roundthesound...
i have yet to meet a single freak at Nickelsville.
No-one i have ever met there would so much as turn an eye on the street in the junction.
Nickelsville gives tours of the camp to show those who visit that they are trying to help themselves by creating a community that does it's best to look out for it's own.
They believe that by sharing their home, they can show you that the major difference between their community and ours is resources.
That tour does not include peeking inside personal living spaces.
The big lie is that the homeless are freaks.. only there because they can't or don't want to fit into society.
Like any lie it is based on a nugget of truth. There are people who become homeless for those very reasons.
But there are also people who become homeless because they became ill or lost their jobs or had a family tragedy that temporarily derailed them.
Increasingly, the holes in what we refer to as our safety net are landing the temporarily derailed on the streets and keeping them there.
Visit Nickelsville and you meet people who collect social security disability but still can't afford a roof over their heads and find themselves waiting on subsidized housing lists for years.
A tent is a huge step up from the street.
I too would hope that anyone who visits Nickelsville respects the privacy of the residents...
but you don't have to ask about private matters to start a conversation there any more than you do in your local grocery store.
westseattleblog
West Seattle Blog
West Seattle Blog
