Homelessness in the East King County has been growing each year. The economic recession has taken a particularly hard toll on Eastside residents. The rising unemployment rate and lack of affordable housing are key contributors.

In comparison to the other sub-regions of King County, East King County has the highest recorded population growth rate since 2000, and lowest proportion of affordable housing. East King County is expected to experience its highest growth rate of 6.5% between 2008 and 2013. The percentage of households who pay too much for their housing is higher on the Eastside than anywhere else in King County.^[1] This gap between wages and housing prices is one of the major contributing factors in the rise of homelessness on the Eastside. Since 2005 the estimated homeless population has decreased slightly for King County as a whole, but has increased on the Eastside.^[2]

It is difficult to obtain accurate statistics to represent the number of homeless women on the Eastside; they are the unseen, uncounted, homeless segment of our community. Statistics show that as many as 30% of all homeless adults on the Eastside are women.

[1] United Way Community Assessment 2007

[2] King County Website "Distribution of Market Rate Rental Units in King County affordable to Low Income Households"