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Listen: A Tour Of Seattle's Urban Rest Stop, A Washing Space For The Homeless

The Urban Rest Stop, which has been serving the homeless population in Seattle for 15 years, recently faced a possible loss of one-third of its budget. But the Seattle City Council voted instead to continue full funding.

I toured the facility with Urban Rest Stop program director Ronni Gilboa. Here's a two-minute recap of what it's like there:

Gilboa, who was the director when the program started in 1999, says she's never wanted to leave.

"We're in the business of, basically, making people very happy. You can't be very grumpy after a nice hot shower and clean clothes," she said.

The Urban Rest Stops serves 6,000 people a year. Each day, 225 showers are taken, 175 loads of laundry are done and there are 227 restroom visits. Yes, they do track it all.

Paula reports on groundbreaking legal decisions in Washington State and on trends in crime and law enforcement. She’s been at KNKX since 1989 and has covered the Law and Justice beat for the past 15 years. Paula grew up in Idaho and, prior to KNKX, worked in public radio and television in Boise, San Francisco and upstate New York.