The Homeless

[AdamOnAlki]

As a life-long West Seattle resident (except for those four-years away at college) I have become a little bit startled by the seemingly large growth in homeless in West Seattle. Growing up, it was incredibly rare to run across a person lacking abode while walking through The Junction, but it seems that is no longer the case. This is not a slam against that segment of our population, as I actually have a very large heart for those vagabonds, but I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this shift?

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[Ken]

I don’t know for sure, but it could be the increased patrols downtown and an aggressive SPD posture in the hotel district in the past year.

There was a recent meeting of convention bookers (I didn’t want to use the word convention twice) in Seattle and some of the comments from the bookers referenced homelessness and panhandling.

Downtown hotel owners are always going to have more influence than Junction merchants, and a lot less empathy.

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[Wes]

What’s with the tags here?

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[AdamOnAlki]

Just some attention grabbers.

And Garry Shandling.

I agree though with the downtown merchants having more say. I used to open up the Starbucks in Pioneer Square every morning and I developed great relationships with many in the homeless community. They also have bicycle patrols monitoring the situation. We don’t. SUPPORT REAL CHANGE!!!

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[Bonnie]

I have noticed the homeless outside of Westwood Village and in Lincoln Park. I’m sure many of the other parks have homeless too.

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[Kayleigh]

Well, the King County One Night Count did show a 15% increase in the (found and counted) homeless.

http://www.homelessinfo.org/onc.html

Why WSEA? Maybe because they are cleaning out some homeless encampments in the downtown areas, and people are trying to avoid that. I’ll ask folks at work who know more than I do.

I heart Real Change! When I am in a bad mood (which seems to be too often these days), I buy a Real Change paper. Instant karma—I always feel better afterward.

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[AdamOnAlki]

I am personally not interested in the newspaper, but I support what they are doing and I will often give them the dollar, but not take a paper.

I am wondering if WSEA’s increasingly popular nightlife has anything to do with the increase. I remember there was fret over the potential increase from the abondoned monorail plan, but when that fell through, I guess they came anyway.

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[acemotel]

I think in general there is an increase in homelessness, as evidenced by the increased count this year. Close to 3,000 people on the street and 6,000 in transitional housing and shelters is a DISGRACE in one city in one of the wealthiest countries in the world! I’m sure there are at least 1,000 who were not counted because they are sleeping in cars in side streets everywhere throughout the city. Some of these people have substance abuse or mental health issues, but there are many who just hit a string of bad luck, and for the grace of god, it could be most any one of us. There is no safety net. The social services are spread so thin as to be nonexistent. The middle class is the new class of working poor, while the rich get richer, moving into bigger and grander and finer homes, insulating themselves from the poverty that’s now on virtually every street corner. It’s a disgrace.

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[JoB]

Yesterday, i saw a man holding a sign on a street corner that said “homeless, need help”. had i encountered him in starbucks, i would not have been surprised because he was clean, well dressed in outdoor clothing and carrying a quality daypack. i nearly stopped just to ask him his story because i think there is probably a pretty interesting one there.

The assumption that the homeless are there by choice has driven a callousness about this problem that borders on cruelty.

There but for the grace of god… Any of us could suffer reversals of fortune that could bring us to that street corner. I know many women who are one step from that because of nothing more than chronic illness.

As a community, we need to address this problem whether it is an “artificial” problem landed on us by crackdowns in other parts of the city or a local problem. Once it is here, it is a local problem.

I am too new to be able to name the local agencies that take on this work. I encourage donations of money and goods… but the most important donation is time… both for those doing the work and those receiving help.

the greatest gift we can give another is to listen and acknowledge their story.

shame on me for only almost stopping to at least hear that young man’s story. i had the time.

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[Ken]

I read it online and try to give a vendor the dollar to keep the paper and sell it again. But I don’t get downtown very often anymore.

This issue has a story relevant to this thread.

http://www.realchangenews.org/2008/2008_01_23/harasment_v15n05.html

The rich are coming. Hide the poor

Excerpt

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After a shadow of public debate, the mayor will lay down a breathtakingly cruel policy of hounding human beings out of town.

By TIMOTHY HARRIS, Executive Director

How is one to respond when the most beautiful, affluent, and liberal city in America outlaws basic human survival? What are we to feel? What words could measure up to the sadness of this moment?

The Mayor’s staff has described their draft policy on homeless encampments as “consistent and compassionate.” Consistent, perhaps. But compassion requires action that is based upon understanding and empathy.

This is not that.

Seattle has joined the ranks of cities across America whose growing affluence will no longer tolerate the sight of extreme poverty. As urban living attracts those who can pay the price, the visible poor have come under attack in communities from LA to Boston.

Here in Seattle, in the few blocks that abut Pike Place Market, construction cranes mark four developments that will house 505 new condos with an average value of $2 million each. This represents about one-tenth of new downtown condo development.

The rich are coming. Hide the poor.

Until sometime last year, the City of Seattle mostly left homeless encampments alone until complaints forced action. This was as it should be. Last year’s one night homeless count — held in the dead of a cold January night — revealed about 1,600 people surviving on the streets. They slept in doorways and in cars. They rode the night buses. They walked to keep warm. They huddled underneath blankets and inside sleeping bags.

They made do without shelter because the shelters were full.

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