Seattle and King County homelessness promises and outcomes, 2005-2026

What this dataset measures

Every major dated, measurable homelessness pledge by Seattle or King County officials since 2005 for which the exact wording could be found in a primary source. Promises found only in news coverage are excluded.

Geography

Seattle, WA, King County, WA

Unit of observation

Official promise

Update cadence

As promises come due

Curator

FactHub

Curated data tables

Seattle and King County homelessness promises and outcomes, 2005-2026

Each official promise, who made it, its deadline, the measured outcome and a verdict.

Unit of observation: Promise

promises.csv text/csv · 1.3 KB (1,306 bytes)

All 9 rows 7 columns Download the file

All 9 rows

promise_id	year_made	promiser	promise	deadline	outcome	verdict
ten-year-units	2005	Committee to End Homelessness in King County	Secure 9,500 housing units	2014	5,700 secured (reported 2015)	Missed
ten-year-end	2005	Committee to End Homelessness in King County	End homelessness in King County	2014	10,122 counted homeless (Jan. 2015)	Missed
vets-2015	2015	Dow Constantine; All Home	End veteran homelessness (functional zero)	2015-12-31	Not reached (KUOW)	Missed
harrell-original	2021	Bruce Harrell campaign	Move people into or secure 2,000 units	End of 2022	288 units newly announced in 2022 (PubliCola)	Missed
harrell-identified	2022	Bruce Harrell	Identify 2,000 units	End of 2022	2,065 identified (official)	Met as restated
p4z	2022	KCRHA / Partnership for Zero	Reach phase five downtown in as little as 12 months	About Feb. 2023	Wound down Sept. 2023 after housing 231 people	Not reached
hth-1600	2021	Dow Constantine	Up to 1,600 Health Through Housing units	End of 2022	565 housed; 1,011 purchased (Dec. 2022)	Missed
wilson-1000	2026	Katie B. Wilson	Add 1,000 new shelter units in 2026	End of 2026	Revised to ~960 beds by end of 2027	Pending; revised
pathways-500	2016	City of Seattle (Catherine Lester)	Move 500 unsheltered families indoors	End of 2017	738 sheltered by Aug. 2017	Met

7 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
promise_id	string	Identifier	—	derived
year_made	string	Year the promise was made	—	derived
promiser	string	Person or body that made the promise	—	derived
promise	string	What was promised, summarized	—	derived
deadline	string	Deadline stated in the promise	—	derived
outcome	string	Measured or reported outcome at or after the deadline	—	derived
verdict	string	Met, missed, not reached, pending, or met only as restated	—	derived

Supporting files

Source snapshots, manifests, quality reports, documentation, and other materials used to produce or review this release.

• build_promises.js Transformation manifest · text/javascript · 31.4 KB (32,202 bytes)

  Node.js script that builds this dataset's table, statements, forecasts and saved analysis.

• promises-quotes.md Documentation · text/markdown · 38.2 KB (39,120 bytes)

  Research notes with each quote, its page or location in the primary source, context, and verification status.

Sources

1. Committee to End Homelessness in King County, A Roof Over Every Bed in King County: Our Community's Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness (2005) Primary source for the 2005 plan's goals. The original site (cehkc.org) is offline, so the URL is the Internet Archive copy and the archive link is its raw-file form.

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

   Archived copy

2. All Home, Strategic Plan 2015-2019 Primary source for the 2015 veteran goal and for the Ten-Year Plan's results (units secured). The original site is offline; the URL is the Internet Archive copy.

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

   Archived copy

3. King County Executive, "Campaign to help every homeless veteran in King County find a home by the end of 2015" (Aug. 11, 2015) Primary source for Executive Constantine's veteran pledge.

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

   Archived copy

4. KUOW, "King County won't meet goal to end veteran homelessness" (Dec. 28, 2015) News report that the 2015 veteran goal was not met (secondary).

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

   Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

5. Bruce Harrell for Seattle, "Bruce Harrell Unveils Homelessness Plans..." (campaign release, about Sept. 2, 2021) Primary source for the 2,000-unit campaign pledge.

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

   Archived copy

6. Office of the Mayor, "Mayor Harrell Releases One Seattle Homelessness Action Plan..." (May 31, 2022) Primary source for Mayor Harrell's restated goal of "identifying" 2,000 units.

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

   Archived copy

7. Office of the Mayor, "One Seattle Homelessness Action Plan Posts Q4 Data Updates" (Jan. 27, 2023) Official outcome: 2,065 units identified in 2022.

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

   Archived copy

8. PubliCola, "Harrell Promised 2,000 Units of Housing or Shelter By the End of His First Year. He Didn't Deliver." (Jan. 4, 2023) Independent count of units newly announced in 2022 (secondary).

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

   Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

9. Partnership for Zero launch website (KCRHA), Feb. 17, 2022 Primary source for the Partnership for Zero timeline.

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

   Archived copy

10. KCRHA, Partnership for Zero resource page Official outcome: 231 people housed; pilot wound down in September 2023.

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

    Archived copy

11. King County Executive, 2021 State of the County address (May 11, 2021) Primary source for Executive Constantine's Health Through Housing pledge.

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

    Archived copy

12. King County Executive news release on Health Through Housing purchases (July 29, 2021) Primary source for the "up to 1600 by the end of next year" pledge.

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

    Archived copy

13. King County Executive news release on Salmonberry Lofts (Dec. 14, 2022) Official outcome at the end of 2022: 565 people housed, 1,011 units purchased.

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

    Archived copy

14. Office of the Mayor, "Mayor Wilson's 2026 State of the City Address" (Feb. 17, 2026) Primary source for Mayor Wilson's 1,000-unit goal for 2026.

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

    Archived copy

15. Office of the Mayor, "Mayor Wilson delivers action plan to bring people indoors..." (Sept. 14, 2026) Primary source for the revised goal of about 960 shelter beds by the end of 2027.

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

    Archived copy

16. City of Seattle, Pathways Home fact sheet (Sept. 2016) Primary source for the Pathways Home 2017 goals.

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

17. Catherine Lester, "With changes, Seattle could shelter all of its homeless," Crosscut (opinion), Sept. 13, 2016 Primary source for the first-person 500-families pledge.

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

    Archived copy

18. Seattle Human Services Department, "One Year Update on Pathways Home" (Sept. 22, 2017) Official outcome: 738 families sheltered by Aug. 31, 2017 (p.3).

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public document. Linked, not rehosted.

    Archived copy

19. HUD, 2007-2025 Point-in-Time Counts by CoC King County's 2015 count (10,122), used as the outcome of the end-homelessness goal.

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. U.S. government work (public domain). Linked, not rehosted.

    Archived copy captured May 30, 2026

Limitations and reproducibility

Documented: Each quote links to its primary source and an archived copy; quote-notes gives the page or location of each.

• Outcome measures do not always match the promise's wording (for example, units purchased vs. units open); each forecast's note explains the mismatch.
• Some outcomes are self-reported by the government that made the promise.
• Promises made only in news interviews or reported only by the press are excluded, so the list is not exhaustive.
• Homeless counts changed method in 2015, 2017 and 2022.