has contributed to as well as other organizations.

And I believe that RFP for the community-based organizations to be basically on-call victim advocates directly to work with SPD, that's going out to RFP this month, I believe, or next month.

So that should be happening soon, that more formalized relationship.

And again, the focus of the loitering law is

for sellers is diversion treatment services housing that's what we're there to do and that's the message that's been given to spd so we did present to the north precinct yesterday and gave them really clear instructions on how they can access the beds how they can call our helpline we're going to do proactive outreach off of aurora as well so it should help with the presence and their ability to access the beds good

Any other questions?

Okay.

All right.

Well, again, thank you so very much for being here today, really.

And best of luck to you.

I hope to see you back here in a year's time to hear even more amazing stories of your continued recovery and progress.

And just thank you.

Thank you so much.

Take care.

Thank you all.

Thank you for giving us a second chance so we could be here.

Thank you.

She's good at closing her back.

All right.

Um, well, just, um, to wrap up those, that particular presentation, I did just want to make it clear that that was, thank you.

Council member Sakawa was a leader.

It was a community.

It was a council effort.

It was the council that decided to pass the law.

It was the council that decided to make sure the funding was there.

I also want to thank the mayor's office for putting in two million dollars in their budget.

So clearly it takes a community, it takes a village to make all of this happen.

So Christine's words were very kind but there were so many of us who were involved and HSD was also a critical partner as was Deputy Mayor Tiffany Washington.

So I just want to make extend my thanks to everyone who made this possible and who will continue to make this kind of progress and recovery possible.

Okay, so my final remarks as chair, since this is the, this concludes the June 25th meeting of the Housing and Human Services Committee.

The next two regularly scheduled meetings of this committee have been canceled while the council works to appoint a new chair.

So the next scheduled meeting will be August 13th.

I just wanted to say that it has been an honor and a privilege to oversee this committee for the last 18 months.

I want to thank everyone who has supported the work of this committee, including our incredibly talented central staff team of Tracy, Jen, and Asha.

HSD Director Tonya Kim and staff, Office of Housing Director Michael Wakeler Chin and Kelly Larson and staff, the Department of Construction and Inspections, the Office of Civil Rights Director Derek Wheeler Smith and staff, and last but not least, the imitable Deputy Mayor Tiffany Washington.

I want to thank my fellow committee members and Vice Chair Solomon for your collegiality and your support throughout this time and the fact that you have come to every committee meeting engaged and passionate about the work and thoughtful about the work.

And I'm proud to have worked alongside of you to have overseen the city's extensive housing and human services work.

And we have managed to accomplish, I would say, a fair amount.

We've done a lot of, I think, educating ourselves about the extensive level of work that is done in this city, which is important.

And we have heard from a variety of service providers.

But we've also extended the multifamily tax exemption credit program, which will be coming back to committee at some point here for finalization.

We implemented the housing levy funding program in which we increased the amount of money for rental assistance for actually directing some money to recovery in that, which was the first time that that has happened.

And we also passed the interlocal agreement for King County Regional Homelessness Authority, which Council President and I spent a lot of time working on reworking, revamping the bylaws as well as the interlocal agreement as the city and county's approach to addressing homelessness.

So I would say that as we wrap up the work under my tenure, there's a lot that remains to be done.

And both for MFTE, for MHA, also increasing our shelter and homelessness and affordability issues.

But I hope that the future of this committee will be that we do not shy away from asking the tough questions and from being willing to consider if the current approach is working to best serve the people of Seattle and to continue to be passionate about making sure that everyone in our community feels valued and is cared for.

Because ultimately that I believe is our responsibility to the elected officials.

So I want to thank the residents of D5 for selecting me to serve on this council, and I want to thank Council President for selecting me to be chair of this committee.

Thank you for instilling your trust and confidence that I could navigate this committee.

Thank you.

So the time is 10.37, and we are now...

Oh, sorry, a hand raised.

Oh, sorry, Council President.

You don't get away that fast.

I thank you.

I remember the walk that we took around Green Lake where we were talking about potential committee assignments and thinking that it was important to have you at this committee, partly because I knew you from prior work to be someone who does ask the tough questions.

And that is what I have really appreciated about your leadership in addition to being the force behind the SOAP legislation, bringing people to the table so that we can learn and then continue the good work that you have started.

You've never shied away from actually asking the hard questions, putting things in very plain language at the dais and making your Your opinions known on what we were doing or about to do or had been done.

And I will very much miss that kind of leadership that you bring to this body.

In addition to all the pieces of policy that you've touched, it is that courage that I will miss.

And thank you very much for your leadership.

Thank you very much.

I can't respond because I'm going to cry again, which is not a good look for here, but I know I've not been, I'm not everybody's cup of tea, but I appreciate the confidence that you had in me and I appreciate their camaraderie that we've had in this committee and elsewhere.

And that carries forth for Councilmember Saka as well and Councilmember Salomon.

Okay, there being nothing else, this does conclude.

It's 1039 and does conclude the Housing and Human Services Committee.

Thank you.

Thank you.