Homelessness still is an issue for our city. As a community we have spent many millions of dollars over the past decade. As a citizen, the issue does not appear to have improved much after all that effort for any side of the issue.
This Friday, the Meaningful Movies will be screening Trickle Down Town, a film made by a Seattle native about homelessness. Here is the blurb from Meaningful Movies website:
This new film from a Seattle filmmaker, who will attend our screening, takes an up-close look at homelessness in Seattle. There are in-depth interviews with homeless people and visits to local homeless camps, including Camp Second Chance in West Seattle. Also shown are people who are working hard to help their homeless neighbors.
The filmmaker, Tomasz Biernacki, says, “I have discovered that most people have uneducated, knee-jerk reactions and false beliefs . . . about the homeless. They see the tents, the RVs, the addicted people who have untreated mental and physical health issues, and instead of doing something to help their neighbors, they degrade, cast away, and add insult to injury. I want people to see that there are concrete, simple steps people can take every day to help the situation. It’s going to have to be a grassroots effort.”
The filmmaker will attend the screening and answer questions afterward.
Doors open at 6:30 for snacks and conversation. The event is FREE, with a suggested $5 donation to cover expenses.
Special Guests: Filmmaker Tomasz Biernacki
Thank you for this article. It is unfortunate that the blurb writer/film producer says “instead of doing something to help their neighbors, they degrade, cast away, and add insult to injury”. By stating this as an “instead of” he makes it sound as though people/citizens/ groups etc do nothing which negates the many. many community groups who donate warn clothing; help clean up camps; make sandwiches & soup to distribute to people; give money in front of QFC ; gather to make meals to deliver to homeless camps. By negating these actions– some of which are and have been discussed in this group– the film producer seems to create an even larger chasm between people who help in many ways from their own resources. (comment re comments )
And none of those efforts appear to be moving the needle (cough cough) either. They are kind and charitable acts, for the most part, but for instance, those dollars people hand to the homeless in front of QFC too often go to sustaining addiction, instead of ending it. If this was easy we would have fixed it by now…but how long do we keep doing what we have been doing — and even more of it — before we realize it’s not working and take a radical new approach?
I never give money in front of QFC but I see plenty of people do so. I do not see that you have suggested I do anything different.( c re c)
No, I think what you are doing is nice.
Agree w ‘wildnwonderful’ – I’ll pass on this movie. We spend more $ per-capita on homelessness than almost any major global city, not to mention volunteering and charity. The film producer may want to get better educated on the subject and think more critically about the complex problem of homelessness in Seattle.
Yes, I’m not sure what the filmmaker thinks citizens should do when they “see the tents, the RVs, the addicted people” setting up camp across the street from them. Because we all know what comes with it.
I am not sure if we all know. I know that when squatters lived across the street from me.. we had cars stolen; windshields smashed; cars rifled; trash on sidewalks and stoeln cars left abandoned on the block( comment re comments)
I think we all know. Some, namely, the enablers, just refuse to admit it. Because their narrative is that the squatters are simply our “unhoused neighbors” and our “most vulnerable community members.” Oh, and if one of them tries to break into your property, don’t call the cops, because you’re “poor shaming” them for simply engaging in “survival crime.”
…
good gravy enough of the “c re c” stuff. its annoying, repetitive and pretty childish.
It’s fairly harmless, swampy.
The issue is complex because we want to create complicated regulations to protect the house value. If we relax the regulation and allow more build up, the problem would have been much less severe. It’s pretty straight forward: if the housing price is cheaper, then you’d have way less affordability problem. However, if the housing price is cheaper, property owners would be unhappy since they wouldn’t have as much wealth increase as they are seeing.
In Tokyo housing price has not been going up at all, since the huge population increase has been easily absorbed by the massive amount of new units built. That does also mean many people don’t even bother buying houses since that’s not that good an investment.
Yes, please more hand holding of the homeless. Please keep allowing more illegal tent encampments. Please continue not enforcing illegal drug use. Please build the injection sites to promote more illegal drug use instead of detoxing in jail. Please continue to not remove RV homes and ticket cars when parking over 2 hours. Please keep making political decisions based on homelessness needs instead of responsible tax payers. Its all working so well.
The commenters are discussing vagrants who make a career of victimizing others by breaking into their homes and cars, so pardon us if we don’t go along with your weepy term for our “most vulnerable” criminals: “people in need.”
Smh.
It is not so dang clear cut. I make meals for homeless shelters. I contribute to food and clothing drives. Did that stop the woman from drinking on my door step?? Or my car getting stolen?? NO. Should I just quit doing those things because the film-maker said instead of helping I throw derision at homeless. I do not throw derision or disdain and I have been victim of many crimes yet I work on the solution. I am not alone in that. ( Comments re comments to deter meanness persisted over 4 years)
great, more puff piece championing and excuses for the city and its pathetic attempt to deal with this “crisis”.
i guess we should all feel guilty about people being junkie thieves? the truly mentally ill are a completely different story – the young, able bodied bike thief campers? not much empathy left for them…
Agreed. Empathy for the victims, (especially the little kids I sometimes see on the streets and in camps) not the victimizers.
A lot of knee jerks here.
It is sad to see the contempt of people who are homeless in these responses. I have worked in a variety of ways to address homelessness over the past 30 years. Here are a few insights that I have gained.
First of all homeless people are homeless for a variety of reasons. You will pass most of them on the streets and not know that they lack secure housing. To talk of homeless people as if they are one group is as helpful as making generalized statements about Caucasians. My experience with people who are homeless is that the one common connection between them is that they lack permanent housing.
People without much knowledge are quick to say that we have spent a lot of money on homelessness with no results. The truth is that there are a lot of results. We have significantly added to the affordable housing stock of Seattle over the past thirty years. Each one of those units houses people who otherwise would not be able to afford a place to live. The other truth is that our city and nation are producing people unable to find affordable housing faster than affordable housing is being built.
Calling efforts like homeless shelters a failure is to misunderstand the nature of the solution. It is like someone whose kidneys no long function complaining that dialysis is not curing the problem and then condemning the hospital. What the person needs is a new kidney but until they get one, dialysis is keeping them alive. Similarly tent cities, and homeless shelters are not cures for people who cannot afford housing in Seattle, that is not their function but like dialysis they keep people alive until the real solution comes along. Unfortunately the real solution for homelessness is affordable housing and we lack sufficient stocks of that housing. The problem has never been that we have spent too much on the wrong things, it is that we have not spent enough on the clear and well tested solution to homelessness.
The one solution that is guaranteed to fail is to blame homeless people for their lack of housing, ignore their needs, and use police to harass them. Police, emergency rooms and jails are costly and ineffective ways to address homelessness. It is far less costly and more effective to provide people with housing. Even those who are unrepentant users of addictive substances can be successfully and decently housed at a cost far less expensive than leaving them on the streets or throwing them in jails. We do not need radically new directions in addressing homelessness we need to fund the solutions that have been proven effective. The fact that our nation and our city have failed to fund the proven solution to homelessness is not the failure of those who are homeless or those who do what they can with the limited resources available to address the needs of homeless people.
Tales of unsavory characters assumed to be homeless people are not solutions. Assigning blame solves nothing. Market forces have failed to provide housing for low income people. Charity is insufficient to the need. Government leaders would rather support people who will give them money or votes. We as citizens have a choice, either we are part of the solution or we are part of the problem. Being part of the solution means investing years of study and service into forming a solution or trusting the people who have invested years of study and service. It means pressuring those with the power to fund effective solutions to come up with the resources to solve the problem.
Building affordable housing is expensive. Complaining about homeless people is cheap. Only one is a solution.
Rich Gamble, pastor, Keystone United Church of Christ.
Another chance to see “Trickle Down Town”. King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles is sponsoring a screening at University of Washington January 30th at 6pm at the Ethnic Cultural Theatre (3931 Brooklyn Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105). Doors will open at 5:30.