EDITOR’S NOTE: South King Media Founder/Publisher Scott Schaefer serves on the Board of Directors for the Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce.

The Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce is starting 2025 with a renewed commitment to serving local businesses and the community, according to incoming Board Chair Navdeep Singh, General Manager of Westfield Southcenter.

In a statement, Singh reflected on his experience with the chamber since joining in 2022, noting that the organization goes beyond supporting businesses by actively engaging in community initiatives.

“The chamber exemplifies its founding principle, ‘Together we are Stronger,’” Singh said.

The chamber has played a significant role in the Southside area by hosting technical assistance workshops for small businesses, organizing career development programs such as the Seattle Southside Success Foundation Workforce Discovery Labs, and advocating for community and business interests in legislative discussions.

Looking ahead, Singh emphasized his priority of continuing to strengthen the chamber’s foundation in 2025. He encouraged members and community partners to participate in upcoming programs, connect with the chamber’s resources, and collaborate on initiatives aimed at building a stronger Southside community.

“We look forward to serving this great community in 2025,” Singh added, inviting residents and business owners to engage with the chamber and seek assistance if needed.

Here’s full text of Singh’s statement:

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SEATTLE – When you step outside, you feel it. Right now, it’s dangerously cold outside, but at many shelters there’s not enough room inside, shelters like the Bread of Life Mission.

“We’re always full, we’re seeing longer lines, and we’re letting people stay a little longer each day, but there’s not enough beds in Seattle,” Kim Cook, President and CEO at Bread of Life Mission said. “It breaks my heart to turn people away.”

By the numbers:

Especially since the area has seen bitter cold temperatures the last few days and, according to the point-in-time count, more than 16,000 individuals experienced homelessness in King County on a single night in 2024.

“We really believe that people have an innate dignity, and it’s not okay for them to be out on the street,” Cook said.

Kim Cook, President and CEO at Bread of Life Mission

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She told FOX 13, they have up to 40 emergency beds in the chapel. Each person gets a shower and a warm meal, Cook said. They have another 110 beds for those who are part of their programs, but she wishes there was more they could do.

What’s next:

Which is why, on Wednesday, Bread of Life Mission partnered with 14 other rescue missions across the country for what’s being called ‘Conversations on a Bench.’ 

“I’m going to sit out on a bench out on the street for 24 hours and I’m just going to talk with people about homelessness,” Cook said.

The goal is to raise awareness of homelessness, addiction, and mental health and be livestreamed for 24 hours.

“I think no one person or government has the answer and if we don’t come together and have conversations around the issue, we’re never going to solve this,” Cook said. 

“I’m going to sit there for 24 hours and experience what it is to be out in the cold in Seattle, thankfully I have a bed to go home to after the event, but for many of the people we serve, they don’t have that.”

Part of the ‘Conversations on a Bench’ event will include Cook interviewing people from different organizations to really paint a picture of the homeless crisis here.

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Seattle weather recap:

SEATTLE – Today Seattle got to 43 degrees. It was a beautiful afternoon and a pretty nice sunset. There were some high clouds, but sunshine for almost everyone.

LOOKING AHEAD:

A few clouds overnight, but for the most part tomorrow looks like another nice day. However, there will be more clouds than there were today, and Wednesday even more, and by Friday we could actually see some showers early in the morning.  

Overnight lows will be in the upper 20s and high temps for Wednesday in the low 40s.

Tuesday western Washington weather

As you can see, the temperatures on the coast will be the warmest in the mid 40s, and further inland it will be in the lower 40s, with the upper 30s in the foothills communities.  

Seattle will get to 41 degrees tomorrow.  The average high for the day is 48, with a record of 62 back in 1981.  By the way, the average low is 38, so we are about 10 degrees below that.

7 DAY FORECAST:

The 7-day forecast features cool & dry days ahead.  Low 40s all week.  Each day features more clouds than the previous day.  Looks like we could get a few showers early on Friday.  The weekend, however, looks really sunny and nice.  Overnight lows will be below freezing for the week.

Have a great day!

Stephen

BEST OF FOX 13 SEATTLE

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Good Samaritan saves mom from road rage incident in WA

Here’s when you’ll need REAL ID to go through US airport security

REI exits ‘Experiences’ businesses, laying off hundreds of employees

To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.

Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation.