Tent City 4 is moving February 6

Tent City 4 is moving to Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Sammamish on February 6, 2016. Moving an encampment is hard. It's the hardest thing SHARE/WHEEL's tent cities do.
They're likely to need some help. I know, it's still a couple of weeks away, but if you can, plan to help.

Tent City 4's phone number is 206-618-3901. SHARE/WHEEL's phone number (ask for Marvin Futrell or Scott Morrow) is 206-448-7889.

Does our help do harm?

Does helping people harm them?

This has been discussed in connection with foreign aid programs, parenting, and helping the poor. Peter Greer of Hope International talks about it with Forbes Magazine in connection with both foreign aid and helping the poor:

The poor helping the poor.
Illustration by Frederic Walker
(1840-1875)

When you spend time with people who are living in poverty there is a consistent request, and it’s not for more charity, it’s not for more hand-outs. The consistent request is for a job. People in the developing world don’t want to be poor, they don’t want to be someone else’s charity case...

-- Peter Greer of Hope International, in an interview (Forbes Magazine)

Does this apply to the homeless? Does this apply to the people in Tent Cities 3-4-5, United We Stand, and Camp Unity Eastside?

To be honest, it does. I can tell you firsthand -- having been there -- that many homeless would prefer to be self-sufficient and self-supporting. There are also many who would gladly be a "welfare case for life," living on the generosity of others.

The homeless face problems many others do not. For example, a homeless person has to lie to obtain a state identification card in Washington (they have no permanent physical address). They are constantly faced with the inability to get a job simply because of their mailing address, or the lack of a physical address. Or, perhaps, the lack of an identification card they cannot get without committing a mortal sin. So, to some extent, they need help simply to survive. Therefore, help is needed.

Yet I have some questions about how we help:

• When we give them help, does our help preserve their dignity?

• Does our help let them participate in the process?

• Is our help just and fair?

• Does our help provide them additional options they didn't have before?

• Does our help let them help themselves more?

And I'm not saying we shouldn't help -- certainly we should help -- but how we do that may matter even more than what we do.

What do you think?

Disclaimer: this post may not express the opinions or beliefs of Greater Seattle Cares. It may not even express my opinions in general.

Lloyd Pendleton and Utah’s Homeless Approach

Everett Housing forum hosted Lloyd Pendleton at their November meeting.

He is the architect of the efforts in Utah that housed 98% of their homeless population.

We can learn a lot from their efforts to build positive action and strong teamwork in the over all plans.

Watch the video or download the slide show presentation and share your thoughts.

A Special Day at Tent City 3

Saturday was a special day at Tent City 3.


Medical Teams International once again brought their mobile dental clinic to the camp.


Under the skillful coordination of MTI Royalty Ellen Broyles, thirteen TC3 residents received urgent dental care at the skilled hands of Dr. Marc Fairbanks and dental assistant Lora Ewing, while dental hygienist Patsy Cosgrove did the dental cleanings.


“She’s a real artist,” said one camper as he left her chair.


Also, the camp received an incredible donation from Joint Base Lewis-McChord of 600 MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). These military rations are self-contained, self-heating, and have a shelf life of 17 years – and I can attest that they are actually pretty tasty! They also brought a donation from Animal World Rescue: 640 lbs of dog food to help keep the camp’s pets as well-fed as their human companions. This donation was arranged by a wonderful young woman who volunteers with Animal World Rescue and her husband, who works at JBLM.

 

The visitors were given a tour of the camp, and they stayed for several hours discussing with camp leaders how other items that are sometimes scheduled for disposal at JBLM could be used by the homeless encampments in the Puget Sound region. What a great connection with two big-hearted people with very practical brains! 

Many, many thanks to our JBLM/AWR friends!

2015 One Night Count: 21% increase in homelessness

Greater Seattle Cares Board members participated in the one night count. The count has gone up from the year before by 21%. A lot of effort is made to make the count accurate.

We know that not every homeless person is counted. What is clear is that counting the same places in the same way every year can show us if there are more homeless people in our community than there was the year before.


FULL ARTICLE: 2015 One Night Count by Huffington Post

Seattle Waldorf High School food drive for Tent City 3

It is not easy to make a noticeable dent in the homelessness that plagues Seattle, but with the help of the community around you, one can make a difference.

A few months ago, Olivia Dunkley and I set forth to create have a food drive at our school (Seattle Waldorf High School).
With some work, and a lot of help from students, faculty, and parents, the results we had were astounding.

 After a few weeks of the drive, we took the food we collected to Tent City 3. The members accepted our contributions with open arms, and we saw our mission come to an end.

~ Noah Frank

Tribute to Matthew R. Barrett

 

Matt Barrett and friends on his birthday. Photo © 2014 Ilona Berzups.

Matthew R. Barrett (2/8/65 - 9/2/14)

On September 2, 2014, we here at Greater Seattle Cares lost a good friend. That is the day that Matt Barrett, affectionately known as "Giant" both for his stature and the size of his great heart, ended his days on this plane of existence. We miss him, we remember him, and we celebrate his life through which he taught us so much. Here are a few messages from our Board members who knew Matt.

"Matt said that Tent City was a place he could be accepted and loved as he was. I hope for him and for us that the circle of people who could love and accept him was and is far wider than Tent City. Matt helped many of us to grow in our ability to love. I am one of those and I am grateful for that. I miss him but I also understand his decision. I am comforted by the fact that the things that used to hurt him have no more power to hurt him." — Bill Bear

"Matt was special to me as well. He kept in touch all while I was in Italy, and up until the last we played online Scrabble together which got me through my two surgery recoveries keeping my mind active." — Jenny Coss

"When I think of Matt, I don’t think of cancer or of homelessness. I think of him as a teacher. Matt taught me important lessons about compassion and about solidarity. As limited as his financial resources were, he helped out other campers who had less than he. He also made donations to GSC to help support Tent City 3, and he allowed us to gift his books to folks who made earmarked donations to our organization. The most gentle of men, I remember how it hurt him when children would shy away from his scarred face, or parents would scold him for scaring their children; he was not angry with them, only sad that they would not teach their children to see into a person’s heart, as he so regularly did. I am richer for having known Matt. He will be remembered with love by many, and what legacy is any greater than that?" — Cindy Roat

More information and external links

• Matt’s obituary in the Seattle Times
• Matt's blog:  www.aviewfromthestreet.com
• Book of homeless poetry by Matthew R. Barrett: A View from the Street
• A photo essay by Ilona Berzups: Walking with Giant
• Video: Special Guest, Matt Barrett: A Lifelong Journey with IDA
• Video (rough draft): Matt reading three of his poems
• Video (Facebook): Matt singing Amazing Grace at reunion

Photos of Matt and friends

Random photos of Matt and friends, he had many. He touch lives near and far and will never be forgotten.