Becoming homeless, looking for places to pitch a tent

[Roadless Traveler]

I’m likely going to become homeless in the next few days, and i’m really hoping to find someone who might be able to tell me where I can find a safe-ish place to a pitch a tent.

My preference would be to camp near other people who are in the same boat as myself: genuinely trying to put their lives back together, and wanting to camp around other people like themselves so they can stay as safe-ish as possible, and feel a little more normal.

Side note: I am not religious and have suffered from the whole “strings attached”-thing when looking for and accepting “help” before. I allowed it to continue for too long because i was desperate, and me allowing that to happen is partially the cause of my situation now. If anyone knows of any organizations or individuals that help people just because it’s a kind thing to do, and not because of other motives, well… it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all very much in advance, i’m trying my best to be optimistic here :)

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[Kevin]

I would suggest that you consider heading down to Nickelsville. Located on West Marginal Way, near the 1st Avenue S. Bridge. If you have no criminal record, and are drug and alcohol free, you will fit in just fine. It is a safe encampment.

Want more information? Just search “Nickelsville” on the West Seattle Blog.

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[kootchman]

Man Kev…. I dunno… been there lately? Incredible, I picked up a worker last week at 5:30 am… rats were all over..I saw at least 10 scurrying by with nary a care that humans were around.. it was a vision of 13th century London or Paris. I have never seen so many vermin. It is beyond stunning. The city needs to bait that place before someone comes down with a rodent carried disease. It is bad.

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[JoB]

kootch..

the vermin are everywhere.. even in my back yard. In spite of the fact that i have “ratter” dogs, i have set traps just outside the fence three times this year and netted more rats than i wanted to think about. I thought we were rat free until i saw one scurry under the dog’s kennels this summer :(

Roadless Traveler

Nickelsville is safer than pitching a tent in the woods and it is easier to access information about services there.

It has it’s downsides, but although our local religious community has taken Nickelsville under it’s wing, you won’t find religious indoctrination there.

if you would like a mentor within the homeless community to help you find your feet there.. i am pretty sure i can produce one.

you can contact me at joanne at brayden dot org

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[miws]

Roadless Traveler, please take Kevin’s and JoB’s advice.

I lived in Nickelsville for around 7 months last year, until health issues made it necessary to seek indoor options.

As Jo mentioned, it has its downsides. But, it has a great upside as well, in that it is relatively clean, and relatively safe. It’s much better than simply pitching a tent in the woods, and not knowing how safe you, or any possessions might be.

As long as your name doesn’t show up on the sex offender registry, that you have a valid, unexpired, Govt issued picture ID (ie; driver’s license, or State ID from any State), and are not under the influence, or in possession of, alcohol or drugs, anytime you are in Camp, you should have no problem on your Intake.

As far as any good or bad you may hear about NV, I always compared it to many other life situations; work, family, friends, there’s some pretty damn good folks, and some maybe that are so good.

If you keep your nose clean and follow the Camp Rules, participate in all required Camp Activities

(working Security shifts, getting your monthly Participation Credit, attending the Mandatory Camp Meeting on Sunday evenings, you should do just fine.

I made some, likely to be lifelong, friends down there.

If you want to call the Camp directly for anything, the Camp cell # is: 206-450-5268.

Because of Nickelsville, some very good friends, and other support, I am on my way to getting back into permanent housing.

Best of luck to you.

Mike

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[Roadless Traveler]

Thank you all for replying back to me so quickly.

BTW just to clarify, I meant no offense to anyone when I mentioned my concern about religious-based community programs. I’m just a lot less comfortable now after having been burned pretty badly by by a person who first tried to “help”, but then derailed me for no other reason than to make an unknown point to some other person about their beliefs.

Kevin – You should get some points or something for replying to my post in less than an hour :) I’m glad to hear that it’s safe. I was hoping a lot more than i was expecting it.

Kootch – I hear you about the vermin. I spent the better part of my childhood on farm property, as well as traveled extensively outside the US. So, these days when it comes to rats and mice and such, my general policy is more like “search-and-destroy” than “catch-and-release”, LOL :) I’ll go ahead and check things out there anyway, it can’t be too much worse than Ramadan in the Middle East or a normal day in a southern border barrio.

Joanne – i just sent you an email, thank you very much :)

Mike – It’s good to hear from someone who’s lived there and it seems you have a pretty balanced attitude about the experience. As far as the requirements you mentioned, I have no sex offenses, felonies or drug/alcohol-related problems. These days, I get along fine with almost anyone by treating others with the same integrity that I would hope to receive from them. It’s good to hear that folks like us are expected to behave like good human beings at Nickelsville :) Thanks for the number, i’m going to give it a call in a bit.

I’ll keep following up here until I resolve this situation, so that someone else looking for help might be pointed in the right direction. I appreciate all your replies very much.

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[Roadless Traveler]

Mike, I just called the number you provided and talked to Nicki (Vicki?). She was very polite and straight forward, and told me they were out of intake forms at the present time and that I should call back on Monday after thinking it over for a couple days. Though I don’t really need to mull it over too much since I already know I’ll be able to handle whatever it takes to make it work, I will most certainly keep thinking it over anyway. It’s only *not* having the option to set up camp (as an alternative to painting my own address on a nice cardboard box) that concerns me. If I get the chance, I’m going to head down there tomorrow or Sunday anyway, just to get a feel for things if I’m allowed to join the community.

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[Talaki34]

Hi Roadless Traveler,

If you don’t mind me asking…Are you working right now and going homeless or are you also unemployed? Do you have any skills or do you require training/school? Military? Besides a tent and hopefully a good sleeping bag, what is your equipment? Are you mobile? Bike maybe?

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[EmmyJane]

I’m sorry you’re in this situation Roadless. Best of luck to you and I hope Nickesville works out for you. Do you mind keeping us updated on if you find a safe place?

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[miws]

RT, When my own homelessness was impending, I had no idea where I was going to go. In my haste to get rid of all my stuff, so as not to leave a mess for the apartment manager, I hadn’t even thought of NV or the Tent Cities as a option. Figured I’d just be hanging out in a West Seattle park.

It was actually Kevin that mentioned that NV had moved back to WS, a couple days before. With what little I knew about it, I knew it was relaively safe, and structured.

NV is having a Pancake Breakfast, at the Unitarian Church on California at Othello tomorrow (Sat) 9:00-noon. If you are able, stop by and have a bite to eat, and meet some folks from NV, and NV donors and supporters.

Mike

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[JoB]

Roadless travelor..

i plan to be at the breakfast with Mike and likely Kevin and who knows who else.

I have been out of town for a while and am looking forward to reconnecting with friends there..

both those that live in the camp and those that live outside

i returned your email early this morning.

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[Roadless Traveler]

Talaki, to answer your questions…

My employment situation is more complicated than it should be right now. Suffice it to say that recently, what I thought was a great opportunity (that I had to move to Florida for) decided to fall through on me. For briefness sake, I allowed myself to be screwed out of a business opportunity by a person I thought I could trust as a longtime friend. The deal turned out to be little more than bait to get me there though, him knowing that once i was stuck in Tampa I’d most likely agree to help him out of a jam that he couldn’t handle on his own.

The icing on the cake was my helping to move a lot of heavy home and office furniture which I shouldn’t have done, and resulted in me re-tweaking an old lower back injury. Fortunately, a work-rent opportunity came together at just the right moment, and i still had the one piece of luggage and about $50 bucks for my troubles. I also had quite a few things stored with a friend still waiting for me, so under the circumstances i was actually pretty lucky. Since then, i’ve been fixing up and now starting to winterize a 93-year old house + property off 35th and Thistle, over the last 4 months or so. The issue for me now is that without some kind of physical therapy or pain management routine to help me recover I won’t be able to continue doing this much longer.

I’m not a total wreck though. I’m a lot stronger and healthier than i have any right to be all things considered, but even through i’m still lean and mean I’m no longer invincible like i was in my 20s and I can’t do the really difficult stuff much longer. What i really need is some kind of vocational retraining and/or college, but I can’t really take on those kind of commitments until I find the right way to transition out of my current circumstances. Otherwise, I might screw up my only real long-term shot at making a real change, not worth risking it.

In the past while trying to figure out what I wanted to do, i’ve experimented with everything from dunking fries at Arby’s, to building + fixing + selling PCs, to working with the Yakima Indian tribe semi-formally as a homeopathic consultant and ceremonial gatherer in ’09-’10 (wild edibles and medicines, also harvesting/selling salmon, steelhead and venison during the Fall trade), to networking + organizing with non-violent, non-political grassroots activists, to working as a sales agent for a merchant services company (off and on since ’99, ended in Florida). I enlisted in the army in 2001 before 9/11, but was released around the beginning of ’03 due to injuries to my lower back… still trying to resolve legal complications with my case (no thanks to certain people in the VA, the relevant medical records just keep moving all by themselves from one filing cabinet to the next ;)

I could also mention that even though I have no formal certifications, it’s probably accurate to say that i’m more or less qualified to teach a full range of survival + emergency preparedness skills, and perhaps defense sklls as well. Not too long ago, I decided to undergo almost a full year extreme outdoor survival camping challenge. The majority was in Gifford Pinchot National Forest here in WA, with a couple months Mt. Hood around Mt. Hood in OR. I do have references for that, not bringing it up to blow hot air or anything in case that sounds a little over-the-top. It would be nice to find a job my body could handle where i might still be able to put some of those skills to use, haven’t found anything so far.

Anyway, that’s actually the nutshell version of my experience, the rest is odd jobs and landscaping like most guys. As far as your question about my gear, I’m pretty much fully stocked with outdoor/camping equipment thanks to a friend storing it all for me. At the present time I have no cold-weather clothing, just my summer sandals for my feet which I actually prefer, but I’m sure i can take care of that before it becomes too important. As far as being mobile, my legs still work pretty well. I don’t have a bike yet but that’s near the top of my list. I don’t consider a mile or two to be very far anyway, so getting around West Seattle will be only slightly more difficult after the changes to the busline.

To all of you, once again i really appreciate all the great info here. I’ve not exactly been used to talking with people who actually give a damn, but I’ll try to refrain from long posts like that again, i don’t really need to talk only about myself for that long, lol. After all, all that cool-sounding stuff I did hasn’t done anything to help me from becoming jobless and on the street like a whole lot of other people falling on hard times.

Will pop in again a bit, think it’s time for me to caffeinate.

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[Roadless Traveler]

By the way, sorry i missed out on the invite to the Pancake Breakfast. I had to run some errands this morning. Pretty sure i’ll be meeting some of you soon, though.

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[miws]

RT, regarding the pain management, and physical therapy issues; have you gone to Harborview?

Through my catching pneumonia around Thanksgiving last year, (with a relapse around Christmas) I was initially able to get onto charity care, and then onto Medicaid. I have gotten back onto all my meds, (and then some), that I had to give up over the previous couple of years or so, due to no insurance, or income.

Have you applied for Social Security Disability?

Even though, at this time, Nickelsville itself doesn’t have a mechanism for seeking out and applying for benefits, it’s at least a place to park yourself and your stuff for awhile, and you would likely be able to get guidance on such issues, through fellow Campers, and Donor/Volunteers.

There was one longtime Nickelodeon, who recently found permanent housing, that had compiled a three ring binder, with pertinent info regarding benefits, and services. I’d be willing to bet that the book is still there.

One of the greatest benefits of NV, or many other shelters, is that there is no curfew, and you and your stuff can stay there during the day. Many shelters require you to leave during the day, and/or, you may have to literally carry your possessions around the shelter with you at all times, including going to the bathroom/shower. The only true commitments as far as being *in* Camp, is being at the Mandatory meeting on Sunday evenings, and signing in (typically everyday), but at least every three days.

You’d want to verify that upon doing an Intake, or visiting Camp, as rules and policies can be amended. However, I highly doubt that those two have.

I may try to come up with some more thoughts tomorrow afternoon, when I get abck to the library.

Mike

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[JoB]

Roadless Travelor

you sound like a kindred spirit.

I look forward to meeting you.

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[Talaki34]

As soon as you can, get to a WorkSource center and speak with the onsite Veterans Assistance person. They can give you information about jobs, training programs and schools that will help you. I would also go to as many community colleges as you can (Look for a list that are active in helping Vets) and let them know your situation and the need to retrain. There are some programs that may still offer a small stipend while attending school or reskilling. Think about leaving the area for training/school or a job if need be. You can always come back when you are better established.

We are in the midst of the harvest here in Washington. With your back I don’t know if that is a possibility or not, but often other jobs (like truck driver non-CDL) are needed too. Check out the Feds too. There are jobs out there that may not be the best financially, but all you need is one room, shower/toilet and sound electricity. If you have those things then everything is possible.

Before you step into NV or wherever you are going, have a plan. Not just any plan. Think things through. Have options available. Write everything down and get it laminated if you can. Keep it with you. Use it to maintain your focus when things are not going as intended. Use it as reaffirmation of you taking control of your life.

Food, clothing and other valuables. People do a lot of things when they are desperate so it is imperative that you maintain control of what is yours. If you have anything that is of value, do not show or tell anyone and I mean anyone. Winter is coming and it will be harder to get out and locate food. Hit as many food banks as you can/apply for food stamps and find a secure place to cache your food. This would also be a good thing for additional clothing items. Make the investment in the really thick plastic bags for storage in the ground or in the trees. Don’t forget a good rope. Ideally, if you have any friends or family that would allow you to store things at their house with access once a week or so that would be ideal. (They might even let you take a short shower and wash your clothes.)

Think health. I know it will be hard. What money you can scrape together, buy hand sanitizer and wipes. Spend the money on an all-inclusive vitamin and take one each day. Carry a water bottle with you at all times and fill it whenever you can.

Don’t listen to the voices of the people around you if they are negative. Everyone has a story, but you need to focus on yours. I know this sounds a little heartless, but for every day that you stay homeless it will be that much harder to get out of it. You will not be in a position to help anyone (other than at camp level) so focus on helping yourself. This needs to be all about you. You you you! This is one time in your life you need to be self-centered. When you get your life back and if you want to help those still struggling, that is the time to do it. That said, you can still be pleasant.

You might not always like what you are being told or told to do by the people that will be helping you. If it keeps you safe, relatively warm, less hungry and is giving you the opportunity to succeed…Then keep quiet and do what needs to be done. Remember, everything is about the final goal.

When things get too much for me I just kept repeating, “It is mind over matter, I don’t mind and it sure as the F@#% don’t matter” and “One foot in front of the other.”

Lastly, really listen to the interview by DBP; Homeward Bound thread. It has some very good insight and information.

Get that phone number for the Vets!!!!

Keep posting.

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[Betty T]

Hope you can get into Nickelsville and settled before the weekend as fall rain is on its way.

I’ve been goimg there with hot lunch and coffee on Saturday for a little more than a year. The resident from that time have worked hard to make it as liveable as possible. You’d be surprised at how much volunteer help goes there for many things. There are others who take meals there and we’re working to get it more organized. You’re getting good advice on here from those who know Of course there are those who don’t like rules and won’t be happy anywhere. I always say “its better than being under a bridge or on the street”. Some don’t like families being there but at least they aren’t split up and kids sent to foster care. You sound like someone who could survive. Good luck. Maybe I’ll be seeing you at lunch soon.

Oh, don’t feel bad about unloading your tale, people asked questions, didn’t they?

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[JoB]

Roadless traveler

let us know if you found your road

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[DBP]

Re: Talaki’s post (#16) . . .

What I learned from my homeless veteran friend Mike W. is that you have to go to the VA and ask for help; they generally don’t come to you.

Anyway, once you’ve made that connection with the VA, and once you’ve shown them that you are going to follow through and do what you need to do to be in their program, they will help you.

I believe that Mike W. is a good resource for homeless vets. During our interview, he told me that he regularly makes the rounds to check on homeless vets and offers them help getting connected to benefits. He’s not an official outreach person, but he might be able to get you in touch with the people who are.

If you want his phone number, contact me at

DP_Editor at comcast dot net

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[kg]

I would like to suggest dialing 211. It is the Washington Information Network. They can direct to resources such as: Food, Financial Assistance, Housing, Material Goods, Healthcare, Legal Advice, Employment, etc. They also have a link on the web at http://win211.org/

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[Betty T]

We haven’t heard from Roadless Traveler for a while. I’m assuming he either hasn’t computer access or isn’t connected. Would be nice if he’s getting all this good advice. Its so great when people like the 2 Mikes extend their experience and check on others, do what they can to pass on information. I’m not doing lunch this Saturday but the next I’ll try to find out if Roadless Traveler went to nickelsville.

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