Seattle is gearing up to spend about $8 million in 2027 on one big goal: stopping people from losing their homes before they ever show up at a shelter.
Mayor Katie Wilson and the Seattle Human Services Department rolled out a Request for Proposals this week that would steer that money into homelessness‑prevention services city officials say could reach about 1,000 households. The plan leans on short‑term rental assistance, eviction prevention and hands‑on case management, all tied together by a new centralized application meant to speed up access to help. City leaders are pitching it as an upstream way to cut shelter demand and keep neighborhoods more stable, as homelessness and eviction pressure keep climbing across King County.
Per the Seattle Human Services Department, the RFP is part of HSD's 2026 Notice of Funding Availability and will select community partners to deliver rental assistance, legal services, case management and a single application portal. The Homelessness Prevention RFP is listed with a June 17 release date, and the department says it will choose a lead agency to manage applications and coordinate referrals. The centralized system, HSD notes, is intended to make it easier for residents to find and receive support.
What the money pays for
As reported by KOMO News, the RFP splits the roughly $8 million across three main buckets. About $6.5 million would go to rental assistance and case management for households at immediate risk of losing their homes, around $627,000 would fund legal services and rental aid for tenants facing eviction, and approximately $900,000 would support the centralized application system itself. The city estimates the package will reach about 1,000 households each year. Mayor Wilson said the funding "will promote housing stability and help Seattle residents remain in the neighborhoods they call home," while HSD Director Tanya Kim described the resources as "a lifeline for families and individuals."
Why the push now
The urgency is driven by numbers that are going the wrong direction. The King County Regional Homelessness Authority's corrected 2024 Point‑in‑Time report estimates about 16,868 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2024, roughly a 26% jump from 2022. KOMO also notes that "Eviction filings have increased, reaching record highs in each of the past two years," a trend city officials point to when arguing that prevention costs less than scrambling to respond once people are already homeless. Those figures help explain why this RFP zeroes in on rapid rental aid, legal help and case management.
How to apply and timeline
For organizations that want in, HSD is hosting two virtual information sessions: June 23, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., and June 25, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The department says both will be recorded and posted online. The Seattle Human Services Department site includes the RFP notice and application instructions for prospective applicants. The city plans to select lead contractors and aims to have funded services up and running sometime in 2027.
What comes next
Once proposals are in, officials will review them, select a lead agency to coordinate referrals and use the centralized application to narrow the gap between an eviction notice and emergency support. Local nonprofits that already run eviction‑prevention, tenant‑legal and rental‑assistance programs are expected to be among the contenders, and advocates say strengthening those pipelines could soften both displacement and future shelter demand. Providers are being urged to subscribe to HSD funding notices and attend the information sessions to get the details on how to apply.
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