A homeless shelter in Seattle’s Chinatown International District is searching for a new location.
According to KOMO News, the Navigation Center, a 74-bed, low-barrier homeless shelter, has been operating in Chinatown for around seven years. City leaders are hoping to move the shelter to a new location by January 2025 when the facility’s lease ends.
The Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) says it has always been known that the building in Chinatown was just a temporary location for the shelter, KING 5 reports.
In March, the center released information stating it had served 706 people experiencing homelessness, KOMO News reports. Around 200 residents ultimately being sent to a permanent destination. According to KING 5, the shelter provides shower, bathroom and laundry facilities, in addition to case management, behavioral health services and meal services.
Shelter residents say they are worried about what happens next.
“It’s a little scary,” Dana Hupp, a resident, told KING 5. “Not knowing exactly what’s next because this area, as you can tell, has a lot of crime and stuff in this area as it is.”
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