KIRO NEWSRADIO

‘Your dealer is your neighbor’: We Heart Seattle activist exposes drug use in taxpayer-funded tiny house villages

Apr 1, 2026, 11:06 AM | Updated: 11:14 am

With House Bill 2266 passing, the door has been opened for supportive housing to be located in any neighborhood in the state.

Following the bill’s passage, Andrea Suarez, the executive director of We Heart Seattle, toured a so-called “tiny house village” and made discoveries that would “blow your mind” about the drug use being enabled inside.

“These are low barrier, meaning drugs are allowed inside. There’s no requirement to enroll in treatment at these shelters known as tiny house villages,” Suarez said. “Often, people want to tell us what’s going on inside the villages. It caught me, actually, by surprise to have this like blatant, tiny home that volunteers built that was designated, as [my client] pointed out, to specifically use fentanyl and with your dealer.”

Low-barrier housing harbors dealers, enables fentanyl use

Suarez noted she has been in this line of work for five years now, and continues to be shocked at the fact that the tiny house villages are harboring drug dealers with no proactive intervention programs.

“It still catches me off guard knowing drugs are allowed, knowing that we’re harboring drug dealers and giving them free housing for life and permanent supportive housing and tiny house villages, where they’re allowed to deal to their neighbors. It is happening, and it was in my face,” Suarez said. “This is all in the name of what we call harm reduction, and I say to that there is no harm reduction to fentanyl other than to just stop using it.

“It’s the meet people where they’re at until they’re ready philosophy, and when your dealer is your neighbor, I find that to be an impossibility,” Suarez continued. “There’s nothing humane about allowing somebody to use drugs on public property and with our taxpayer dollars to be destroyed and eventually go downhill. I’ve never seen anybody look better once they were inside some of these low-barrier shelters. They deteriorate, lose weight, lose their teeth, and they steal more. They steal from their neighbors to support their drug habit. We are essentially giving people a place to do drugs, instead of the streets.”

‘Expensive coffins’: Suarez likens the tiny homes to a breeding ground for overdoses

Suarez continued to sound the alarm on the disturbing nature of inhabitants who are supposed to be there for treatment, but are living just a short distance away from drug distributors.

“I don’t think that the voter at large knows that the tiny house villages are harboring our drug dealers and drug users, and they’re using the fentanyl inside their own house as well, not just the designated shack. They can use drugs inside their cute, little, tiny house, and they turn into dark, grim, expensive coffins, often because people are overdosing,” Suarez said. “In this village, they had so many deaths by overdose, they decided to create a designated shack, so you wouldn’t use alone. So they were trying to keep people alive.”

Activist banned after documenting fentanyl use in supportive housing communities

After being told she was banned from the premises, Suarez noted that the decision pushed her to release her first video exposing the rampant drug use in the tiny village. Now, Suarez confirmed to “The Jake and Spike Show” that she has plenty more mind-blowing footage that will soon be released.

“I’ve got more video that will blow your mind of people just using these tiny houses as trap houses, smoking fentanyl, methamphetamines, it will blow your mind that this is how these villages are being used,” Suarez said. “And they’re going, ‘hahaha, thank you for this free service. Plus, nobody’s asking us if we want treatment or helping us get real housing.’ So they’re mocking the system that is costing you all billions while they sit in there and kill themselves.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

KIRO Newsradio

mayor katie wilson recall petition seattle...

Jake Skorheim and Spike O'Neill Show

‘She’s still floundering’: Recall petitioner describes Mayor Katie Wilson’s first eight months

Explore the details of Melinda Jacobson's recall petition against Mayor Wilson in her first eight months in office.

2 hours ago

bear pastrami students cornell...

Charlie Harger

Harger: 2 students, 1 bear, pastrami, and a dorm kitchen that needed 2 days of professional cleaning

Two Cornell students wanted to do some home cookin' in their communal dorm kitchen. These two guys wanted to make bear pastrami. Kind of complicated, but sure.

3 hours ago

amazon...

Jake Skorheim and Spike O'Neill Show

‘It’s about control’: Jake and Spike spar over proposed Amazon delivery bill backed by NYC mayor

The New York City mayor is backing legislation that would force Amazon to directly employ its delivery drivers instead of using subcontractors.

14 hours ago

cats tacoma...

Jake Skorheim and Spike O'Neill Show

‘It took my entire team out of commission’: Tacoma animal control officer describes rescuing 61 cats from sailboat

Rescuing 61 cats from a sailboat anchored off Tacoma's Owen Beach shut down the city's entire animal control operation for days.

15 hours ago

seattle business...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘We can’t become callous’: KIRO hosts debate what a startup’s departure to Texas says about Seattle’s business climate

Another Seattle-area tech startup is heading to Texas, and Ursula Reutin and Angela Poe Russell say the region can't afford to shrug it off.

17 hours ago

Cleveland...

John Curley Show

‘They’re out to eat our lunch’: Tech investor Charles Fitzgerald says Seattle is drifting while Cleveland hustles for its future

Seattle tech veteran and angel investor Charles Fitzgerald went to Cleveland and came back with a warning.

17 hours ago

‘Your dealer is your neighbor’: We Heart Seattle activist exposes drug use in taxpayer-funded tiny house villages