Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant spoke July 22 at a protest at Victor Steinbrueck Park organized by Occupy CEHKC, a coalition of organizations that hold overnight protests before each quarterly meeting of the Committee to End Homelessness in King County. Speaking at the event, Sawant called homelessness “a scourge on humanity” and recommended that the city and county extend winter shelters year-round and offer space to house organized encampments such as Nickelsville. She also urged the federal government to allow a coalition of homeless service organizations to use the former Federal Reserve Building downtown. The federal General Services Administration in June rejected a proposal to use the building as a service center. Occupy CEHKC participants spent the night at the park and marched the next morning to the meeting of the Committee to End Homelessness’ Governing Board.