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00000181-fa79-da89-a38d-fb7f2b910000KUOW is joining forces with other Seattle media outlets to highlight the homeless crisis in the city and region on Wednesday, June 29, 2017.The effort was modeled after a collaboration by more than 70 San Francisco outlets to focus a day of news attention on the issue and possible solutions.Read more about the Seattle project and check out our coverage below. Follow the city's coverage by using #SeaHomeless.HighlightsThe Jungle: an ongoing coverage project going into the notorious homeless encampment under Interstate 5.Ask Seattle's Homeless Community: KUOW is launching a Facebook group where anyone may ask a question about homelessness, but only people who have experienced it may answer. This was inspired by a recent event KUOW co-presented with Seattle Public Library and Real Change, where residents of the Jungle answered audience questions. No End In Sight: an award-winning investigative project from KUOW about King County's 10-year plan to end homelessness.

Tents within a tent: Tacoma's new outdoor homeless shelter

Tacoma's new outdoor shelter is similar to this fabric tent. It will hold private tents, showers and other services for more than 65 residents.
City of Tacoma
Tacoma's new outdoor shelter is similar to this fabric tent. It will hold private tents, showers and other services for more than 65 residents.

Showers, bathrooms, personal storage, outreach and community services will all be available to some 65 residents of a new outdoor shelter in Tacoma that opens in a couple of weeks.

The city is preparing the property at Portland Avenue East and Puyallup Avenue, on a newly resurfaced parking lot of an old warehouse.

Tacoma Fire Department Deputy Chief Tory Green said the temperature-controlled tent will hold private tents inside for individuals and couples. 

"It's not exactly a tent city - but it's a series of tents within one 70-foot-long tent with 28-foot-high ceilings," he said.

When it opens at the end of the month, the outdoor shelter will have air conditioning in the summer, heating in the winter, bathrooms and showers.

The first residents are already living on land dubbed "The Compound," a community of tents and temporary structures set up by the city of Tacoma on Portland Avenue as part of its emergency homeless plan. That space will close when the new shelter opens.

Green said space will be provided in the shelter for people who may not have a place to live because of substance abuse or mental health issues, but others experiencing homelessness will be welcome, too.

"We're also thinking about the people who are still working 40 hours a week who are living in their car because they lost their home. And so we're trying to be comprehensive about how we approach the services we provide," Green said. 

The city of Tacoma is spending just over $2 million on the project, which is funded at least through the end of the year. It's the second phase of the city's emergency homeless plan.