On March 5, Mayor Wilson announced a shift in the way Seattle addresses and responds to housing and services for our unhoused neighbors. For the better part of the last decade, the city has focused on a Housing First model that prioritized getting folks off the street and into permanent supportive housing from which they would be able to access support services and resources needed. This goal of getting folks shelter and re- sources simultaneously is a positive one. In pushing for large-scale expansions to tiny-house villages and RV parking, in tandem with mental health resources and professionals onsite, the city is helping to address the most immediate needs of communities and people across Seattle. However, during these conversations around tiny homes and resources, a critical component of infrastructure is over- looked. If we do not address the barriers to internet connectivity and access to needed technology–and the skills to use that technology confidently and safely– then we are not creating the pathways out of homelessness that we think we are. Instead, we are inadvertently creating additional boundaries to access and connectivity. 

     In our current world, technology is pervasive. There is not a moment that goes by that our lives are not, in some capacity, engaging with technology. From checking your phone first thing in the morning, to scrolling on Instagram, to navigating around town or using tap-to-pay to get on the bus, technology and the access to it is taken as a given. That truth is even more so in Seattle, a city built in its modern form by technological innovation and the wealth that brings.

     Yet still, in our modern city with towering glass sky-scrappers that loves nothing more than to tout our achievements – like 98% of Seattle households having access to home internet and 95% of households having access to at least a smartphone – we are leaving our most in-need the most behind. According to the 2024 Seattle Technology Adoption Survey, released every 4 years by the city to measure access and connectivity, about 8,100 households with- in the city have no access to the internet. Of the some 55,000 plus Seattleites who lack access to an adequately sized device like a laptop, 37% are living in poverty. These disparities are increasing as cuts to state and federal funding have gutted programs such as the Affordable Connectivity Program, which helped to make these statistics possible in the first place.

These indicators don’t tell the full story

     Instead, the reality that many of our neighbors face is a complete lack of access to technology and the skills to use them safely. Of those surveyed by the city who lived below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level, only 30% had confidence to complete all digital skills. This reality creates a world in which there is yet another layer of “haves and have-nots” where technology and the tools needed to navigate it are not available to those who can’t afford a device and a service plan. It’s still unattainable even with the tools, as the skills to use them confidently and safely are incorrectly assumed.

     And as helpful as these numbers and findings are to understanding the digital divide in our shared city, they are also inevitably going to miss people–especially those marginalized by society and whose voices are seldom listened to, like our unhoused neighbors.

     This is why it is so important that we include digital access, skills and equity any conversation we’re having around services for our unhoused neighbors. If we focus exclusively on the most basic human services without any plan or consideration on how to continue to propel folks upward, then we are damning Seattleites who do not have the skills or resources to “figure it out” in a city and a society entirely dependent on technology.

     Take, for instance, applying with the city for rental assistance or any social ser- vice assistantship offered. For many, the first step is to check the services that are offered by local organizations or the city through the Affordable Seattle webpage. However, if you don’t have a way of accessing that site—whether that be because of a physical limitation of a lack of technology or a limitation around digital skills—then the tools created to simplify processes have created additional hurdles. This extends across the board. Most social services in our region require online ap- plications, registration or reporting to be selected. And while entities like public libraries do have computers that are us- able by the public, the barrier for those without personal technology still persists.

     The city of Seattle, therefore, must have a bold vision for the future, that both addresses the immediate needs of our most vulnerable community members, and invests in the tools and resources needed to support continued growth out of homelessness. In a future ever more dependent on the internet and technology, our city must prepare community members for the realities of a digital world. Equity and positive change require a shift in the definition of what counts as “fundamental needs” to include access to technology and the skills to use it safely. We as a city can bring technology access to folks the same way that electricity or running water were before it.

     In order for us to build on the promises and goals that we have set forth as a city and as a community, we must believe that everyone has the right to participate fully in our ever-changing and ever more digital society. And as Mayor Wilson pushes for the city to change course and meet the needs of the community more immediately, it’s now more pressing than ever to make sure access to technology and the skills to use it are part of the conversation.

     When we talk about the services that will be offered in the enhanced tiny-home villages, computer labs and digital navigators should be included. When we talk about ways for folks to engage with the city and the community, access to technology should be a consideration. And as we work toward making a city that is more equitable, we must remove assumptions of access and skills that only work to keep the most unheard voices silent and instead establish a community where all voices can be heard and have a seat at the table – or in the Zoom meeting.

Morgan Costello-Hostettler is an equity advocate, digital equity practitioner, and the community impact man- ager for PCs for People WA, a nonprofit organization that does e-waste recycling and refurbishment.

Read more of the May 13-19, 2026 issue.

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