By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

West Seattle’s only tiny-house encampment is under new management. Camp Second Chance is still operated by LIHI, which has the contract to run it on city-owned land at 9701 Myers Way South, but in recent months, its on-site managers have changed. The new managers met with the CSC Community Advisory Committee for the first time this past Tuesday night. The online meeting was the first in a few months because of logistics challenges that resulted in previous cancellations.

The new managers who talked with committee members are Daniel Weiss, the LIHI program manager accountable for four tiny-house encampments including CSC, on-site manager Michelle Yellow Robe, and case manager Ashley Freeman.

Currently, the site has 64 tiny houses, six of which are empty and undergoing maintenance, and 65 people, including some couples sharing a tiny house, plus 10 pets (seven dogs and three cats). Freeman is the lone case manager at the moment, with an open position for a second one; the task of assisting more than 60 people with needs including housing and job searches “can be overwhelming at times,” she acknowledged. But people continue to be placed in housing, she said, some to LIHI apartment buildings, but others to a variety of housing options all the way down to “rooms for rent.” LIHI can assist in placement of clients by paying their first/last months’ rent and deposit.

Weiss said the new managers have been stressing that “we want to help them keep moving along and get into permanent housing.” Yellow Robe added, “It’s a program, a stepping stone, not just a place to stay (indefinitely).”

That understanding isn’t shared by all, they said, particularly police whose help they have sought with removing problematic people from CSC. This issue surfaced last fall, as we reported in coverage of October’s Community Advisory Committee meeting. LIHI’s Josh Castle said CSC had required some police responses recently after a client assaulted a staffer, punching them in the face. He said police refused to remove the client from the site, insisting it was a landlord/tenant issue and that they couldn’t “evict” someone. When we followed up on the previous issue last fall, city homelessness-response spokesperson Linda Robson told us, “Legally, for purposes regarding evictions, tiny houses are considered emergency shelter, not housing.” But Castle said SPD has refused to help them in situations like this, at other LIHI tiny-house encampments as well as at CSC. In this situation, Castle said, an arrest would have been most appropriate, but “we just want them to leave the village.” Yellow Robe added that beyond the safety risk of having this person remain at CSC, it sets a bad example for others staying there – “The other clients are watching this and they think it’s a free for all.” One committee member suggested LIHI take the issue to the City Attorney’s Office.

The city did apparently take action on another problem, RVs and junk – not associated with CSC, accumulated along Myers Way adjacent to it. Weiss said he had filed a Find It Fix It report and cleanup/dispersal followed. Meantime, the camp is working on a new gate/fence in front to improve security. Committee members asked if the camp had any specific needs at the moment with which the community could assist; Freeman said she was looking into planning some activities such as an Easter dinner and egg hunt. Weiss said in general they are looking to bring in “more community partners” to provide services.

The Camp Second Chance Community Action Committee‘s monthly meetings are usually on second Tuesdays at 6 pm, online, open to all; email Josh Castle at LIHI to get on the announcement list – – and/or watch for the meeting info in the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar.

Here are Camp Second Chance updates from this past week’s Community Advisory Committee meeting:

CAMP STATUS: CSC manager Scott Harris said 72 people are at the 9701 Myers Way S. [map] tiny-house encampment, plus four dogs and three cats. Case manager Marjorie Johnson said eight people had left the camp in the preceding month – seven to permanent housing, one to stay with family members. It’s been a “constantly busy” month, she explained, with more than 20 people still awaiting housing, including 15 people who’ve applied to the Dockside Apartments in Green Lake, now owned by LIHI, which operates CSC and other tiny-house encampments around the city.

CAMP INFRASTRUCTURE: Harris said they’re still working on an upgrade of the video-monitoring system, which currently has more than a dozen cameras. Asked what’s done with the video, he said it’s kept for a week. In ensuing discussion, LIHI’s tiny-house program manager Christina Comer said the video is available to police on request. The city-provided shower trailer is connected to the city sewer system but still needs a few pump-outs each week because a design problem is keeping the connection from “easily flowing.”

FOLLOWUPS: No one in attendance asked about recently discussed problems, so we did. First – the person described last month as refusing to leave CSC has finally departed. Second – regarding the case of a double-murder suspect who had been at CSC earlier in the year and allegedly assaulted a woman while there, Comer said referrals to CSC come from the city’s HOPE Team, and background checks are not required – except to ensure the referred person is not a registered sex offender (that was a condition dating back to community concerns years ago).

DONATIONS: With winter approaching, Harris said CSC can use donations of mittens, gloves, warm socks, warm hats (particularly beanies). You can drop items at the main entrance any time.

NEXT MEETING: The committee will meet again online at 6 pm Tuesday, December 13th. All are welcome. We’ll have video/phone info in our calendar listing.

Is a tiny-house encampment emergency shelter or housing?

That question has posed some problems for Camp Second Chance, according to discussion at this week’s monthly meeting of CSC’s Community Advisory Committee.

Camp staff said they’d been trying to kick out one person who had refused to follow requirements for staying at CSC – including chores and working with case managers – and who also had parked several derelict vehicles in and around the 9701 Myers Way South site. Two of them were towed hours before Tuesday night’s online meeting. “Four or five” others had been tagged by Parking Enforcement. The person had been the reason for three of the five 911 calls made by the camp in the past month (the other two were medical), said CSC manager Scott Harris, but he has holed up in a tiny house and refuses to leave. That’s where the question of “shelter or housing” came in – Harris said police were contending the camp was housing and so trying to remove the person would be a form of eviction. We’ve asked the city’s homelessness-response spokesperson for clarification on what tiny-house encampments are considered to be, and are still awaiting the answer.

Other updates:

CSC currently has 73 people – all its tiny houses are occupied, and any that become open are immediately filled. Case manager Marjorie Johnson said 17 of them are awaiting permanent housing at the buildings now owned/operated by LIHI, which also runs CSC and other tiny-house encampments. Ten are awaiting units at Dockside in Green Lake, four have applied to Boylston on Capitol Hill, and three elsewhere. Johnson hopes they will all be housed by the end of November. The day before the meeting, two people who had been at the camp since 2019 left for Dockside, and she said that was such a happy departure that she cried. She also finally has help – newly hired case manager Jenn Hunt was introduced.

Longtime CAC member Grace Stiller said her program Weed Warriors is continuing its work at the Myers Way Parcels – the city-owned land that includes CSC’s site – and again will have grant-funded stipends for campers to join in the restoration work.

The camp’s shower trailer is not yet connected to the sewer system, apparently because of a design issue with the trailer. They’re also working to get the trailer electrified, as the fire marshal frowns on the current use of propane.

NEXT MEETING: Online, 6 pm November 8th. All are welcome – this is a city-mandated forum for questions or concerns about CSC.

-Tracy Record, WSB editor

The expanded-capacity Camp Second Chance in southeast West Seattle [map] continues to operate at capacity. That’s part of what the tiny-house encampment’s Community Advisory Committee heard at its online meeting Tuesday night, facilitated by case manager Marjorie Johnson.

CAMP STATUS: 75 people right now, including 10 couples – so its 65 tiny houses are all occupied. Eight pets – four dogs, four cats. Four 911 calls were made in the past month – two medical, two police. Two people had to leave the camp “for violence.” In August, 15 people in all exited the camp – 12 were “abandonments” (meaning they just departed of their own volition, likely back to the street); 2 went to jail; 1 went to permanent housing. 15 IDs and 20+ Social Security cards were procured in August; she has applications out for apartments for more than a dozen campers. Right now there’s a woman at the camp whose two children are with her mom since CSC doesn’t allow children, and Johnson just found out that the woman has a chance at a Section 8 voucher. Also, there’s housing available in Everett, and multiple possibilities for people over 62. One client – “one of our originals” – received an emergency-housing voucher and gave it back because “they’re making over 80 percent median income and don’t need the voucher any more.” (That means CSC got the voucher back to use for someone else.) The camp has a full-time mental-health/chemical-dependency counselor; several tiny-house villages are partnering with Therapeutic Health Services for this kind of support. Johnson said she’s gotten housing for 42 people in the months she’s been at CSC. She had mentioned Dockside at Green Lake, acquired by LIHI to convert quickly into affordable permanent housing; camp operator LIHI‘s Josh Castle said it’ll have almost 100 studio apartments. Move-ins will start “in a matter of weeks.” LIHI has more than 3,100 units of permanent affordable housing in six counties, Castle added. The rapid-acquisition program has been a game-changer, he said. “We hope to be able to do a lot more of that.” One more note from Johnson: Another case manager has yet to be hired but they have a prospect. When that person’s on board, they’ll be able to share the caseload.

CAMP NEEDS: Hygiene items, towels, blankets, pillows, socks, jackets, shoes are among the perennial needs, said Johnson. “We’re getting some of those things but we can always use more.” They’ve had a fair amount of turnover since the 24 new houses were added over the summer, and winter is coming, so it’s time to prepare. The “donation room” will be empty shortly as they transition the space they use to store donated items. The topic of a gift registry came back up – “makes it easy for us to give,” said committee member John Walling of nearby Arrowhead Gardens – and will be looked into.

CONCERNS: One attendee brought up a perennial issue, safety along Myers Way, as there’s no sidewalk for people and streetside fencing pushes pedestrians dangerously close to traffic. Committee member Grace Stiller observed that not only is it a safety issue but potentially a liability issue for adjacent property owners (primarily the City of Seattle). Stiller also brought up “derelict vehicles” that are parked near the camp but not officially on its site. She’s concerned not only about how it looks but also about people working on those vehicles, leading to vehicle-fluid runoff, especially problematic with creek headlands there that eventually feed into the Duwamish River.

KUDOS: Amazon sent volunteers to a Weed Warriors – Stiller’s environmental-stewardship nonprofit – project that removed invasives. “They did a fabulous job,” said Stiller. On Saturday, October 15th, for Orca Day, they’ll have an activity, 10 am-2 pm, at the Myers Way wetlands. LIHI’s Castle said the nonprofit gets lots of offers for volunteer groups to help out and they were glad to have something like that to occupy one group. “We really appreciate you hosting these volunteers.”

NEXT MEETING: They’re hoping the Community Advisory Committee can go back to second Tuesdays next month – online until further notice – so that date would be October 11th.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

After a short hiatus following the departure of its longtime chair, the Camp Second Chance Community Advisory Committee regrouped Tuesday night online and heard a progress report on the camp’s expansion.

We first mentioned more than a year ago that West Seattle’s only sanctioned tiny-house encampment, at 9701 Myers Way South since 2016, was in line for an expansion. After the addition of tiny houses, it has 64, and all but four of them are occupied, said CSC operations manager Scott Harris. That means 75 people are living at CSC now – 62 men, 13 women. (Harris noted the population also includes 4 cats and 8 dogs.) Before the expansion, it was generally around 50 people.

Many of the new residents were referred at the same time. The camp has seen four abandonments from among those recent referrals – people shown to their units, who then left, saying they had to go get their stuff, but never returned. Harris says that’s rare, and if it happens, they hold the unit vacant for two days to give the person a chance to show up, but then it’s given to someone else. Case manager Marjorie Johnson said they try to reach out to those who “abandon,” in hopes of encouraging them to come back. (They even call hospitals and the Medical Examiner.) She said it can be overwhelming sometimes for a person who’s been in a community elsewhere to suddenly have to deal with more support, new neighbors, a new place to stay.

The new tiny houses aren’t the only additions and changes to the camp as part of its expansion. A new icemaker arrived earlier this week, in time for the current mini-heat wave. Water tanks were moved to the front of the camp and Seattle Public Utilities is installing fencing around them. They’re near the new hygiene trailer (funded by a budget amendment from West Seattle/South Park City Councilmember Lisa Herbold last year), which has an attendant on weekdays but is yet to be hooked up to sewer lines; it’s being pumped out every few days until that happens. An emergency-exit gate is being added near the kitchen tent. The new freezer has been malfunctioning but it’s under warranty so they’re working to get a repair specialist out to fix it.

New security cameras have been installed and four more remain. Josh Castle from LIHI, which operates the camp and other tiny-house villages around the region, said cameras are standard for sites like this. In addition to monitoring areas inside the camp, cameras also monitor the parking area outside the camp, which has seen a few vehicle thefts, Harris noted.

That’s not the only way in which that area is being monitored. It was noted that city Parking Enforcement Officers have been ticketing cars for parking there. Community Advisory Committee member Grace Stiller said one camp resident had to go to court to argue against the ticket. Camp managers said they had talked to the city about this problem before and thought they had it resolved until a PEO showed up again last week.

Case manager Johnson provided an update on her work. She has continued working on housing placements and says the camp is down to 7 longtime residents – “more than 2 years” – and she’s working closely with them. Her recent work includes seeking housing for people at apartment buildings recently opened by LIHI, including the Dockside in Green Lake – for which she’s put in 16 applications – and the Frye. Three people are waiting to move into the Harvard and she’s hoping that will happen by December 1st. She added that CSC is having monthly all-village meetings, and that a fulltime mental-health therapist is now on duty at the camp as of this week. Overall, she said, “Just as fast as they’re coming in, I’m moving them out,” and in a few cases where people don’t want to move, she’s working with them to find out why. Fauntleroy Church continues supporting campers with bus passes and hygiene items. They’re hiring to get help for Johnson, too, as CSC moves from “tiny house village to tiny house metropolis,” as Castle termed it.

Asked if they need support for the weather extremes, Harris said “we can always use bottled water and Gatorade.”

GROUP LOGISTICS: The CAC remains without a chair since founding chair Willow Fulton’s resignation earlier this summer. It has room for more members too. Seattle’s sanctioned tiny-house villages are all supposed to have CACs, as required by the city, so even though the leadership change led to a short hiatus, there was no question that it would resume. Their meetings are meant for getting camp updates to the wider community as well as providing a venue for asking questions and surfacing concerns. Now the task for the group is “to get it back to a robust level,” said Castle. Next meeting is TBD.

Here’s what we heard at this month’s meeting of the Camp Second Chance Community Advisory Committee, held online last night:

ADDITIONS: Lots of renovation/addition work under way at the city-sanctioned encampment that’s been on the city-owned Myers Way Parcels for nearly six years. 15 of the 26 new tiny houses mentioned last month have arrived, reported camp manager Scott Harris; none are connected to electricity yet. The new kitchen and shower facilities are in place; the latter is being set up for ADA accessibility. The laundry room is finished and awaiting washers and dryers. New appliances also are on order for the kitchen – refrigerators and a freezer. Two shipping containers are expected as well, one for campers’ storage and another to be used to hold donated items. A new security structure was expected today, replacing the old one.

CURRENT CAMP POPULATION: 39 as of meeting time, with one intake in progress. The camp also is home to three cats and one dog. Two 911 calls were made in April, both for medical assistance. One person is moving into permanent housing this week. Case manager Marjorie Johnson is getting some help, though she wasn’t sure yet if that person will be working part time or full time.

RESTORATION WORK: CAC member Grace Stiller‘s organization Weed Warriors continues working with CSC on restoration of the natural area around the camp, with current projects including a walking trail as well as blackberry-root removal.

The Camp Second Chance Community Advisory Committee meets second Tuesdays, 6 pm, online. Email c2ccacchair@gmail.com if you’d like to get notifications.

There’s long been talk of adding more tiny houses to Camp Second Chance in southeast West Seattle [map] – the sanctioned encampment on the city-owned Myers Way Parcels has room for them. At tonight’s monthly Community Advisory Committee meeting, details finally emerged. Camp Second Chance will be adding 26 new units in the next several weeks. Twenty of them will represent added capacity, at the north end of the camp, where a large canopy – recently lost to wind – once covered the tiny-house-building operation that has since become the Hope Factory in Georgetown/SODO. The other six will replace existing tiny homes that have fallen into disrepair. More big news at tonight’s meeting: The water and sewer service has been worked out. It will be hooked up to the new hygiene trailer once the kitchen is moved to a new concrete slab, where it will have a sink with hot water. The kitchen move will in turn facilitate a new laundry building, with three washers and three dryers. Another site improvement: Community Advisory Committee member Grace Stiller‘s group Weed Warriors has led a project to clear more area, creating a walking path near the camp. Finally, two stats from the past month: Nine people moved out, going into permanent housing, and the camp had three 911 calls, all for medical problems.

The Camp Second Chance Community Advisory Committee meets second Tuesdays, 6 pm, online. Email c2ccacchair@gmail.com if you’d like to get notifications.

ORIGINAL TUESDAY NIGHT REPORT: After five years as a city-supported tiny-house encampment, Camp Second Chance in southeast West Seattle is still trying to get water and sewer connections.

That was the hottest topic at tonight’s monthly online meeting of the Camp Second Chance Community Advisory Committee. The longrunning utility-line effort reportedly had cold water thrown on it by Seattle Public Utilities. Camp manager Scott Harris said SPU reps did a survey that showed the nearest hookups are on the Seattle Fire Department Joint Training Facility site to the north, and said that running the lines to CSC would be too costly. Harris said that didn’t seem like the final word on the matter, though. Committee members are going to contact West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold to see if she can help them get the utilities at the camp, since she had pursued funding in the city budget last year. In the meantime, water will continue to be delivered to the camp.

Harris said January was busy at CSC, with 14 people moving out into housing. The camp’s currently down to 38 people (about two-thirds of its capacity). They’re doing maintenance right now on some of the tiny houses.

The camp had one person who tested positive for COVID in the past month; that person was one of the 14 who have since left CSC for housing.

Camp operator LIHI is looking to hire a fulltime organizer, and has similar job openings at other tiny-house encampments. Anyone interested can check out the listing here.

The Camp Second Chance Community Advisory Committee meets online at 6 pm on second Tuesdays; next meeting will be March 8th.

ADDED WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: A clarification from SPU spokesperson Sabrina Register:

The property falls within Water District 20 (for water) and Valley View Sewer District (for sewer), so Seattle Public Utilities does not have the legal right to serve that property. We’ve talked with the General Manager of Water District 20 who indicates they want to serve the parcel with water and are working with Camp Second Chance on what it would take to make the connection to their system.

One of the hygiene (shower) trailers that SPU manages for people experiencing homelessness will soon be deployed to Camp Second Chance, through 2022 funding approved by the City Council.

Aside from which utility serves it, the encampment is on city-owned land (known as the Myers Way Parcels).

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Windstorm damage was the biggest news in the Camp Second Chance update presented at this month’s meeting of the tiny-house encampment’s Community Advisory Committee, held online Tuesday night.

CAMP REPORT: Camp director Scott Harris reported that 53 people are now at CSC. Three people have exited to housing, two people are awaiting approvals, four people have King County Housing Authority vouchers and are seeking rentals, eight people have Seattle Housing Authority vouchers and are also awaiting/looking for units. Harris noted that county vouchers mean a 1-bedroom is affordable, while city vouchers only cover a studio. They have room for one new camper.

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(WSB photo: Camp Second Chance’s front gate, July)

The Community Advisory Committee for West Seattle’s only city-sanctioned tiny-house encampment, Camp Second Chance (9701 Myers Way S.), has changed the day/time of its monthly meetings, after 4 1/2 years. The group now meets on second Tuesdays at 6 pm. Here’s what happened at last night’s meeting:

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(WSB photo: Camp Second Chance’s front gate, July)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

For the first time in the pandemic, Camp Second Chance – West Seattle’s only city-authorized tiny-house encampment – has reported COVID cases.

That was one of the updates the CSC Community Advisory Committee heard during its monthly meeting, held online this afternoon.

None of the three were seriously ill, said camp manager Scott Harris; two are a couple. and all three were quarantined at county facilities set aside for that purpose.

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(WSB photo: Camp Second Chance’s front gate, July)

First Sunday afternoon of the month usually brings the monthly online meeting of the Community Advisory Committee for West Seattle’s only city-sanctioned tiny-house encampment, Camp Second Chance, on the city-owned Myers Way Parcels [map]. Here’s what happened today:

CAMP UPDATE: CSC director Scott Harris wasn’t in attendance, so updated camp stats weren’t available, but Hattie Rhodes from camp operator LIHI was there with other updates. She said a city inspection is happening Tuesday afternoon to ensure that all’s well. She also said LIHI had a recent hiring fair and hopes to fill positions at encampments including CSC, which will be getting a “village organizer …. to help out at the camp.” They’re also still looking for a case manager, while serving campers with visiting CMs. Also – LIHI is opening new camps in other parts of the city and looking for more sites because “the need is still there.” She didn’t have exact numbers but said it was “exciting” to see some CSC residents move to housing at The Clay – a microapartment building owned by LIHI – to ‘take the next step in their journeys.” CAC chair Willow Fulton asked about the intake process for CSC. That’s primarily through the city’s HOPE Team, Rhodes said, but LIHI also has a waitlist in case an opening comes up at one of its camps and the HOPE Team can’t quickly fill it. What about referring someone currently living unsheltered? Refer them to the outreach workers at REACH, Rhodes suggested – she didn’t have a contact number but noted REACH has offices at 3rd/Blanchard. Rhodes was asked about CSC expansion, which Harris mentioned at the last meeting. She said “that’s not the hugest priority for us right now” though they might “see if there’s room here or there to add a few more (tiny) houses” at CSC.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS’ UPDATES: These updates often range beyond camp-related matters, and this time was no different. Aaron Garcia of the White Center Community Development Association wanted everyone to know that the county eviction-prevention/rent-assistance program is still open and WCCDA is assisting White Center families with getting into the process. He also said there’ll be a vaccination clinic at Steve Cox Memorial Park on August 18th; it’s meant to be second dose for those vaccinated at the recent clinic, but first doses will be available too, noon-6 pm … Cinda Stenger from the Westside Interfaith Network said the group is continuing to assist more than a dozen Central American refugee families who have settled in the area so if CSC hss extra clothing, they would appreciate being able to re-donate to the refugees (they’re also looking for kids’ clothing and other housewares) … Grace Stiller of Weed Warriors recapped the recent wrap party for the latest phase of her organization’s Myers Way Parcels wetland-restoration program (WSB coverage here); she’s looking ahead to Phase 3 of the restoration project, working closer to Hamm Creek, dependent on funding. … Chair Fulton, who’s been keeping watch on illegal dumping along Myers Way, says the most-recent ones have been cleaned up. Concerns remain about the safety of people walking along Myers Way, especially considering pedestrians are pushed farther into the road by the fencing set up to prevent access to the roadside greenbelt. Once again this month, though, no city rep was present to hear those concerns.

NEXT MEETING: September’s date is to be determined, since the first Sunday will be during Labor Day weekend.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

A potential expansion and a personnel shortage were part of what the Camp Second Chance Community Advisory Committee heard about this afternoon.

Camp Second Chance (9701 Myers Way S.) is the only city-sanctioned tiny-house encampment in West Seattle, close to the southeast city-limit line. The all-volunteer Community Advisory Committee meets monthly – currently, online – to hear updates and ask questions about camp operations. Meetings have usually been on first Sundays, but this month’s meeting was pushed back a week because of the holiday.

CAMP REPORT: Director Scott Harris (who is a LIHI employee) said CSC currently has 51 residents – 15 women, 36 men – and LIHI is looking to expand, adding up to 20 people (other tiny-house encampments, he said, are being eyed for expansion as well). The camp has space, he said, though this would mean adding tiny houses.

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By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Vaccination and relocation were among the updates at this month’s meeting of the Camp Second Chance Community Advisory Committee, held online this afternoon. CSC is the only city-supported tiny-house encampment in West Seattle, located on the city-owned Myers Way Parcels [map], managed and staffed by the Low-Income Housing Institute.

CAMP UPDATES: New manager Scott Harris (introduced last month) said May was a busy month. 57 residents are at CSC now: “40 men, 14 women, 3 gender-nonconforming people.” 5 exited in May – 4 who “just left,” 1 who found an apartment, 1 “involuntary exit after numerous violent episodes.” Five 911 calls, one related to the person who was booted; he was arrested that day. (He started causing trouble in November, Harris said, and was allowed to stay if he followed the rules, but did not.) The other four were medical calls.

Speaking of medical, a UW Health van was there today to offer care to camp residents, and tomorrow King County Public Health is coming for another vaccination clinic (second shots for more than a dozen people, first shots to those interested). Though they don’t have an official stat, he believes more than half the camp’s residents have started the vaccination process. The camp has not had any COVID cases. Also tomorrow, maintenance crews will be out to connect the showers (one trailer with two stalls) to permanent electric power so it won’t have to recharge a battery between showers. The camp also has three new grills – one donated by a former resident – so cooking capacity has been boosted.

More people are about to exit the camp for housing. José Ruiz has been working in case management and said housing had become available for camp residents he had placed on a waiting list for the LIHI-owned Clay Apartments microhousing building on Capitol Hill. At least 3 are moving soon – one has a moving date this week, two are waiting for the moving date; they’re working out some logistics for a fourth. Section 8 vouchers – also a program with a long waiting list – are becoming available to help people, too; Ruiz said four people from CSC got help from those, including two moving out of state, one moving to Renton. His work at the camp will be ramping down because a new case manager starts at CSC this week.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS’ UPDATES: Committee chair Willow Fulton, a resident in the camp vicinity, said they’re working to get others involved with the committee. Other members at today’s meeting were Alki UCC‘s Cinda Stenger and White Center CDA‘s Aaron Garcia, who had one announcement: WCCDA is hosting a Pride event 1-4 pm at Greenbridge Plaza on June 25th.

NEXT MEETING: First Sunday in July is Independence Day, so the meeting will be moved – Fulton will confer offline with committee members to decide on rescheduling.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

For the first time in two months, the Community Advisory Committee for West Seattle’s only city-sanctioned tiny-house encampment got an update on its operations.

Last month’s meeting had no one in attendance from camp operator LIHI or the city Human Services Department. This time, both were in attendance as the CAC met online on Sunday afternoon. The camp has been on the city-owned Myers Way Parcels on the southeast edge of West Seattle for almost five years.

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By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Change is ahead for Camp Second Chance, its Community Advisory Committee was told at this month’s online meeting.

Co-founder and site coordinator Eric Pattin announced he will be leaving that role at West Seattle’s only tiny-house encampment later this month to work in a new capacity with camp operator LIHI, as it opens the Executive Hotel Pacific enhanced shelter, which has 150 rooms, and will have intensive case management and be focused on rapid rehousing.

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Camp Second Chance, at 9701 Myers Way S., remains West Seattle’s only city-sanctioned tiny-house encampment, though the city wants to add more around Seattle. CSC’s Community Advisory Committee meets every month for updates and community Q&A; here’s what happened at its February meeting, which happened online this past Sunday afternoon:

CAMP UPDATE: CSC’s site coordinator Eric Pattin said 54 people are there now, 15 women and 39 men. One person moved into affordable housing; two others left.

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By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Camp Second Chance, West Seattle’s only city-sanctioned tiny-house encampment, remains COVID-free.

That was one of the updates heard by the camp’s Community Advisory Committee in its monthly online meeting Sunday afternoon, which also featured a look inside the new tiny-house-building site in SODO that replaced the “big tent” at Camp Second Chance where volunteers built them previously.

CAMP UPDATE: Site coordinator Eric Pattin reported 53 people are now living at CSC (9701 Myers Way S.), 14 women, 39 men. Two people exited to affordable housing and two others left; all four were replaced by new arrivals.

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(WSB file photo)

Camp Second Chance, West Seattle’s only city-supported tiny-house encampment, remains COVID-free. That’s one of the updates from this afternoon’s monthly online meeting of the Myers Way encampment’s Community Advisory Committee.

Here’s what else we heard:

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(Photo courtesy Sound Foundations NW)

In addition to providing shelter for more than 50 people, Camp Second Chance on the city-owned Myers Way Parcels in southeast West Seattle has been contributing to other tiny-house encampments by hosting a space for building more of the small structures (after replacing all the tents at CSC, as we reported last year). The volunteer-powered operation, Sound Foundations Northwest, which sprung from the efforts of West Seattle’s Alki UCC and Fauntleroy UCC, has found a new home of its own.

Sound Foundations NW has announced a new partnership with the Low Income Housing Institute, which operates Camp Second Chance and other tiny-house encampments. A LIHI warehouse space in SODO will be the new home of the tiny-house-building operation. The announcement says, “This new partnership will help meet the demand of building several more tiny homes while getting homeless residents who are transitioning to permanent housing the essential services that have made this model a success.” No one living in a tiny-house encampment, for example, has tested positive for COVID-19, the organization says, while 440 people in other kinds of shelters have. Also, they cite a higher success rate of tiny-house encampment residents exiting into long-term or permanent housing.

Along with moving to a bigger space – 6,000 square feet, double the CSC space’s size – as of November 3rd, Sound Foundations NW is redesigning its building process to speed it up. Currently, they’ve been able to complete two tiny houses every three weeks. With an assembly-line system, Sound Foundations NW says, they could eventually build up to two a day – something they don’t believe anyone else in the country is doing. The operation is needed because while the city has supported the operation of tiny-house encampments like CSC (the only one in West Seattle), the city does not fund the tiny houses themselves – it’s all donation- and volunteer-supported, and hundreds more will be needed. (They have a fundraising campaign going to support the move.)

Once the operation is moved from what’s known as “The Big Tent” at CSC, Sound Foundations NW will donate the tent to the encampment to serve as its new community center.