Part of Bellevue’s strategic effort
To help the city advance a proactive and comprehensive response to the challenging issue of homelessness, Stephanie Martinez has joined the city as Bellevue's first homelessness outreach coordinator.
Martinez will help coordinate efforts by departments within the city and with external partners. She will also provide direct assistance to those experiencing homelessness, respond to related community issues and develop performance metrics for Bellevue’s work to reduce homelessness.
According to the 2019 Count Us In report, 337 unsheltered people were found in East King County. The city has hosted a seasonal men’s shelter at interim sites throughout Bellevue since 2008, and recently began providing year-round shelter to men at a temporary downtown location. Congregations for the Homeless and King County are working to site a permanent shelter on county property on Eastgate Way in Bellevue.
Many operational departments at Bellevue, including Police, Fire, Development Services and Parks & Community Services, are called upon to address homelessness-related issues in the community.
Martinez comes to the city with considerable relevant experience, having worked at LifeWire in Bellevue as a community-based housing advocate and at the City of Tacoma, where she was a program development specialist with Neighborhood and Community Services and part of the Tacoma police's Homeless Outreach team. Most recently, she coordinated a statewide evaluation of California’s Domestic Violence Housing First funding program.