Nickelsville, the controversial homeless encampment that was recently decamped from the Seattle Port, will be settling down, at least temporarily, in Wallingford. Scott Morrow, the band’s leader, posted this note to the Nickelsville Alerts mailing list (emphasis added):
As you know we were swept on Wednesday the 30th from the port of Seattle’s T-107 Park. It was shocking and shattering. Most of us have been separated from everything we own, except what will fill a backpack or two.
Since then many of us have been at St. Andrews Episcopal Church on 80th Ave NW. Many more, though, are floating between other places – temporarily couch surfing, sleeping in vehicles, staying in the jungle. A sizable number fled to Motels on Aurora. There are some ideas to try and have a project there. That’s not Nickelsville’s goal, but we wish them luck.
Many of the Nickelodeons who were swept last Wednesday will not be able to get back together until we have another outdoor site. This, and our inability to get our things back until we have an outdoor site, are two reasons why it is so important someone – most likely a church – stand up and let us stay for up to 3 months while we secure the permanent site.
On this Wednesday, the 7th, our core group of Nickelodeons will be moving to Keystone Congregational Church at 5019 Keystone Place North (& 50th in Wallingford.) It is a small building with a bighearted congregation. They are willing to share with us all they have, which is very moving to us.
We will be staying in their Sanctuary, and it is not yet clear how we will cook. It is not likely that more than 30 people can fit into the space. Because two Congregations use the space on Sundays we will have to be out from 8 AM to 7:30 PM on that day.
We would love to see you and visit, but must ask that you be careful in the donations that are dropped by – there isn’t much storage room.
At the same time, we have a big quandary. All of our belongings have either been seized by the Port, or are in one storage group with friends. In both cases, we cannot recover and take responsibility for them until there is an outdoor site with storage.
That means some of the clothes on our back have been the same clothes on the same back for a couple of days. We need to get some new clothes, and replace some of the other possessions we can’t yet retrieve.
If you have the following specific item their donation would be very helpful. If it’s not on this list, please call either the camp number – 450-5268 – or the Staff number – 450-9136. Then we can tell you whether to bring it now, or to wait until later.
Here is what we are in need of right now: Winter coats, blankets, sleeping bags. Men’s pants, sizes 34 to 36 shirts, women’s size 7 – 18, large to ex large sweatshirts, and also hygiene such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, towels, and deodorant.
Ready to eat food for about 30, tents and most of all money to pay for past and future porta potties and dumpsters are also needed. […]
Please remember, folks, as you leave comments on this one: this is a very complex issue on which reasonable people may disagree. On the one hand, there’s a group of homeless people struggling to survive and to make some space for themselves in a world that has not been kind to them. On the other, I’m sure there are some people who have worked hard to carve a peaceful and beautiful place for themselves out of this city to call home, and they may look with fear and even disgust on the prospect of encroachment by a bedraggled mass.
The comments on the Yelp site for Nickelsville reflect the lack of open-mindedness on both sides I hope we avoid here. There, people sneer at each other (“You poor elites 🙁 having to actually see the poor you ignore”) and at the homeless (“in a few more weeks when the leaves fall I will be left to stare at this shanty town from my dining room window”).
I’m sure we can have a more constructive conversation here.
One thing I don’t understand is how and why the Port seized these folks’ belongings. I rode by the T-107 site this summer, and though I was there for only a couple of minutes, it struck me how organized the encampment seemed to be. The dozen of tents were confined to one area and if the Port decided to CONFISCATE these shelters (and clothes!) then I am simply baffled by that act.
http://www.portseattle.org/news/press/2009/09_30_2009_03.shtml
The Port of Seattle put out this statement regarding any belongings that were left behind. Nickelsville had been illegally squatting at the Terminal 107 Park for 69 days at the time of the eviction, so those that chose to stay behind and be arrested knew it was coming well in advance. Most arrested were not actually Nickelsville residents, but activists/supporters of the camp.
Huh…how is this going to work with the preschool that’s already in the Keystone church?
There were multiple opinions regarding the encampment’s previous location (my neighborhood, Port of Seattle property), both “for” and “against” the encampment. I honestly do not intend to make life tougher for the encampment dwellers, but am very concerned about the personal safety of the neighborhood residents.
My single most important issue (and warning for you folks) was related to our ongoing concerns redarding registered sex offenders. If you do nothing else, consider somehow validating the encampment’s claim that they screen throroughly.
In my opinion, efforts to ensure a safe home environment for our children needs to the hightest priority. The sherrif’s office website does a great job of providing a tool for parents to research potentially dangerous people within specific areas, but Nickelsville does not fall within the sheriff’s monitoring system.
For more background info:
http://www.myballard.com/2009/09/14/sex-offender-removed-from-share-shelter/
http://www.kingcounty.gov/safety/sheriff/SOSearch.aspx
The preschool only heightens my concerns.
This is disappointing to have the camp right in the midst of a neighborhood with children and families. Obviously, we see the poor everyday, many of whom live homelss downtown or by I-5 ramps. To aid them in this venue just doesn’t accord with common sense.
I live south of 45th, so I’m not as impacted by others, so its easy to say “well, its a temporary squat, they’ll all have moved on in ~3 months, just smile and try to be neighborly” but.. that part of Wallingford (and my own) has had its share of problems with the alcohol impact zone and the spangers hustling at the on ramps, so I feel a little like “oh man, here it comes…”, anticipating an increase in those problems. I’m probably horribly wrong and being “elitist”..?
What actual impacts, beyond just an “unsightly encampment” have other neighborhoods actually experienced?
“This is disappointing to have the camp right in the midst of a neighborhood with children and families.”
All neighborhoods in Seattle have children and families. O_O
I live very close to Keystone Church and am very happy we can host them. Anything to try and make up for the continuing, destructive sweeps of homeless peoples’ survival gear.
ps. I live right on the edge of the alcohol zone and witness the resulting drunkeness. I think it should be noted that the issue of 50th becoming a destination for malt liquor sales is distinctly separate from the issue of housing for the people of Nickelsville.
@7–You don’t say! How many homeless camp venues have preschools?
Like Kerrizor, I live south of 45th & won’t be much impacted by this.
But having moved from Austin where I watched the city outlaw public camping & sleeping — and arresting people for it — I am really glad to see these camps in Seattle. Some of the homeless in Austin told me that when they have to go outside the city limits and make hidden rogue camps, it gets dangerous. There is safety in numbers.
I’m now glad to live in a neighborhood willing to accomodate the camps. I hope we can all make them feel welcome.
Here’s some “constructive conversation” for you: I wonder if the church they’re coming to bothered to ask it’s neighbors what they think about a bunch of unscreened individuals coming into where they live with their families. Or do they even give a damn. People should BOYCOTT that church. And are there any lawyers out there who know if the current host property of Nicklesville has any legal liability for the actions of it’s squatters, and for that matter, whatever organization that inflicts this BS on unsuspecting neighborhoods. If there’s any liablity, the neighborhood should band together and sue the pants off of them. That will discourage future Nicklesvilles.
And someone please tell me why we can’t house these guys in spartan, concrete, military-style barracks in the industrial areas of the city? The facilities could have 3 hots and a cot, and hot showers so (gasp) they could wash themselves so they don’t offend the rest of us with their stench. If it’s good enough for our troops, it’s good enough for them.
It’s bad enough to have to deal with them making us miss the light at the offramp so they can scrape together more money for 40’s. And I know we’re all supposed to wear our hearts on our sleeves for the bums and tolerate all their disgusting abuses of civilized behavior. But this is a positive for Wallingford how?
People have the right to be homeless. But they don’t have the right to make the rest of us suffer for it.
Is this group as organized as the Tent City folks that have moved around the East side for a while? If so, I can say from having worked across from tent city for several months that it was clean and well-run and folks just lived there like you and I. It was also a good opportunity to give food and other supplies face-to-face rather than just writing a check. They did a lot of planning and rule-making to insure that all went smoothly. I would hope that this group is held to the same standard of care.
@ Chris W. –
I came from Austin too, and perhaps you didn’t live close enough (as I did) to the homeless problem there, but I remember numerous times waking up in my house @ 29th & Rio Grande to find a drunken homeless person asleep on my porch, or having defecated in our yard. I worked on the drag @ the Bagel Manufactory long enough to see the homeless problem up close and personal everyday, and I’m sorry if it doesn’t sound friendly enough, but I don’t care to live around folks that have “dropped out” of society far enough to where I can’t trust who they are or where they came from.
For a group that is sending out messages to their mailing list, it seems like they could get it together enough to perhaps find some work and pay for a place like the rest of us instead of scavenging off folks in a family oriented neighborhood like Wallingford. I moved here because I want to feel comfortable that my family is safe everyday while I go to work. This doesn’t help. Once again, I’m sorry if it doesn’t sound sensitive enough to their predicament, but everyone is subject to the rewards and consequences they have made in their lives. Can’t find a “camp” for your traveling band of hobos? Get a job.
It is ironic that in the Yelp commentary, people were complaining that the homeless were using their garden hoses to clean themselves. Here, we hear complaints that they stink.
Hayduke, although I don’t agree with the way you present your argument, I think that the basic question of “Why can’t the city provide housing for the homeless?” is a good one. I’m guessing that it has something to do with people not wanting their taxes raised. Would you vote yes to a tax increase if it would pay for such a homeless shelter?
The follow on question, though, is “what should the homeless do given there ISN’T such place for them to stay, spartan or otherwise?”
It’s a funny statement, “people have the right to be homeless”. I don’t think they WANT to be homeless. Homelessness sucks.
Many are incapable of holding jobs due to mental illness or any number of other legit reasons. It’s just a myth that there are all these mentally and physically fit people who just choose to be homeless because it’s an easy life.
Go have a conversation with one of those guys panhandling at the highway. Now imagine that you are a hiring manager and one of them comes to you and asks for a job. Of course you’re going to say no. So…what’s that guy supposed to do? Get smarter? Get healthier? Shake off his delusions, take a shower and just get a job?
@8 Our Redeemer’s Church and University Christian Church have both hosted this group AND have preschools. As far as I know, there were no issues that impacted the preschools.
Wallyhood,
In response to, “Many are incapable of holding jobs due to mental illness or any number of other legit reasons. It’s just a myth that there are all these mentally and physically fit people who just choose to be homeless because it’s an easy life.”
EXACTLY! Thank you for strengthening my point that these people are undesirables to have a neighborhood like ours with lots of children.
“Go have a conversation with one of those guys panhandling at the highway. Now imagine that you are a hiring manager and one of them comes to you and asks for a job.”
Been there, tried that. I’ve even been turned down when I’ve offered food instead of cash. As have countless others. The offramp guys are lifers at it. Seriously, do you really believe if offered a job they’d be showing up bright eyed and bushy-tailed?
Again, how is this good for Wallingford? Why do we have to put with being a dumping ground, and why weren’t we given an opportunity to speak up about it? Does anyone reading this know if we have a good case to sue the church or SHARE?
For those people who look at the homeless and say, “Get a job,” keep in mind that more than 1-in-4 U.S. homeless are military veterans and most of those guys (and gals) suffer from some form of PTSD. It seems that Nickelsvilles could at the very least provide information on resources (like VA access) that could help some of these folks in the long term.
And I’m not sure if you’re aware, but jobs are not exactly plentiful at the moment.
As someone who lives a block away from the church and walks by at least 2, if not 3 times a day, it is a backyard issue for me. personally, I know nothing about the situation other than what Jordan has posted here and some hysteria from other corners. I am super uncomfortable generalizing to this Nicklesville population from other homeless or panhandle encounters I’ve had – the people at the off ramp are in no way representative of the vast majority of homeless people. Everyone, in my mind, deserves the benefit of the doubt and deserves that I withhold my judgment until I gather my own data and have my own personal experiences. I intend to swing by next week (out of town starting tomorrow or I would go earlier) to learn more first hand, and perhaps even lend a hand or support.
As far as is how is this good for Wallingford? It’s going out on a limb, but I’ve long believed that a society is best measured by how we treat those least well off. Again, I don’t know the exact lot of these people, but I do know that to generalize that all homeless people are bums who choose to live on the streets is patently false and even the most limited review of the data on homelessness identifies that a large portion of the homeless population is mentally ill (yes, vets and PTSD are incredibly over represented in this population) and under served or the victim of temporary situations and in need of supplemental assistance to right their situation. So, I am actually warmed that the church took the step to offer temporary assistance to this group. For me they have set an example of service and generosity and even courage that I hope to learn from. And, I think that kind of example is good for Wallingford. Yes, it’s a stretch, but it’s true for me. I’d like to think of Wallingford as one of those places where we approach thorny issues such as this in a deliberate and thoughtful manner and if this encourages us to do that, then – yay – good for Wallingford as well. call me a hippie…go ahead.
I do agree that if the church did act without soliciting community input, that is a mistake. But, I would like to hear directly from the church how they made their decision, who was consulted and what their plans are.
Again, as someone who lives close by and is “impacted”, I really don’t think I am going to “suffer” much from this situation and am looking forward in getting involved in my own little ways and finding out for myself what this is really all about.
Wallymom:
“As far as I know, there were no issues that impacted the preschools.”
Go read the link provided by “learned a lesson” – a child rapist was living in SHARE run shelter in Ballard for weeks. Now, there’s you ‘issue’.
“wallymom”
There was and is indeed a problem with the SHARE shelter at the vacant Calvary Lutheran owned by Our Redeemers. A multiply convicted Leve3 sex offender/child rapist that was living there for 3 weeks until an alert Ballard neighbor reported on the My Ballard website that he received a notification from the King County Sheriff’s that the rapist was living at the church. Only when this concerned neighbor made this public did SHARE remove the man from the shelter.
See, when SHARE first was offered the location, the neighbors asked for sex offender checks to be done. SHARE lied and said they couldn’t do them because of the expense. That turned out to be a lie, because the King County Sheriff’s office has been running free sex offender checks for SHARE’s Tent City 4 since 2004. Then SHARE changed their story and said it was “un-american’ to run sex offender checks. Interesting since again they have been running them since 2004 at their Tent City 4 checks, so it is no more “un-american” to run them in Ballard then it is to run them in Redmond. (which at the time was where Tent City 4 was located and included in the permit the City of Redmond issued was the requirement that sex offender checks be run.)
Nickelsville is run by SHARE man, Scott Morrow.
“it seems like they could get it together enough to perhaps find some work”
Some of them do work. I had a nice chat on the bus with a man going home to Nickelsville after a day of work.
Here’s a blog of a woman “who had her stuff together enough” to keep a blog, but that didn’t stop her from being homeless: http://girlsguidetohomelessness.com/
I live only a few houses away from the Keystone Church, and the first I am hearing about this is on your blog today. My initial reaction is WTF? Why wouldn’t the church alert at least it’s closest neighbors of their plans? This is deeply concerning on many levels.
What a great service learning opportunity for kids! They can learn about homelessness and being a good neighbor all in one lesson. We’re going to head over to Bartell’s to pick up some travel toiletries, and distribute them to our new neighbors at tent city. In the words of Ron Waldman, head of Meridian School,
“Service is the rent you pay for living on earth… we want our kids to feel that this is part of the fabric of who they are. It’s not whether I should or shouldn’t serve the community, but how.”
Tent city on 50th and Wallingford provides the ‘how’.
I lived on Capitol Hill for 10 years, and have had numerous interactions with the homeless, the organized homeless, the homeless by choice, and the working homeless. I will give the benefit of the doubt with this one, and believe that it will be a good learning experience for the insulated community here. (Yes, this is a very insulated community. ) However, I don’t have to be happy about it, and boy, am I glad I don’t have children at that daycare. I would be livid.
This organization is a good idea, and I’m sure it’s a nightmare to administer. However, a category 3 sex offender in a church with a daycare? Mr. Morrow should be removed from his post. Everyone should be screened. Perhaps people should donate money for that purpose.
For the first time, I’ve had to delete a comment from a Wallyhood thread. I really don’t like to do that, this should be an open forum.
The rules: if I don’t agree with what you’re saying, I’m going to leave your comment up.
If you insult another commenter personally, I’m going to take it down.
This is not censorship. All views are welcome here, but personal attacks are not.
If the commenter who’s comment I deleted wants to resubmit, I’m happy to provide the text of the original comment with the offending lines removed. Please contact me at [email protected] if you’d like to talk about it.
Agree with Bill – I also live a few houses over and this is the first I’ve heard of this. I’m pissed that the church community didn’t see fit to share this information with the neighborhood ahead of time.
That being said, I am not going to pass judgement and hope for the best. However, I can’t imagine this is going to help anyone who has a house on the market in the immediate area to now also have a tent city in their backyard. Say what you will but most people don’t want to pay $$$ for a house that close to a tent city.
See Bill (post #21), what you’re not getting here is that your rights come second to those who are “victims of society.” You probably live in your own house or can afford to rent a halfway decent place in the neighborhood, so you are just one of those selfish, NIMBY elitists. So get with the program, keep you’re whining to yourself, and understand that the church and SHARE has no legal or ethical obligation to consult with you and other neighbors nearby, because the only people deserving of any consideration are the bums.
Oh and forget what you experience and observe with the homeless; you don’t know them like we do. None of the people who come to live at this newest tent city could POSSIBLY be sex offenders, drug addicts, or other threats to the neighborhood. SHARE takes every precaution to ensure that, because it would be “un-American” of them to bring criminals into what is otherwise a nice, safe,kid-friendly neighborhood.
Now get out there and give a homeless, mentally ill alcoholic a hug. Actually, if you really cared, put him up in your house, like all the homeless activists and defenders already do.
I heard from my neighbor who has been in touch with leadership at the church, and supposedly they will all be sleeping inside the building, with no tents, etc outside. We’ll see. Hopefully there won’t be any problems. Anyone know how long they plan to be there?
I’m glad to have so see many supporting the move of Nickelsville to Wallingford, even temporarily. With unemployment reaching a 27 year high now at almost 10% and foreclosures on the rise, we should all be considering how WE are going to care for those who become homeless. With the upcoming government cutbacks, many more of US may be joining the ranks of the homeless soon, and who will be taking care of ALL??? Thank to Cornerstone!!!
Don’t know if this comment with help or hurt the discussion (hopefully help!) but I just posted something on my own blog about Mattel’s new homeless baby doll, if anyone is interested.
http://felsputzer.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/gwen-the-homeless-doll/
Nickelsville, by written agreement with the church, will house no more than 30 people for no more than 30 days at the church. During this time they will be actively searching out a more permanent site. They have open meetings every evening at 6pm. I encourage you all to go, voice your concerns and learn more about what they are about.