In a few weeks, the homeless survival road show is coming to a location near you. During the last One Night Count, 2,736 homeless people were counted outside after the shelters were full. More than 800 of these were sleeping in cars. Another 300 or so were in one of the four tent cities that exist in Seattle or in east King County.
There is a survival gap, and it needs to be closed. Small amounts of support for car campers and organized communities of homeless people can play a key role in keeping people safe and alive. These programs inexpensively meet homeless people where they’re at and open the door to something better.
A few weeks ago, a handful of tent city residents spoke to a group of students at Seattle University. It was excellent practice for the Occupy CEHKC forums coming this April. In this time when more and more of us are economically vulnerable, these stories hit home.
Real Change vendor George Sidwell, for example, was doing everything right. He was sober and had a good job. Then, one day, a stroke left him unable to speak and unable to speak. He lost his business and his insurance while he fought his way back. Then his house burned down.
A religious mission that offers overnight shelter required George be there for his bed at 6 p.m., then put him back on the street with his stuff at dawn. Rows of mats on the floor placed him just inches from his neighbor. For George, who suffers from PTSD, this was intolerable.
Thankfully, there was another option. “At Nickelsville, I had my own tent. I could leave my stuff there, and come and go as I pleased.” George had a second stroke at the encampment, and he credits the actions of the those around him with saving his life.
The Bowens offered a different sort of story. When Robert and Ashley moved here from San Francisco for work, they ran out of money first. All the shelters said they’d have to split up to get help. To Ashley, who has Asperger’s syndrome, this was a terrifying prospect. But when they called Tent City 3, they were told to come on in. “Within 30 minutes of arriving, we had a dry, warm, safe place for ourselves and a place to keep our stuff.”
Tent City 3 offered another camper safety, community and a commitment to sobriety. Tracy Arant arrived there after her drinking led to the loss of everything. When she was caught drinking in camp, she found herself barred and looking for a way back in. “It’s bad enough to be homeless, “ she said, “but to be thrown out of a homeless encampment is bottom.”
Tracy went to rehab and was welcomed back. She’s been sober since.
These are the sort of stories that make people see differently. One of the SU students, her voice trembling with emotion, thanked the panelists for their honesty. Her grandfather, she said, had recently suffered a stroke and still struggles to regain his speech. Her mother, she said, is on the Asperger’s spectrum, and her father is a recovering alcoholic.
“To hear things so relatable to my own life, and to see them take such more severe turns with you guys, really makes me care. I’m very thankful for that.”
Come learn how self-organized efforts like car camping and tent cities can help us close the survival gap in King County. Forums will be held at University Temple on April 11, 7 p.m.; Seattle Pacific University’s Otto Miller Hall on April 12 at 6:30 p.m.; and at People’s Institutional Baptist on April 16, also at 6:30 p.m. Come hear our stories, and help us be part of the solution.