My name is Paige Bartlett. I'm 14 and live in West Seattle. I, like many people my age, enjoy walking up to the Alaska and California Junction. The junction, in its role as downtown West Seattle, reflects many aspects of West Seattle.
I realized a few months ago I had always assumed West Seattle, and the junction especially, was relatively free of homeless people with their cardboard signs asking for food. Consequently, I was surprised when, a few months ago, those same types of people began to show up in the junction. This just goes to show how hard the recession is hitting everyone.
I've always thought of West Seattle as its own community. Not in an exclusive way, but in the fact that we work together, share places we all love and help each other. If West Seattle finds itself with an influx of homeless people, shouldn't we all pitch in and help those people, even just by giving them a pair of socks, something to eat or telling them about "Real Change"? We have to work with our community in harder times.
Paige Bartlett
West Seattle