By Chris Pleasance VIDEO PHOTOS and FULL ARTICLE AT THIS LINK
EXCERPT:
With spiraling housing costs driven by the tech industry boom, it is no wonder that many cities on the West Coast are facing a growing homeless problem.
In Seattle the issue has become so acute that mayor Ed Murray recently declared a state of emergency to help deal with it, prompting Amazon to step up to the plate.
Along with non-profit Mary's Place, the tech company has opened up an abandoned Travelodge on land it bought to house it's new headquarter campus to provide shelter to homeless families. ...
Owner Jeff Bezos even donated $1million of his own money to Mary's Place in order to help support the project.
Linda Mitchell, spokesman for the non-profit, told Dailymail.com: 'The homeless problem has been growing. Every year the county does a count and every year the number grows pretty substantially ...
The center will be open for a year, after which Amazon will develop the property into new headquarter space, but Mitchell said there is another facility the tech company also owns around a block away that they are considering moving into afterward.
Mitchell explained that the average family usually only stays with them for around 60 days before moving on, with economic issues being the top cause for their situation.
Parents find themselves between jobs, waiting on a first paycheck, and unable to pay rent and are evicted, or become homeless after a family member gets sick and needs care paying for.
However, she added that most families who end up on the street only stay for a short time, while 97 per cent are only homeless once without needing assistance again.
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