Lockers considered to help Seattle homeless

Are small storage lockers the solution to Seattle’s homeless problem?

Two Seattle City Councilmembers believe making lockers available to the homeless will help them get off the streets and clean the city at the same time.

Councilmembers Bruce Harrell and Sally Bagshaw believe this locker problem is one small step that can have a giant impact on the homeless.

“This is a worthy effort to help people who are really trying to move up and on into a better place in their lives,” Bagshaw told KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz Show.

By having a place to store their stuff, Bagshaw believes a portion of the homeless population that wants to get off the streets will be able to make a better impression on potential employers or landlords.

“They have to schlep their stuff with them,” she said. “It’s embarrassing. It’s hard. Your stuff is always with you. So if you can find a safe place to put it you are free for the day to pursue whatever else you need to do.”

Providing lockers, Bagshaw said, will also help remove a lot of the clutter and garbage from downtown.

“Westlake Park. Occidental Park. Businesses have said to us, ‘If you can help get that cleaned up so it’s a more welcoming, vibrant place, businesses would be happy too,'” she said. “We’re at a wonderful junction where I think we can win and help people and at the same time address some of our business needs.”

Bagshaw and Harrell will spend the next few months examining what other cities have done with similar locker programs, looking at issues like safety, cost and accessibility.

Bagshaw believes managing these lockers, should the city decide to provide them, will be a key component of the program. She wants to make sure the lockers aren’t being used to store drugs or weapons. The homeless people using them will likely have to be under supervision from a case worker to make sure the lockers are being used for their intended purpose.

“These are not bad people,” Bagshaw said of the homeless. “These are people who are truly trying to make their way, and they are just like you and me without a couple of paychecks.”

Bagshaw said the goal is to make 100 of these lockers available across Seattle by the end of the year.