The city and LIHI eventually found the Julie Apartments, on what was then the urban edge of downtown Seattle. As part of the settlement agreement, the DSA gave LIHI $250,000 toward renovation work on The Julie. The city contributed $2.6 million to purchase the building and offset operational costs. After nearly a decade of deliberations, LIHI broke ground on the project in late 1999.
In the Urban Rest Stop's first month of operation, 815 people used the facility at least once. "You have to wonder what people were doing before we opened our doors," said Ronni Gilboa, who manages the Urban Rest Stop. In 2006 the center supplied 55,000 showers and 19,000 loads of laundry. Gilboa estimates that up to 60 percent of the people who use the Urban Rest Stop are getting ready for work. Gilboa and others who work with the homeless say Seattle's mounting rents are driving many people employed at minimum wage or as day labor out onto the streets or into shelters. Officials estimate that up to 9,000 people don't have a place to sleep in King County on any given night.
"For every person we serve at the Rest Stop, we turn three or four (away) because we don't have the capacity," Gilboa said. The URS is set to expand in 2007, which will alleviate some of the pressure. The planned expansion will add double the number of laundry machines, double the number of showers, a women's restroom and a health exam room.