Originally posted in King County Sheriff’s Office News

Recently, Sound Transit Resource Deputies Steve Wright and Marshall Smith were assisting BNSF Railway police with contacting the occupants of the pictured encampment, located on rail property near Skyway. As the photos show, the encampment wasn’t suitable for anyone to be living in or around.

However, Deputies Wright and Smith found a woman and her 21-month-old son living here. The woman said she and her son had been living in the encampment for over a year.

Deputies Wright and Smith knew they needed to step in get this mother and her son some help, so they reached out to the Salvation Army Street Level Group. 

Street Level is an arm of the Salvation Army that does outreach for people living in vehicles and parking lots. The Salvation Army was able to get the mother and her child into a clean, safe place while they worked on a permanent solution.

A couple weeks after the initial contact, Deputies Wright and Smith learned the Salvation Army was able to get the mom and son to Idaho to live with a relative.

To learn more about King County’s efforts to end homelessness visit www.kingcounty.gov/housing. To apply for housing or shelter click here.