Much community discussion and debate has been sparked by the arrival of the SHARE shelter at the Gift of Grace church in Wallingford. One of the primary parties to the ongoing dialogue are those directly related to Huckleberry Forest Preschool, which is currently located on the ground level of the church.
According to a Huckleberry preschool parent who contacted me this week, they have been discussing this issue and feel that they need to move forward to find a solution that best meets the needs of their children and the preschool community as a whole. To that end, the following statement has been provided:
The parents, staff and owners of Huckleberry Forest Preschool met Monday night and have decided that what’s best for the children, given the current situation, how it came to be, and how discussions are progressing to date, is for Huckleberry Forest Preschool to change locations so we can all move past this and they can get on with what they do best, which is taking excellent care of our children. Thank you to Wallingford in advance for supporting Huckleberry Forest while we make this transition.
wow
Right on! A very safe and proactive move. There are places!
Mosaic, the church on 40th and 1 block east of woodland park N.; dunkin doughnuts space, home of good shepherd, Om Culture
Now all we neighbors hav eto do is to figure out how to live in harmony with SHARE and their distrustful works; GoG’s actions and assuring that the folks who come have sanitary conditions – maybe showers? and finally our safety on normal streets.
wow
Share and GoG have pushed out one business so far. Who’s next?
Given the idea of sharing the building w/ a shelter, it’s is probably a good idea for other reasons too:
http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=340697
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/dont-let-the-bedbugs-bite/Content?oid=1086374
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009710799_bedbugs22.html
I forgot about the bedbug problem. I did some volunteer work at ROOTS last year, and they definitely had problems with the critters. They are expensive to get rid of. Sorry to hear the preschool was run out of the building, though I can’t say I am surprised.
peace
Such sad news for all.
I truly wish the preschool the best. I hope that the church will handle their departure with true Christian spirit and grace, and go out of their way to make this transition as smooth and easy on them as possible. Moving a school to a new location on such short notice is an extremely difficult process as it is (been there, done that, as they say). This would be one way that the Gift of Grace community could help the healing process along, and it would visibly demonstrate to the larger community your good faith efforts.
(reposted)
How very, very sad that children are being taught from a very young age to fear anyone who isn’t as privileged as they are. I am not even a “church person” by ANY means, but I feel very badly for this church.
Sal, I suggest you read through the many posts on the topic before commenting. This has never, ever been about fear of the underprivileged. Not even close. You post was designed only to inflame.
This is very sad news to me. I was going to send my son to that pre-school next year and I will not any longer. A pre-school that teaches fear of people less fortunate is not a value I want instilled in my family. So so disappointing.
I am sorry that expressing my opinion has “inflamed” anyone. I’ve been following the story since the hysteria started and finally just wanted to express my opinion, even thought it would be unpopular.
Sal, I am so with you. I am a parent and a community resident and I hate that this happened here. It is not your post, but all the other hateful posts that have “inflamed” ignorance!
Well the funny thing about all of this is that the GoG church also fears the actions of the homeless. The “notification” we preschool parents were supposed to sign wasn’t just about acknowledging the presence of the homeless around GoG, it was a full blown indemnification waiver asking the parents to give up all rights to take legal action against GoG if the homeless did something violent to our children.
What makes you think this was ever about fear? From the very beginning, the discussions had always been about communication. This church already housed two homeless individuals, and the preschool staff and parents were well aware of this, had their questions answered to their satisfaction prior to moving in, and had no problem with that situation at all. Hardly the acts of a school that teaches fear of the homeless..
Everything that I have read indicates that this was an extreme lack of communication between the church and their tenant about bringing in *additional* homeless members in a SHARE-run shelter. The director claims she was told this would not happen, the pastor claims he told her it would. No matter which side you believe, it was always about this miscommunication.
I am so tired of reading these ad hominem attacks on the preschool staff and parents. Their concerns are valid, even if they are not shared by you. It is reasonable to be upset if you feel you were told one thing to get a lease signed, but then later saw your landlord do something that you felt was reneging on the agreement. Attacking them personally because they felt blindsided by the actions of their landlord is disingenuous at best. And extremely unchristian-like, I might add.
Lara, I 100% agree with your choice not to send your son to a school that “teaches fear of people less fortunate. ”
However, I strongly encourage you not to jump to such quick and horrible assumptions about what has driven this decision to move. I will speak for myself alone in saying that I have spent many hours absorbed in this conflict, as my son attends the school currently, and I believe I have a more well-rounded perspective than you might hold. To speak for myself, I would have preferred that the church, shelter and preschool could all rise above all the craziness to find a way to co-exist peacefully. I have absolutely no problem with my son attending a school which houses a homeless shelter, and I am in favor of the church hosting the shelter.
At the same time, I am supportive of the decision to move the preschool because there has been a massive communication breakdown between the school and its landlords, and the conflict is bringing too much negative energy to the school. If I had any sense whatsoever that the decision to move was driven by fear, then I would have withdrawn my son immediately. In my heart, I believe that the director and teachers at the school love and care for all the students, and that these same people ALSO truly care for community efforts to take care of people who need food and shelter. It just didn’t work out for the shelter and the school to be in the same building, and the reasons are very complex.
Lara (and Sal), I hope that you also believe it is important to teach our children not to jump to quick assumptions about other people’s motives, but rather to listen, to be considerate, and to be humble.
Indeed, both sides need to keep this respectful. We need to remember are all dealing with hearsay from a first party we trust. The parents trust the preschool that cares so well for their children and the parishioners trust their church elders. Both relationships are based on faith in those individuals.
Attacks require defenses and counter-attacks also based on hearsay, stoking a fire that burns all. Any attempt by a church or its members to vilify a preschool would be as foolhardy as a preschool trying to vilify a church and its congregation and will just divide the community further.
Lara, either way, I don’t think it would have worked out in your favor. If the preschool stays in the building they would have been forced to close because of unhappy parents leaving. So you wouldn’t be able to take your kid there anyway. I support their BUSINESS decision.
A chance, that’s all these people are asking of you people. No process is perfect. But the fact is these people are grateful to have a roof over their heads at night so they can make their lives better in the morning. I wish HF would take a deep breath and give it a chance. So sad. As for the parents speaking about not wanting to send their children to a place that discriminates against homeless people, right on! Your children will change the world!
If the preschool feels that the trust with their landlord, the church, is broken (already), it is probably better for them to spend energy on finding a new location rather than attending endless meetings to determine who miscommunicated with whom. They are a business, and they need enrollment to stay up to keep their doors open. We have lived through this with Nickelsville in the parking lot of our preschool which made it hard to find new people to enroll when families left. Hopefully, the preschool can find a new location soon. Perhaps even one that is safer in the case of an earthquake than an old brick church (I wonder about the one my kids are in).
And so it goes… the re-messaging continues. Keep misrepresenting the views of the school, parents, and neighbors. Repeat lies until they become ‘facts’ that are regurgitated by others and take on a life of their own. Karl Rove would be proud.
Don’t bother trying to listen or understand. It’s more life-afirming to accuse people of having ulterior motives. We as a species are doomed.
Lara: I appreciate that you have signed your real name to your post. I think your son would have learned a lot about tolerance, art, love, music, generosity, and cooking real food if he were to be so lucky as to attend HF. You should reconsider your decision, especially once you are ready to challenge your own assumptions and to hear other viewpoints. In my opinion, your post was pretty unfair and spiteful — please think of the example you are setting for your son. I would hope that he somehow grows to learn that being reductionist in representing others’ complex feelings (“those parents are running in fear from the homeless,” e.g.) is counter-productive to community dialogue. It’s a common Fox News tactic; highly effective, but not good for those of us trying to feel out the truth in a complicated world.
As for Give it a Chance: I think that you should become more informed about the situation before you make such big statements about what HF should or should not be doing. Have you talked with a single parent? If you are willing, I am more than happy to speak with you and/or Lara at length. I will not attempt to speak for other parents, but I am more than happy to describe what I’ve observed and learned during the several weeks that I’ve been part of this community. It is quite complicated, and I am frustrated that many outsiders on this thread are rushing to judge. Or, we can talk in general about how difficult and heart-breaking it is to attempt to raise a child in this world nowadays — so many are suffering from a lack of food, shelter and water, and yet well-resourced people choose to spend so much time on the internet hurling ill-informed judgments at total strangers.
Christine
Chris, Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
As a parent of a preschooler, I can’t say enough about what a wonderful experience HF at Gift of Grace, has provided for my 2.5 year old.
For those not part of the preschool community, please understand that as parents, we were not aware of the shelter moving in until just 6 days ago and we were informed just 2 days ago of the preschool’s possible move to a different location.
During the last few days we’ve had a blitzkrieg of opinions and media attention coming at us. I think many parents are just trying to figure out what’s going on, how to communicate with other parents, and how to best move forward. I don’t think many of us are trying to make social statements with our children or trying to teach the appropriate response to a complex social issue like homelessness. (I’m just trying to get my kid to pee in the toilet.)
My heart goes out to all the wonderful people in the community who are working hard to make this a better place- Those people are in the church, local businesses, the preschool, and the shelter.
There are currently some relationships that are very stressed. In the spirit of building a better Wallingford, please be thoughtful to each other while we heal, and best wishes to those who are willing to engage in a courageous conversation.
Hate to be all “math this” and “facts that” but does anyone have any hard data that a shelter raises crime in any way? I am pretty sure the fact a school was in the building precluded sex offenders from living there. Perhaps now that the school is gone the kids are less safe? The people I know have responded with a resounding ‘meh’ on the entire issue. This is the type of thing best left to proto helicopter parents eating finger sandwiches at garden parties. If I have to put up with parents blocking off arterial streets so their loin maggots can get a second days use out of their Halloween costumes you can pretend you don’t have change once more a day.
Flash – No id is required from the homeless living at the church. Sex offenders can live there regardless of the Community Protection Act that states that cannot reside within 880 feet of a school or daycare center.
Also, the first two comments are probably the same person. The odds of two people opening with a lowercase ‘wow’, I hope, are slim.
excuse me please.. I am Cathy. I am not anonymous. I have met soem of you. I have spoken in the sam etone consistently. I have no reason to hide behind anonymous postings.
I taught over 20 years. During this debacle I have had tiem to read the HF site.I am very impressed wiith their curriculum and philosophy. This kind of preschool education is valuable and not found in every preschool. Some of you may not realize how much time preschool parents put into visiting and reviewing schools fo rtheir children. Visits begin in January! Some schools fil their rosters before May. If HF had not decided to leave GoG parents are in a tigh spor- few other options after school has begun or constant worry about safety and poor communication etc..
I see this move as a very smart plan. I hope that the community are informed -if they choose- so the school may have help packing and moving. I am not working much. I will volunteer.
I do nto however post as anyoen other than myself on here. No one else makes such divine typign mistakes.!!
@Flash: Don’t have time to research this for you, but if you live in Seattle you can go to the UW and search the journals.
That said, Google does a pretty good job on the fly. There is a lot of info on different cities struggling w/ homeless sex-offenders. I did quickly find one general story that seems to summarize some of the data:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-11-18-homeless-offenders_N.htm
To act like this isn’t a valid concern is being blind to reality. Homelessness is a real issue and it needs to be seen in the light of day, awknowledging ALL the warts. And just to be clear, sex crimes against homeless woman, by the homeless men, is also a real concern.
As far as crime in general:
1) HUD Statistics (circa 2000): 54% were incarcerated at some point in their lives.
2) http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/59/2/170
Flash, It’s funny you say you hate to be “math this” and “facts that” as if that was the offensive part of your post. If you want to make a point, ending with “loin maggots” probably isn’t the way to go.
There is plenty of data to show that there is plenty of crime associated with shelters/encampments, and the Level of a sex offender (I, II or III) is in proportion to their likelihood to re-offend. There are plenty of reports of discontent by neighbors regarding SHARE (and by residents of the encampment as well).
If you don’t beleive the stats, read the police report on the tent city in Bothel which housed a 100, and you can divide by that to get all kinds of stats.
A quick search yields all of this, but you chose not to do that, you chose to follow your presupposition and judge the parents. The parents didn’t force the preschool to move, and the move is not about having any shelter, it’s about having a shelter which doesn’t screen for violent offenders. And as I mention, the church is worried too, or they wouldn’t ask the parents to sign indemnification waivers.
There are several issues in play here and whenever it gets all to complicated, somebody shuts down reverts back to their black or white reply and refuses to sift through the grey like you just did. Blame the helicopter parents and their loin maggots.
There are many many issues and problems to be solved here. I’ll try to name a few:
1 GoG did this with no input from the community beyond their own congregation. So how do you properly engage a community to achieve a greater good?
2. Should there be a shelter? -I honestly hear almost no-one staunchly say NIMBY. They just want conditions met to make sure there is oversight and all are safe. The church did not include this in their master plan and now must rethink.
3. Is SHARE the right organization to run this shelter? They seem to have a mixed track record with our residents for or against them based on their (mostly 2nd and 3rd hand) experience.
4. Socially, do you plan for the war, without planning for the peace, so to speak? Or rather, Is providing a place to sleep enough if you want to take on homelessness? You need to provide training and a whole host of social programs to reintegrate these folks so they aren’t still in a shelter in 12, 18, 24 months from now. GoG’s plan seems to stop at lending out their balcony. Is that enough?
There is presently a homeless woman who lives at GoG now, and afaik, no one is moving to better her circumstance beyond a roof. She lives in a unheated shed, and is occasionally seen dumping her urine and fecal matter from a bucket. So I’m guessing she could benefit from psychiatric treatment. I believe she’s been there for more than a year, with no improvement in her circumstance. I’m not saying GoG members aren’t kind or respectful of her circumstance, but it doesn’t seem to be improving. -Is this what we can come to expect for the SHARE residents?
4. Housing a preschool and a shelter that doesn’t screen for violent/sex offenses in the same building. -This was the issue that got the press coverage, and recast as parents saying no to any kind of shelter, which we weren’t (or most of us anyway).
5. The relationship between the preschool and their landlord. This is why the preschool left and why the parents were supportive, not because we told them they had to because of #4. The relationship is beyond repair. It’s possibly the most one-sided business arrangement I’ve ever heard of. (And I worked for Microsoft in the 90’s!!!)
I hope the first 4 are on the table today, not #5 as that is done. Mom and Dad are getting a divorce. it’s nothing we did and they still love us very much, but it’s over.
Did I leave anything out? Please chime in all if so. Sorry, I have to go put the finger sandwiches in the fridge before the mayonnaise turns.
Two main questions:
FIRST, Let’s go back to #2 Anonymous: “Who’s next?”
Who is leaving Wallingford next? Wallingford accepts that some obscure organization opens a shelter for homeless people with not enough material resources, no legal control, no health control, no rehabilitation plans for the homeless, no psychological services… Parents move a preschool out of the way so that the shelter runs better. Other neighbors plan to donate food and blankets so that the shelter runs better…
Who is leaving Wallingford next? Those who are perplexed by all this, and prefer to look for another neighborhood that is safer for their families and their belongings.
SECOND, and most importantly: WHO IS BENEFITING from all these? Who is benefiting from us and from the homeless? Those are the bedbugs we have to be really scared of.
It is so sad that most people have a tendency to ignore the big picture and to consent for the sake of an apparently “charitable” cause.
Since the preschool’s leaving they should change their name too. I wouldn’t want to send my preschool age daughter to “huckleberry forest” after googling them and reading about the nastiness.
Just want to say that both my kids attended University Temple Children’s School (UTCS) in the University United Methodist Church in the U District from ages 1 to 5. The church also has a SHARE/WHEEL facility in the basement. In 9 years that our kids were there, we never had issues with this shared use of space. Might want to talk with UTCS about this as it may ease your minds.
jenny, I am very glad to hear your school had no issues. A member of the Wallingford Coop was at today’s meeting, and she spoke about her positive experience when Nickelsville was in their parking lot. Our preschool did have issues when they were located in ours, however. And of course we know that the Ballard shelter had issues within their larger community. So it can be a mixed bag – not always negative, not always positive. I also believe that under certain circumstances, a shelter and a preschool can coexist in the same space with no problems.
I think that everyone can agree that if there is good communication and good responsiveness between a host church and its preschool and.or neighborhood, then there is a much higher likelihood of success. I would go so far as to say it is an essential requirement for success. In this very specific case, between this church and this preschool, there seems to be a very massive breakdown of communication. I do not think this was about whether the two could theoretically exist together, but whether the preschool felt it could trust and have faith in its relationship with its host church. It seems, sadly, that this trust was irrevocably broken.
Hi jenny,
I think it would be great for people to look to you example as a situation in which a school and homeless shelter were able to share space without incident. I encourage anyone who has fears of the shelter to research this further.
HOWEVER, I don’t believe that this comparison is relevant to the Huck Forest/GOG situation. The problem with the preschool staying in this location is driven by the fact that the church pastor (i.e. the landlord) has not been completely honest with the HF director (his renters) about church activities related to helping the homeless.
Please don’t misclassify this conflict as being about fear of the homeless and the shelter — at its core, it’s all about a communication breakdown and a healthy choice to leave a sour business relationship. If the pastor had been more transparent and honest with the preschool community, then we may have been able to find a way to share space with the homeless community. It is unfortunate that he did not approach this situation differently.
If you have any comparable situations that involve a similar conflict between landlords and tenants, please let us know so that we can look into it for guidance. The case of UTCS does not seem to apply to this one, however.
Muffin top –
To second your comment, these are the same bedbugs who use “the homeless” as a pawn and religion as a shield. That is the crux of my objection to the entire situation.
@ZZ : The point of the scholarly and well researched USA Today article is that ‘thousands’ homeless people are sex offenders and that tracking their movements is difficult and has been handled many ways in different parts of the US. The point of the Psychology Today article is that many people who have been homeless have also been to jail. I was asking for a study that indicated that areas around shelters are more ripe for sexual offenses than other areas. Here is the only article I was able to find that was either in a primary journal or presented at a esteemed meeting of professionals in the field.
http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/0/3/1/5/p203152_index.html
“I present an analysis of the density of crime reports for June to December of 2006 versus the distance of the crime locations from the three homeless shelters located in the Orlando Parramore Heritage District. The types of analyzed offenses are violent, substance, larceny, property, sexual, and ordinance violations. The analysis indicates that locations closer to homeless shelters are more likely to have larceny offenses and ordinance violations, while the density of crimes involving violent, substance, property, and sexual offenses do not correlate to the locations of these three homeless shelters.”
The long and short of it seems to be that we can expect more theft, open containers and jaywalkingy type stuff but not more sex offenses. Unless your kids are pretty blinged out I doubt theft is an issue and things like jay walking and street people slugging OE are par for the course in any urban environment.
@Chris : Rug Rats has been appropriated by Nickelodeon, a subsidiary of Viacom International and everything they do is labeled as ‘cute’, so I needed something that had an intended effect similar to the original but with a little less of a Sanrio connotation. Plus, I thought it was funny.
As far as the Bothell Tent City Police Report (Referred to hereafter as the BTCPR) I wasn’t able to find a copy online. I’d love for you to send me one. I did find a blog post: http://tentcitysolutions.com/Default.aspx?tabid=245
Please read it and pay attention to the phrasing as clearly these people have no axe to grind with the homeless.
I feel their stats are misleading.
“Despite claims to the contrary crime in Finn Hill has increased during Tent City 4’s stay just as it did in Bothell and Woodinville.”
This is fairly accurate, though a nebulous category of offenses listed as ‘disturbances’ went down. They failed to mention the results in Woodinville where crime went, get this, DOWN in four of the listed categories during the stay of Tent City in the categories of disturbances, assaults, liquor/tobacco violations and vandalism.
They then link to this Seattle Times article in the ‘read more’ where I culled the above statistics.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20050213&slug=tentcity13e
We aren’t talking about huge increases, as these areas have very little crime to begin with. An increase of two auto thefts to four auto thefts does in fact mean an increase of 100%, but we’re still talking about four cars in a fairly large area. You are 33% less likely to be assaulted in Woodinville while tent city is there? You are 550% times less likely to see an alcohol or tobacco offense while tent city is there? A statistician would tell you that your sample size is simply too small to mean anything. If this was a politcal survey it would be forced to have a disclaimer saying results accurate to within + or – 538%.
This is getting rather long, so I’ll address your numbered comments below.
1 GoG did this with no input from the community beyond their own congregation. So how do you properly engage a community to achieve a greater good?
A greater good. Not sure exactly how this is being defined here. The greater good for the homeless community might not match up with what the residents of Wallingford want or what they feel their tax dollars should be spent on. Properly or improperly engaging the community, well, frankly I’m not sure it’s the community’s business exactly what a private organization does on what I assume is private property. You could also argue that their community is their congregation and the homeless they serve, but I feel that point is rather empty and refuse to belabor it.
2. Should there be a shelter? -I honestly hear almost no-one staunchly say NIMBY. They just want conditions met to make sure there is oversight and all are safe. The church did not include this in their master plan and now must rethink.
The NIMBY crowd are subtle. They may seek to impose unrealistic expectations under the guise of ‘oversight’. “I have no problem with the shelter as long as I and all my neighbors are assured that all the homeless are fitted with radio activated shock collars and that they are escorted by police officers at all times”. Even if conditions are met, you can shift the goal posts and say, well now that there has been a robbery within a mere 15 blocks of the shelter we need to rethink our ‘oversight’.
3. Is SHARE the right organization to run this shelter? They seem to have a mixed track record with our residents for or against them based on their (mostly 2nd and 3rd hand) experience.
I have no idea. When providing for those less fortunate I don’t think there is a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ group of people to do it so long as a service is being provided that we can all agree that the homeless could use. In this case that service is homes.
4. Socially, do you plan for the war, without planning for the peace, so to speak? Or rather, Is providing a place to sleep enough if you want to take on homelessness? You need to provide training and a whole host of social programs to reintegrate these folks so they aren’t still in a shelter in 12, 18, 24 months from now. GoG’s plan seems to stop at lending out their balcony. Is that enough?
A large percentage of homeless will be homeless essentially forever. Their 24 month success rate is probably grim. I can accept that.
There is presently a homeless woman who lives at GoG now, and afaik, no one is moving to better her circumstance beyond a roof. She lives in a unheated shed, and is occasionally seen dumping her urine and fecal matter from a bucket. So I’m guessing she could benefit from psychiatric treatment. I believe she’s been there for more than a year, with no improvement in her circumstance. I’m not saying GoG members aren’t kind or respectful of her circumstance, but it doesn’t seem to be improving. -Is this what we can come to expect for the SHARE residents?
If she had a better option than bucket and shed she’d probably take it. As for myself I’d prefer bucket and shed to no bucket and shed.
4. Housing a preschool and a shelter that doesn’t screen for violent/sex offenses in the same building. -This was the issue that got the press coverage, and recast as parents saying no to any kind of shelter, which we weren’t (or most of us anyway).
There is no credible evidence I can find that sex offenses increase when a shelter is nearby. See the article I posted above.
5. The relationship between the preschool and their landlord. This is why the preschool left and why the parents were supportive, not because we told them they had to because of #4. The relationship is beyond repair. It’s possibly the most one-sided business arrangement I’ve ever heard of. (And I worked for Microsoft in the 90′s!!!)
I despise children.
“Did I leave anything out? Please chime in all if so. Sorry, I have to go put the finger sandwiches in the fridge before the mayonnaise turns.”
That’s the spirit!
Flash #33: What I offer to you was to go to the UW (or some other major academic institution) and search the ‘stacks’ for such information. A reference librarian should be able to direct you, if you need assistance. There would be no cost incurred other that those you’d spend making photocopies.
Oh, and your comment here:
“There is no credible evidence I can find that sex offenses increase when a shelter is nearby. See the article I posted above.”
Really? What, you google and find one academic article (that you likely didn’t download due to costs), likely don’t know the study design, and likely don’t have any information on the analysis performed, and make such a gross overstatement? If you can’t find it by googling, then it must not exits, huh? You toss around the term “statistics” like you have some knowledge of what that means and then make a jump to such an illogical conclusion. Given your comment, I’m not sure you would have the necessary background and skill to critically assess any work presented in an academic article after all.
Flash and those who flash,
I am really impressed by how much you care about your point, and that you are so patient and so determined to read and refute with passion. This is the greatness of the internet and its endless space for everybody’s opinions.
But let me be a little briefer than you:
1. I do not buy the lack-of-statistical-evidence show. I do not buy it about global warming, and I do not buy it in this specific case either. Because there is people PROFITING from this kind of discourse.
2. Instead of being “subtle”, I will be as rotund as a muffin: After knowing the way they have imposed this shelter on us, the way they have planned this shelter, and the way the are going to keep this shelter, I do NOT want this shelter in my neighborhood. Because this kind of shelter does not provide real shelter, and jeopardizes our families and our belongings. Because, instead of being charitable, we are allowing obscure people and organizations TO PROFIT from the homeless.
So please wake up from your naive Northwest-culture hospitality and your pseudo-liberal-ish care for the disenfranchised and think seriously about the bigger picture.
@Flash –
“As far as the Bothell Tent City Police Report (Referred to hereafter as the BTCPR) I wasn’t able to find a copy online.”
I found this in about a minute (relevant quotes follow). If you can’t find it by googling, I’m not in the mood to educate you on the process.
“Total number of documented police reports or related contacts: 154
Total number of criminal events or related contacts: 25
Total number of arrests of Tent City residents: 11
Total number ejected from camp: 53
Total number rejected from camp: 10
From a police perspective, while many residents of the tent city were good citizens… many items could have been done better. These items include finding a better site to house tent city residents, improving site security, better identification of residents, and an improved screening process of prospective residents.
Additional police recommendations include significant notice before Tent City camps move into a neighborhood, an improved public notification process, and an analysis of each proposed future Tent City proposal on a case by case basis for special conditions which will hopefully will ensure a better experience for all.”
hmmm… isn’t this (and not elimination of shelters in general or even in our neighborhood in particular) exactly what the residents of Wallingford and other areas are asking for?
I am glad to hear that you despise children, as this means that your genes will not be polluting the pool (assuming, that is, that there was any *chance* of you entering said pool). I know you won’t find any friends here.
Thanks.
Oh, a relevant bit of information on the above stats I forgot to include, this was over a 4 month period, and the camp holds “up to” 100 individuals.
@ZZ : I don’t actually care if this shelter happens or not. I just kill time at work by screwing around online. The mere idea of me going to the UW library, and spending any amount of time I’m not getting paid for perusing the ‘stacks’ and bothering the reference librarian to prove a point on a neighborhood blog is, frankly, hilarious. I totally didn’t download the article. I could probably email a friend who has an academic subscription to the site and get it for free, but even that is too much work. I’ll take no umbrage at your statistics comment. I worked as a SQL data analyst, but you had no way of knowing that. This is the internet and I love seeing nothing more than someone who previously took the high road, diving, like an owl to a field mouse, for the low road. I will point out that you cited Psychology Today, a fine publication but the article you posted simply demonstrates a correlation between people being homeless and people who have been to jail. It does not, nor does it attempt to demonstrate that people living near shelters are less ‘safe’ than those who live further away. The second article you posted was from the USA Today and was simply a puff piece indicating “OMG! HOMELESS SEX OFFENDERS ROAM THE LAND PRESUMABLY RAPING WITH IMPUNITY”. I’ll just let the abstract written for a paper delivered before the annual meeting of the American Society For Criminology stand, warts and all.
@Top : The most honest argument against the shelter is that you just don’t want it there. I think most of this ‘think of the children’, ‘what about crime’, ‘are these people really getting the help they need’, ‘bedbugs’, ‘poor lady’s pooping in a bucket’ stuff is code for Not In My Back Yard. It just helps people to assuage their guilt if they can come up with a list of what may be valid reasons, when we all know perfectly well they’re sick of being hassled for change. And that’s a perfectly good reason. Just say it. Just say I’m sick of being hassled for change and stepping over beer cans and I’m not particularly partial to the smell of urine and vomit and homeless people kind skeeve me out a bit and I took karate for a year a decade ago and seem to remember something about putting my keys between my knuckles when making a fist and oh god why didn’t I keep taking karate.
Just say it.
@Please Don’t : http://www.google.com/search?q=Total+number+of+documented+police+reports+or+related+contacts%3A+154+Total+number+of+criminal+events+or+related+contacts%3A+25&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Uc&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&source=hp&q=%22Total+number+of+documented+police+reports+or+related+contacts%3A+154%22+%22Total+number+of+criminal+events+or+related+contacts%3A+25%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=7b3e9e0669ddb0a1
I believe you, but I’d like to see the link. I’d try harder to find it but I’m too busy updating my Geo Cities page and Lime Wire’ing up some Nickelback.
“Additional police recommendations include significant notice before Tent City camps move into a neighborhood, an improved public notification process, and an analysis of each proposed future Tent City proposal on a case by case basis for special conditions which will hopefully will ensure a better experience for all.”
Please see “They may seek to impose unrealistic expectations under the guise of ‘oversight’. “I have no problem with the shelter as long as I and all my neighbors are assured that all the homeless are fitted with radio activated shock collars and that they are escorted by police officers at all times”. Even if conditions are met, you can shift the goal posts and say, well now that there has been a robbery within a mere 15 blocks of the shelter we need to rethink our ‘oversight’.”
“Oh, a relevant bit of information on the above stats I forgot to include, this was over a 4 month period, and the camp holds “up to” 100 individuals.”
11 arrests over four months. For unspecified arrests presumably including revoked bond and probation violations. These are truly dangerous times.
“I am glad to hear that you despise children, as this means that your genes will not be polluting the pool (assuming, that is, that there was any *chance* of you entering said pool). I know you won’t find any friends here.”
Feeeeeeeeeed me, Seymour.
A note on why I despise children. They smell, they are often covered in bodily fluids, they can’t seem to control their behavior in public, they looked like if I touched them they might be sticky and they contribute nothing to society. “But, they may someday contribute to society”. Touché.
Glad I stayed on the high road. The low road seems to have trolls.
@ Flash: Do you really believe that bums, sorry, “homeless’,” don’t have a much higher incidence of criminal records, drug and alcohol problems, and mental illness than the general population? Then why are they homeless? Wait, don’t tell me; they’re simply “down on their luck.” So these offramp guys I’ve recognized seen for years have just been unlucky this whole time?
But hey, you’re so bighearted and sure that they are no threat to others, how about you put it to the test. Tonight, take a stroll through a Wallingford neighborhood. And then go take a stroll through one of the “jungles” under I-5 . Then tell us where you felt safer.
Or better yet, how about you and your friends who think they’re harmless do your part to “end homelessness.”. You have no problem telling others to welcome the homeless into their neighborhoods, parks, and playgrounds, so welcome them into your home. Surely you have a spare couch, if not a extra bedroom? Or even bring them in for a hot shower? And remember, they’re harmless, so it’s ok to leave your wallet and checkbook laying around.
So how ’bout it, Flash? Don’t you care enough about the homeless?
I’m confused on what the problem is… homeless people are all out to get little children? homeless people are all out to steal from my house? homeless people are all violent?
This is what it sounds like people are saying is the problem. Because, if you took all those reasons out, what argument is there to allow these children of God… sorry… homeless people into this church… when the children aren’t even there?
The trolls are out.
I am sad that the Preschool plans to leave Gift of Grace location.
Unless a miracle occurs, it looks like Chris summed it up well when he wrote (#26) “Mom and Dad are getting a divorce. it’s nothing we did and they still love us very much, but it’s over.”
I also second what Cathy said (#24): “I hope that the community are informed -if they choose- so the school may have help packing and moving. I am not working much. I will volunteer.” I too will volunteer.
-Woody
In the end, we are not homeless, so typing on a keyboard means nothing
@Hayduke : I simply stated that no one provided any real evidence that any crime goes up around a homeless shelter save theft and citation style offences. And I provided that. I feel pretty safe everywhere but will concede that Wallyhood is statistically safer than the jungles. Still, the jungles are pretty safe. Now, exactly where did it seem to you I care about the homeless? I am a proud misanthrope that copped to hating children. I dislike all but a very limited subset of the human population, and while I’ll intervene in human affairs when I feel someone is getting a raw deal and lacks the ability to defend themselves, I don’t actually care. A sense of justice is very different than altruistic compassion. There are three Seattle homeless people I’ll toss off a few bucks to, one of whom is a registered sex offender. Another I did on a one time basis let take a shower before he went to Hawaii for a rock stacking competition. Think Fremont.
This article about the Preschool leaving the church that has abused them seems to have devolved into a discussion on the merits of the homeless. The issue here has never been about the homeless. It has been about lies. This Pastor, Jami Fetcher, lied. He lied to this business, the preschool, before they even moved in, he lied to the media about what he told them, and he was in talks with SHARE for one year before he let his neighbors know about this shelter, the notice happening a couple of days before they moved in. The Pastor has impugned the preschool claiming that they knew all along that the homeless were going to move into the building before signing up. Well I guess that lie has been disproved. What school would knowingly spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to open a business under these circumstances, only then to just move when the shelter went in? No, they were lied to before they moved in, and this “pastor” has continued to lie to the media, claiming that the preschool knew in advance and that he has some contract to prove it. Well I encourage everyone to ask him to provide this document and we can all judge whether he is telling the truth, or is a liar. I think you will find fairly quickly that he is not willing to produce this document. Jami, if you have nothing to hide, why not show us this document? I for one would like to see the Church’s governing body the (Northwest) Evangelical Lutheran something-or-other look into this. Or perhaps someone could just call Jessie at King5 and see if he can get some justice for this small business who has been screwed out of a small fortune by one man’s lies. Oh, by the way, this is the same man who personally pledges that he will monitor the homeless here. I wouldn’t trust him to monitor a glass of water.
Yes, “The issue here has never been about the homeless. It has been about lies” (Guy), and about dishonest manipulation, and about wild hypocrisy.
But the question seems to be too scarry for some (who just move their preschool out of the way), and too complicated for others (who get lost in virtual statistical research). A simple question:
WHO IS PROFITING from this unsheltering shelter, from the homeless, and from the neighbors at Wallingford?
This has nothing to do with “Not in my back yard” sentiment. And nothing to do with “Homeless = “deserving”” either.
Asking who is profiting is part of our demand for justice, and our determination to protect our families and belongings, and finally to truly care about the homeless.
Wake up!
Flash has admitted he is a troll. Do not respond further to him/her and such ilk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)
Then why do the “neighbors” care so much? If it’s about lies, then move on and don’t trust the guy. The fact that they are bothered by the situation, shows it has a lot to do about the homeless.
Falcon, I don’t understand your logic. To be clear, I think that the accusations of the church “lying” are far too strong, but I do think that they failed to engage the community (school and neighbors alike) or notify them of them — the church’s planning for the shelter began about a year before the shelter arrived.
Some (not all) of the neighbors are upset by the lack of transparency and consideration. I don’t necessarily hold these same opinions, but I don’t think it’s wrong for them to be bothered by the church’s actions and secrecy.
Lastly, I do think there are a handful of people who may be genuinely afraid of the prospect of a homeless shelter being established near their homes by an organization (SHARE) with a sketchy past. Again, I don’t share their position, but I also don’t judge them and try to tell them that they are wrong. I’d like to say that if I lived across the street from the shelter, I would have no fear whatsoever, but since I’m not in that position (are you??), I withhold judgement.
Well, even if he’s a troll, I have to say that Flash’s posts are pretty hilarious. I hope he keeps posting for my entertainment, even though his “insights” have added absolutely nothing of substance to the overall debate. I encourage others to resist being baited any further by his inflammatory comments.
But, Flash, please feel free to post more jokes! It seems that you have nothing else to do at 12:30 am on a Saturday night.
Dear Wallingfordians,
Thank you for your kind words. Indeed, I am happy to oblige, as I am so unused to positive feedback, and have plenty of free time, either from my lair in my mother’s basement, or while working my part-time swing shift job as a security guard at a hula-hoop factory.
Please send me an “I Heart Wallingford” t-shirt in size XXXXXL. Dark colors please, as I have a hard time keeping drool and particles of food from landing on my shirt.
To expand on the concern for the future of the homeless folks helped by GoG. The homeless woman living in the shed (see post #26 from Chris) has been there longer than I have, I moved here 5 years ago. She doesn’t seem to be included in those that qualify to sleep inside the heated buidling with bathrooms. Is that all GoG has to offer this poor woman, is she destined to be in the shed for life? They say they want to help the homeless, how about the one in their backyard shed?
My god, can’t someone contact the dept of health and human services about this? Seems to me that if this was a horse or some other abused animal, an agency would storm in there and rescue it from the abusers. Way doesn’t this apply to humans? This is sad…
@ #57 anonymous. I don’t know anything about this situation aside from what I’ve read on this blog, but I sincerely hope you’re being facetious. Several earlier postings have been from folks who know first-hand that you just can’t jump to conclusions about the mentally ill. It’s just as likely that GofG is offering their shed guest the only kind of life-preserving assistance she’s able to accept and that she truly appreciates it in her own way. It seems like the way a community takes care of its own.
Her situation might seem sad to us, but luckily ‘human service’ agencies are no longer forced to capture and cage her in a mental institution whether she wants to go or not. Trust me, there was a lot more sadness surrounding the mentally ill back then.
The homeless woman has a name. It is Tammy. She used to live in the church basement but relocated to the shed when the church decided to rent the basement. She often pees on herself, talks to herself and is subject to (verbally) violent outbursts.
She is also a survivor. She has told me of her son of whom she lost custody and still searches for. She has been beaten (and probably worse) several times over the past few years.
She has shelter. She is alive. She desperately needs medication and a caseworker. I suspect she is resistant to both.
Situations like Tammy’s take time, patience and money to solve. She likely needs inpatient treatment. In today’s economy budget cuts hit treatment facilities first. You can call whomever you’d like, but the state has probably laid off most of the people who can help and Tammy isn’t likely to get their attention because she isn’t causing any problems.
It’s really, really sad. So much more is needed than the SHARE model of shelter, but if you can keep people alive and mostly out of harm’s way for $2.50 a day….
I had no idea this person was living there. She must keep a low profile around the neighborhood. Are we talking about that windowless wooden shed in the corner of the lot? Sad indeed.