by Katie Kresly.
Burien WA – As daylight broke on October 15, 2024, King County workers began to arrive at the Courthouse Homeless Camp in Burien. They made good on King County Executive Dow Constantine’s August 14th promise that he would clear the camp by finding housing and shelter for the campers “within 4 to 6 weeks.”
Over the past six months, the homeless camp on the parking lot property across from the King County courthouse and Burien Police Department at 14905 6th Ave SW had expanded to include nearly 100 campers, and had become a public health and safety crisis. By late summer, it became so large that KC built a permanent fence around the small “rain garden” space.
Today, King County workers and Burien’s contracted service provider, The More We Love, brought coffee, donuts and support to campers as they navigated their way out of the encampment and into shelters, housing, and other available resources.
According to the King County headline this afternoon, “King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) resolve Burien encampment, provide housing and shelter for 55 people,” however we are not sure of the count since we heard estimates from KC workers that ranged between 50 and 100.
We are also not sure if the “55” number included the successful placements during the past week by Burien’s contracted homeless outreach service provider Kristine Moreland (The More We Love.)
In a previous conversation, Ms. Moreland told us that once she connects people with rehabilitation, mental health services, housing, and shelter, they don’t just “shut people behind a door.” Instead, her team follows up with people to help them stabilize in their new surroundings. Since Moreland contracted with Burien earlier in this summer, she has already placed dozens of struggling people in housing/shelter/services. We are not sure of King County’s placement follow-up protocol.
Later in the day, we received a statement from Burien Councilmember Linda Akey:
“I was encouraged by the dedication of our local service providers, who successfully secured housing, treatment, and other critical services for about **100 people from the encampment.
“It’s frustrating, however, to see special interest groups of homeless activists who have a vested interest in keeping people on the streets—interfering with this vital process.
“By providing only temporary comforts while blocking real solutions, they hinder progress and keep vulnerable individuals in harm’s way. My focus remains on connecting people with the sustainable housing and treatment they need to rebuild their lives.”
According to KCRHA on October 15, “Following the final departure of residents, King County’s Facility Maintenance Division began cleaning and remediation. The fence will remain around the site.”
At the time of publication, there were still several unhoused individuals waiting in the upper parking lot for shelter/housing placement. We also watched as several people walked away with shopping carts and backpacks.
Burien.News will report as we learn more.
3 Responses
My husband and I drove by on our way out on an errand and saw the clean-up in process, there were some of the people from the encampment just wondering around looking lost and confused. I couldn’t help but wonder why the advocates that say they’ve been helping these people were not helping these lost souls and all the others that seemed to show up since this camp started.
On our way home we saw 2 tour type buses at the old Cameron bldg across from Starbucks on 148th and also saw 2 campers walking along 148th and asking where is that bus…again why did they not get the help and guidance from the advocates. As I’ve always thought, are these advocates just doing nothing because if the homeless leave Burien they will have no pay coming into their bank accounts?
I saw a group of them hanging out in front of the closed rite aid store.
Well that is a big empty lot and more than likely that is where Cydney and Charles told them to move too.