Thursday, October 1, 2026
Olympia City Manager Jay Burney has sounded the alarm over a major funding setback that could threaten the future of Quince Street Village, one of the city's supportive housing sites for homeless residents.
At recent public meetings, Burney discussed emerging gaps in state funding and the potential impacts on local homelessness response efforts, especially the Quince Street Village, a 100-unit tiny home community.
Burney first brought up the issue at the city council study session on June 24. He said Washington's former Right-of-Way Program, now called the Encampment Resolution Program (ERP), has seen a steep reduction in statewide funding.
Funding dropped to $5.5 million from $9 million. The funding supports outreach and shelter for people relocated from encampments.
For Olympia, the cut places critical pressure on current services and operations of the housing programs.
"There's some funding at risk at Quince Street Village. What we have communicated to the state is, cities can't live on a year-over-year basis wondering if the state is going to fund these sites," Burney said.
He also aired his concerns at the Regional Housing Council's meeting on Wednesday, June 25, where Burney revealed the Washington State Department of Commerce had declined to approve a $500,000 allocation for Quince Street Village that the council had previously recommended.
According to Burney, the Department of Commerce has questioned whether Quince Street qualifies as a legitimate ERP-funded site, even though it houses individuals who were displaced from encampments.
"Commerce does not see (Quince Street) as a Right-Of-Way site, because a lot of the folks that have been served out of Right-Of-Way have gone to Maple Court, or Sandy's Flats or to Franz Anderson," Burney explained.
"I think they missed the distinction that people have moved around within those sites to accommodate (people) and some folks that were in one place got moved to Quince Street to open capacity elsewhere."
Tom Webster, Office of Housing and Homeless Prevention Manager in Thurston County, confirmed negotiations with the Department of Commerce are ongoing and final ERP allocations have not yet been publicly announced.
"We are expecting those funds to come, but the specific allocation is still being worked out," he said.
The state's new fiscal year begins on July 1, but contracts with local jurisdictions remain unsigned.
Olympia City Council member Dani Madrone, who has a seat on the Regional Housing Council, pointed out that Quince Street is not the only site affected.
"There's also a $500,000 shortfall for Unity Commons," Madrone said.
She called for further discussion to address multiple funding gaps.
Burney said the city must develop a long-term funding model for supportive housing, whether through closer coordination with the state or a new regional strategy.
He pointed toward Franz Anderson as a model, where Olympia partnered with the Low Income Housing Institute to transition from a tiny home village to permanent supportive housing.
"We need a solution that gets us through the next five years or longer. We all want to build permanent supportive housing, but it takes time. We don't have that yet for Quince Street," Burney said.
14 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
JW
Years ago we could see this coming a mile away: the city would jump on the availability of tenuous funds to build villages and apartments, the funding would be reduced or cut off, and then the city would start footing the bill for the difference. I don't have confidence that the city council has the fortitude to prioritize the taxpaying community members over a population that has continued to prey on them with crime and lawlessness. The track record says they won't. A $4 million deficit for fiscal year 2026 is already the storm cloud on the horizon. Don't take on these shortfalls. With the exception of Maple Lane, Olympia has shouldered the lion's share of the homeless "response" aka enablement. Past and current councils have had the fortitude of limp spaghetti noodles to prioritize the community and say enough is enough.
Thursday, June 26, 2025 Report this
TheVirtualOne
You said it well JW. This is empire building to fund more government spending and positions that suck the taxpayers wallets dry. The people who are responsible for the increased crime, drug related violence, and lack of law enforcement are the same ones who are responsible for building this homeless infrastructure. The citizens of this state are fed up with throwing money away into a black hole.
Thursday, June 26, 2025 Report this
GrandyMarty
I hope that anyone who is against assistance for the unhoused has the opportunity to live unhoused before they die. Preferably for a year or more. It should be something every person in the country has a chance to experience. Especially those who are born with the privileges of the color of sheet of 8.5x11, a neurotypical brain, a non-disabled body and male genitalia. It should happen around age 40, and you should lose all of your savings and income until you successfully complete that year without harming yourself or others. But you all can't seem to do that much (keep from harming others) even when you're housed and have access to all of your privileges. Kinda sad, if you ask me.
(My comments are solely my opinions).
Thursday, June 26, 2025 Report this
KatAshe
Gma Maggie,
I support your views and believe the non MAGA majority of those of us who live in Olympia support giving those in need a hand up. No, we can’t help those who reject our hand. Just getting the homeless, who wish to, into safe housing, can be the beginning of a productive future for many.
There are so many who were productive citizens, who through divorce,n loss of jobs, being discarded by parents, have found themselves homeless. There are so tradegy is the longer these people remain homeless the greater the risk for serious mental illness.
Saying all the homeless are drug addicted, alcoholics who are violent, compares with calling all undocumented persons, raising families, working hard, and not committing crimes violent, murdering rapists.
Thursday, June 26, 2025 Report this
JulesJames
These publicly funded encampments are purposely designed to be temporary. So the Olympia folk complaining about year-to-year uncertainty are spinning mistruths to justify their fiefdoms. The only folk truly benefiting from Quince Street are the stolen goods fences and drug dealers. Quince Street isn't an answer. Its a temporary false harbor deserving the bulldozer sooner rather than later.
Thursday, June 26, 2025 Report this
Snevets
GMaMaggie thank you for your insight. With this current administration in our WH so meant more human beings are going to be disenfranchised. I can only hope that apathetic folks like JW & the virtual one are never in a place where they find themselves in a situation beyond their control.
Thursday, June 26, 2025 Report this
BobJacobs
Meanwhile, the city's own actions vis-a-vis landlords is reducing the number of less-expensive rentals in the area, thus forcing more people into homelessness.
Repeal the registration and inspection program!
Bob Jacobs
Thursday, June 26, 2025 Report this
Boatyarddog
Narrow minds offer Few Solutions. First two commenters are Very Narrow Minded.
Friday, June 27, 2025 Report this
TheVirtualOne
I’m not opposed to helping people in need, but there is a difference between government giveaways and holding both the givers and receivers accountable. Olympia has become a magnet for homelessness in part due to government policies that do not hold people accountable. I fully support helping those who are willing to help themselves. Homelessness is a complex problem requiring various solutions, but there is far more wasteful spending than ever before with no meaningful results. Lack of accountability and holding people responsible are the missing ingredients.
Friday, June 27, 2025 Report this
BillString
Remember, out-of-state bus tickets (one way) are about $300 a pop to ship the homeless out to to, say, beautiful Casper, WY.
Friday, June 27, 2025 Report this
JW
Here's some solutions, Boatie: recognize that the underlying problem is rampant drug use and abuse keeping people living in squalor and crime (the Jungle is full of crime) and institute a forced rehab program for any handouts. Let's get some accountability on both sides. Those that just lost their jobs, which you seem to think is most of them--truly ignorant, will easily graduate through this program and move on to the help up they need. The rest are either get clean and get the help or they get out. Don't want to play ball? Pick up your show and take it on the road. Right now they stay and they prey on the other homeless and on the rest of the community.
Sorry if this doesn't meet your definition of "compassion". Compassion to you and yours is an unlimited firehose of public funds so you can pat yourself on the back and feel great about how virtuous it is to spend other people's money.
Friday, June 27, 2025 Report this
LindaD
It's true the new housing rules favor corporate apartments, which suck wealth out of our community, by exempting them from the costs and requirements that still apply to us locals with a single, or very few, rentals, thus forcing us out of the market and reducing housing options for all of us. The most housing burdened are owners with mortgages yet the city is shifting the costs from the corporate apartment owners to us locals, thus raising rental prices. While it's undeniably true the homeless are more likely to have multiple, complex issues, it's also true housing first is a necessary component to any rehabilitation efforts. One option is to create refugee/homeless camps like Jordan or the Sudan, where people are not allowed outside to protect "the community", but those are expensive too. We tried shipping people out, but discovered other locations simply shipped their homeless to us. We clear camps out, but the people go elsewhere, they don't go away. Some are concerned that if we build it, they will come, but if we don't, the problem will simply grow bigger. Housing doesn't "enable" homelessness. Who would give up their current housing to move into 140 square foot tiny home because it's cheap or free?
Friday, June 27, 2025 Report this
CrabbyWill
Olympia still helping the big developers and not caring about the small land lords. Whoever heard of having to give a big time tax break for someone to build on water front property? Meanwhile the City ask like every small landlord acts like a slum lord. Maybe instead of charging fees for inspections and registration to the small landlords that generally have the more reasonable rents, maybe give them the tax break instead of their very wealthy developer friends.
Friday, June 27, 2025 Report this
HappyOlympian
No more handouts to developers! No more public housing "solutions". Stop the push for the highest minimum wage in the area. Vote out the mayor whom seeks reparations. Small city with very limited resources being bled out by folks who think anyone not a rich white guy a victim.
Monday, June 30, 2025 Report this