Thurston County seeks public input on homeless housing plan 

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Thurston County is seeking public participation for its 2025-30 Local Homeless Housing Plan. 

The Washington State Department of Commerce requires the plan every five years, as it serves as a guide for addressing homelessness through local and state collaboration. 

“The local plans come together at Commerce in the State Strategic Plan and Annual Report to the Legislature on Washington’s efforts to address homelessness. The local plans serve as a five-year roadmap identifying state and county activities and goals, while the report highlights accomplishments and course adjustments.” the county said in a press release on Tuesday, Dec. 31. 

Stakeholder and committee contributions 

The county’s Office of Housing and Homeless Prevention is taking point on the project, working alongside a team of stakeholders. 

“The stakeholders include representatives from organizations working directly in homeless services, behavioral health, and opioid response/prevention,” the press release stated. 

The county also highlighted the involvement of the Lived Experience Housing Steering Committee in shaping the plan. 

“Thurston County’s Lived Experience Housing Steering Committee is participating in the development by providing guidance and vetting of the development process and the plan,” the notice confirmed. 

The 2025-30 Local Homeless Housing Plan progresses from public engagement in early 2025 to final approval by November, and then submission to the Washington State Department of Commerce in December.
The 2025-30 Local Homeless Housing Plan progresses from public engagement in early 2025 to final approval by November, and then submission to the Washington State Department of Commerce in December.
Photo courtesy of Thurston County Public Health and Social Services

Homeless housing plan goals and timeline 

The plan’s development is based on five objectives identified by the Washington State Department of Commerce: 

  1. Promote an equitable, accountable and transparent homeless crisis response system. 
  2. Strengthen the homeless service provider workforce. 
  3. Prioritize assistance based on the greatest barriers to housing stability and the greatest risk of harm. 
  4. Prevent episodes of homelessness whenever possible. 
  5. Seek to house everyone in a stable setting that meets their needs.  

Residents will have additional opportunities to provide feedback during the fall of 2025, leading up to the plan’s expected adoption by the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) in November 2025. 

The detailed timeline for the plan is as follows: 

  • January–February 2025: Community survey opens in late January. 
  • March–April 2025: Targeted outreach events to gather additional input. 
  • May–August 2025: Plan drafting and vetting by the Lived Experience Housing Steering Committee. 
  • September 2025: Public comment period and public hearing. 
  • October 2025: Presentation of the plan to the Regional Housing Council for approval. 
  • November 2025: Final approval by the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners. 
  • December 2025: Submission of the final plan to the Washington State Department of Commerce. 

“Opportunities to engage in the process and updates will be shared on Thurston County Public Health & Social Services social media, on the Office of Housing & Homeless Prevention website, and through targeted outreach,” the press release stated. 

The public can access resources, updates and contributing opportunities by visiting the county’s Public Health and Social Services Department website or following its official social media platforms. 

Comments

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  • Coug66

    The more we build, the more that will come. Is there some way we can prioritize allocation of resources to those who come from Thurston county?

    Wednesday, January 1 Report this

  • BobJacobs

    Our local jurisdictions are working together on the challenges of homeless people. However, sometimes it feels like Olympia is shouldering more than its fair share of housing for homeless people and also the expenses for services to homeless people.

    So it seems clear that the housing plan should have a clear goal of distributing the facilities and costs in proportion to the jurisdictions' populations.

    Bob Jacobs

    Thursday, January 2 Report this

  • JW

    Here's my input: Don't.

    Not a dime on "homeless housing". It's been working so wonderfully the past 15 years for our community.

    It's not my (as in a taxpayer) responsibility to provide housing to drug using criminals.

    Thursday, January 2 Report this

  • longtimeresident

    It's going to take a whole year to update the Homeless Housing Plan? Can't you work a little faster than that? No wonder nothing seems to be happening!

    Thursday, January 2 Report this

  • Chappellg

    JW, I hope nothing unexpected like a layoff, rent increase,illness, disability, financial setback, alcohol or substance use disorder ever happens to you or your family that might lead to homelessness. You obviously don’t believe that it takes a village, so enjoy your bitterness & isolation.

    Thursday, January 2 Report this

  • Fraudguy

    The mere fact that the plan calendar is a year-long event shows there is no intention of "solving this problem. " All of these agencies and organizations NEED homelessness to continue. Were they to solve the problem, they'd work themselves out of a job. This is a machine. The more birdseed you provide, the more birds will come. That sounds laudable until you have to deal with all the bird crap that inevitably is left behind.

    Thursday, January 2 Report this

  • BillString

    Per reports, there are 1,145 homeless people in Thurston County. According to the Greyhound website, a one-way ticket to Fargo, ND costs anywhere from $250-$280. If we round each ticket up to $300, the total cost to expediently rid the county of the homeless population comes to $343,500. This cost is much friendlier than constantly giving handouts, "cleaning" up camps, and building more and more housing.

    Thursday, January 2 Report this

  • MrCommonSense

    In business we rarely re-invented the wheel. We were always looking for examples of successes by other companies where we simply "stole" the best ideas and implemented them, most often with great success. There must be dozens of examples from cities around the country where our planning folks can put together a realistic plan and simply get feedback from the stakeholders, make a few adjustments and get going. We've been in this crisis too long and citizens should expect accountable government action if government is ever going to regain our trust.

    Thanks for listening......

    Thursday, January 2 Report this

  • treedolympia

    The website has the same resources it has had forever and NO information about how to engage in this process.

    In 2024 Thurston County spent over 24 million on homelessness. If there are under 1200 people experiencing homelessness, then where did all of the money go?

    1. Salaries

    2. Sick leave

    3. Vacation pay

    4. Organizational holidays

    5. Personal days off

    6. Medical benefits for employees who do not work for the orgs

    The Countys response to homelessness is as effective as it's resources....neither are effective. I believe all of the commenters have valid points.

    Just because people are frustrated with the system does not mean people are insensitive to the issues that some unhoused folks face.

    A lot The money spent on homelessness has been mismanaged and there isn't any accountability. Some providers, are not qualified to provide services the County contracts them to provide and those who need services aren't able to access them equitably.

    When the County makes requests for proposals, they are making dog whistles to the same group of providers to apply. There is no expectation to actually help people.

    After reviewing hundreds of pages of invoices submitted to the county, it is clear that responding to homelessness, means keeping certain people employed.

    Thursday, January 2 Report this

  • Among the things I learned in my years as a volunteer at SideWalk was that chronic and serial homeless folks are happy with with I might consider very minimal living conditions. I did a short, informal survey of people at Quince St. Mitigation Site not long after it opened, and when I asked people if they could sign on to those living conditions for as long as they needed them at a cost of 33% of their income nearly all said they would in a minute. Many had disability, SSI, or similar minimal support; nowhere near enough to rent a room and eat.

    A guaranteed tiny, dry, heated, insulated, lockable personal space, with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities, sounded darn good to them. In exchange for this guarantee they would no longer be homeless in their own eyes, and "we" could stop trying to put them into housing the rest of us might consider "standard." They would no longer be homeless.

    A few, I'm sure, would parlay this newfound stability into work and moving into a more main stream lifestyle, but the reason many of them are out of housing has to do with physical or mental barriers that have kept them on the street. The barriers wouldn't go away, but they'd be off the street and happy to be so.

    Half a dozen tiny house villages, all with access to bus lines, could reduce our 1200 homeless number to 7 or 800, if we as a community were willing to accept for them what they are willing to accept for themselves.

    We call the Mitigation Site and similar situations "transitory" as if to imply we have a plan for where are the inhabitants are transitioning to. We've been doing this for a long time and have yet to find a process, such as building sufficient affordable housing, or building enough permanent supportive housing, that works.

    Tiny house villages work for a segment of the population. They can be a solution to at least part of the problem if we just embrace the standards of some of the people we want to help.

    Thursday, January 2 Report this

  • Yeti1981

    One thing is for sure, and thus why it no longer happens in my hometown, building solely low-income housing projects that segregate the poor people from the rest of the community has never worked. People tend to mimic what they see around them. Fund (temporary) vouchers to supplement income for rent. Fund programs that offer a hand-up, rather than a hand-out. Allow more variety in housing and allow vouchers to be utilized across the community. Put limits and requirements on the assistance that puts people on a track to success. Put those people in places where they can access resources and see the success of others and make those connections. It's clear people are frustrated with the current model, because it really is an economy in and of itself. If there is money to be made and no incentive to actually solve the problem, the problem will persist.

    Friday, January 3 Report this

  • Boatyarddog

    So many conditions, not enough compassion, the Oligarcs Love This disparaging talk... should we, or should we Not Show compassion to others, due to THEIR Needs? OF COURSE we should as a Community.

    Friday, January 3 Report this

  • Mugwump

    If we truly cared about the unhoused we could go a long way toward resolving the issue by caring for the mentally ill and people suffering from substance abuse disorder on the streets. Handing out money and providing housing with no strings attached is a weak imitation of real compassion. Real compassion is treating the root cause of being without a house for most but not all of those we see on the street. Granted, housing costs are exclusionary but that has little or nothing to do with the people we see daily acting out a manic phase in the middle of an intersection or nodding out on a sidewalk.

    Thursday, January 16 Report this