By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Tanya Woo
A recent announcement that the Navigation Center, a homeless shelter in Seattle’s Little Saigon owned and operated by the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC), will not relocate in January, as previously planned, has spurred former Seattle City Councilmember Tanya Woo to start a petition calling for the City of Seattle, King County, and Washington’s legislature to support revitalization of Little Saigon.
The petition has five core asks for local and state officials, including community meetings with elected leaders, a task force composed of different stakeholders, an increased police presence, and more resources devoted to Little Saigon, located in the heart of the Chinatown-International District (CID). So far, 318 people have signed on to the petition.
“Little Saigon has suffered from the lack of city, county, and state investment and resources,” Woo told the Northwest Asian Weekly.
Woo said that the news about the Navigation Center’s delayed move date was the catalyst for the petition.
Woo also held a press conference outside DESC on Jan. 13 to “express gratitude to the city,”—even as she maintained that there was still not enough help—“but also outline our calls to action.”
There will also be three more DESC-owned and -operated services aimed at high-risk drug users and at the unhoused population opening around the CID.
One of those services is the Stability Through Access and Resources (STAR) Center, which will be located in Downtown Seattle, four blocks southwest of Japantown on Third Avenue. The STAR Center is slated to open at the end of March 2025.
Another, the Lew Middleton Drop-in Center, is an enhanced behavioral health clinic, slated for placement five blocks away from the CID, on James Street.
A third, the Opioid Recovery & Care Access (ORCA) Center, will be located on Third Avenue. The ORCA Center will also be owned and operated by DESC.
Woo said that residents and business owners of Little Saigon say they feel totally unheard and unseen. She noticed that, when she was talking with people about the matter, there was a distinct and nearly unanimous feeling of hopelessness. Residents asked her, “What’s the point [of the petition and of the press conference?] Nothing has changed these last few years.”
This year is crucial, Woo maintained. Many of Little Saigon’s businesses have been struggling to make ends meet for some time, and their owners are hearing the ticking of the clock. They don’t know how much longer they can stay open in an environment where drug deals happen in front of their businesses on a regular basis.
“We want to get our neighborhood back to what it was like before” 2020, and the rise of illegal drug trade and fentanyl use, Woo said.
Woo timed the press conference to coincide with the start of Washington’s legislative session in the hopes that the state will get involved in funneling resources to the neighborhood.
The task force the petition asks for would bring together business owners, residents, community leaders, DESC, Seattle Indian Services (which owns property in the area), and representatives from all levels of government.
The petition states that the requested task force would meet every two weeks for updates and oversight on the situation around the Navigation Center, and continue to meet, even after the Navigation Center closes.
Woo said that the recent uptick in violent crimes around the CID has added an extra layer of fear, in addition to the stress and insecurity Woo says business owners have expressed to her.
“Many of these business owners have to ask people to leave their storefronts or property,” Woo said.
She explained that this has made these same business owners fearful of retaliation and therefore fearful of speaking up at all. For instance, Woo said, one business owner told her they believe that their establishment’s windows were broken in retaliation after the owner asked a drug user to leave their doorway.
Woo said that no one is against helping those suffering from addiction and those without a roof over their heads, but everyone, including Little Saigon and the CID, should be allowed to recover together.
“The CID is not opposed to shelter,” Woo said. “We need the resources and money to help people heal and for the community to thrive.” Business owners and residents should not have to live in fear, apprehensive, perhaps, of a day when they will have to leave altogether, as some have already done, she said.
Woo said that high schoolers at Summit Sierra High School, located directly in the affected area, should not have to witness drug use and potential overdose on their way to school.
“The collective trauma is felt not only in the unhoused community, but the larger community as well,” Woo said.
Woo said that residents are concerned about what happens when the Navigation Center moves. She said they told her they are worried about people ransacking the building, and worried that the building will catch fire somehow. Some monies have been dedicated, she said, such as for “safety ambassadors,” which Woo hopes will be implemented quickly.
The petition calls for an increased police presence, as well as more social workers, and “clean-ups” of the area, which Woo said refers to a three-day sidewalk spray-down with water, and litter pick-ups, as trash accumulates along Little Saigon’s main streets of Weller, Jackson, King, and Twelfth.
The petition also asks for the City funds allotted to the CID to be “used effectively,” and for a solid partnership with Little Saigon and the organizations within.
“Little Saigon has been a cornerstone of our city for generations,” the petition reads. Recommendations for the petition were made in conjunction with the Friends of Little Saigon. “We’re asking for those to be implemented,” Woo said.
“We also seek a firm commitment and the necessary resources to implement the Downtown Activation Plan effectively for Little Saigon,” the petition continues. “As the state legislature convenes, we strongly advocate for the passage of the proposed new iteration of House Bill 1510 in its current form, without any modifications.”
“The community has a lot of questions and anxiety,” Woo said. “Now more than ever do we need City, County, and State partnerships to revitalize this area.”
Kai can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.