Homelessness

The Olympian

The Olympian is a 150-year-old news organization primarily covering Thurston County, population 270,000, and state government, since we are the state capital. We have transformed into a digital-first local news operation, feeding our website 12 hours a day—but we also continue to put out a daily print newspaper. We have three sister publications in the state: The News Tribune in the neighboring county, The Bellingham Herald, about 4 hours away, and The Tri-City Herald, about 6 hours away.

Brandon Block

Brandon Block reports for The Olympian in Olympia, Washington, focusing on homelessness in and around the state capital and the factors that contribute to homelessness, such as mental illness and drug addiction. Block is a reporter and filmmaker who, for two years, has covered criminal justice, immigration and the environment in Baltimore. His writing has appeared in WYPR 88.1, the DCist, and the Baltimore Beat, and he fact-checked the book “I Got a Monster: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Corrupt Police Squad.” He spent the last year in Bangkok, Thailand, where he worked for an education nonprofit on a Princeton in Asia fellowship. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and Film & Media Studies from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Block got his start in journalism by writing film and theater criticism for Baltimore City Paper.