Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said residents entering a new homeless shelter community in the city's Interbay neighborhood will not be required to be sober, a policy she defended as part of the city's effort to move people indoors and connect them with services."We're not demanding that people be, you know, abstinent when they enter this village, but there are going to be, you know, there's kind of repeated efforts to kind of help people along into treatment and so that treatment will always be available and encouraged," Wilson said. Wilson made the remarks Sunday when asked about the Bayside Enhanced Shelter Community, a new shelter project that has drawn attention from residents concerned about homelessness, public safety and addiction in the area.WILL SOCIALISM SAVE SEATTLE? CITY ADVOCATES STRUGGLE TO FIND SOLUTIONS AS HOMELESS, DRUG ADDICTS FLOOD STREETSA split image of a Seattle homeless encampment and Mayor Katie Wilson.(Nik Lanum/Getty Images )"So again, the model here is low barrier, high-support," Wilson said.
"So we are not requiring treatment for people entering this and this is really an evidence-based model that we've seen be successful.And so, basically, you're bringing people in knowing that the process of recovery is really complicated and difficult."The new Bayside Enhanced Shelter Community has 50 single-adult pallet home units that will serve as 24/7 transitional housing that is expected to increase to 75 units by the end of the month, KOMO News reported. Users of the facility will have access to "behavioral health support for addiction and recovery," but neither using those resources nor being sober is required to use the housing facility.AS SOCIALIST MAYOR BATTLES ICE, SEATTLE POLICE AND CRIME VICTIMS SAY REPEAT OFFENDERS ARE TERRORIZING THE CITYSeattle city street with homeless encampment on March 16, 2026.
(Nik Lanum)KIRO 7 News reported that each 70-square-foot unit cost $16,000 to build, and Wilson has acknowledged that the city is r...