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After two people were fatally shot at an unsanctioned homeless camp in Seattle this week — amid a citywide state of emergency over the rising number of people living on the street — advocates for the homeless said more state and federal funding is needed to create affordable housing.

“We do believe homelessness is solvable, and the public will demands the investment of resources needed to ensure everyone can live in a safe, healthy, and affordable home,” said Michele Thomas, director of policy at the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance (WLIHA).

“While the reasons for homelessness are complex, and sometimes personal, on a broader scale its very simple,” she said. “We don’t have enough access to affordable housing.”

An estimated 23,000 people are homeless in Washington state, according to Helping Hands House, a shelter and advocacy group in Tacoma, Wash. The number of homeless people nationwide is estimated at more than 500,000.

Homelessness in the U.S. has been increasing since the 1980s, when federal funding for affordable housing was cut significantly, and again after the 2008 recession, according to homeless advocates.

Rather than focus on creating more affordable housing options, most federal and state policies have focused on criminalizing homeless people, advocates say.

Affordable housing remains out of reach for many Washingtonians, especially those who earn the lowest incomes. Nearly 300,000 households in Washington who earn less than half the median income spend more than half of that income on housing, WLIHA said. For every 100 households earning less than 30 percent of median income, there are only 28 rental homes that are affordable and available to them.