On July 22, REACH turns 30.
For three decades, REACH outreach workers have walked trails into the woods, crossed encampments in the rain, and called out across clusters of tents: “Outreach—anyone home?”
REACH was born from a hard truth: that traditional social service systems often fail the people most in need of their support. From the start, REACH recognized this and chose to work differently. To go to people rather than wait for them to come in. To move at the speed of trust. To stay as long as it takes.
That approach has held for thirty years. Through challenges like COVID, racial reckonings, and cuts to funding, REACH has been committed to what works: meet people where they are, honor their choices, and keep showing up.
The need has never been greater
This year’s point-in-time count tells a stark story. Across King County, more than 18,000 people are experiencing homelessness. Of those, nearly 12,000 are sleeping outside. Homelessness is increasing while the number of shelter beds is decreasing. There are more people outside with fewer places to go, even temporarily.
Why REACH matters more than ever
Every person outside has a history, a name, and a life that matters. The REACH team works with people who have been told that they are too much, too hard, too far gone. Through the team’s words and actions, they tell people living outside a different story: We see you. You matter. You are worthy of care. We will keep trying.
This is slow, patient work. It is also the work that moves people from a sidewalk toward stability, on their own terms. As the crisis deepens, it is exactly the work that needs to grow. We need more outreach workers on streets and trails, more capacity to hold space for each person until they are ready, and more advocacy for systems that can adequately respond to the growing needs.
Carrying the work forward
Thirty years in, one of REACH’s longtime leaders, Kelley Craig, is handing off leadership of the organization she helped shape: one that is collaborative, radical in its patience, unwilling to give up on anyone. Watch REACH founding team members Kelley and Chloe discuss the values that grew the small program into an ETS Division in this video.
The REACH directors who are carrying this work forward describe the work the same way, as love in action, as showing up again and again, as the refusal to look away from struggle without ever losing sight of possibility.
REACH’s 30th anniversary is worth celebrating, and the deepest tribute to the past 30 years is to keep pushing for more. Those living outside cannot wait, and REACH won’t ask them to.
Support REACH as it begins its next thirty years.
