91 deaths of homeless in King County in 2015

The King County Medical Examiner's report on homeless deaths in 2015 can be found here.

There were 91.

6 were homicides. I count 28 that I can link directly to drugs and alcohol (acute toxicity, et cetera). There may be more that can be linked indirectly to drugs and alcohol (for example, why did someone step in front of a vehicle? Why did someone fall onto I-5? et cetera).

6 of them were Native American.
9 were Black.
4 were Asian.
4 were Hispanic.

16 were female.

Washington State is 4% Black, 2% Native American, 13% Hispanic, and 8% Asian -- and about 50% female (statistics from here).

Often, violence against the homeless goes unreported. The Seattle Times has an article about that here.

The homeless live on average about 30 years less than the rest of the population. Sad but true. Drugs, alcohol, and violence are some of the reasons.



Opinions expressed by me might not be the opinion of the Board of Greater Seattle Cares.

Mayor Murray to deliver special televised address on homelessness Tuesday Evening on Seattle Channel

MEDIA ADVISORY

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

Contact:                     Viet Shelton, Mayor’s Office, 206-552-4996

Jason Kelly, Mayor’s Office Press Secretary, 206.684.8379

Mayor Murray to deliver special televised address on homelessness Tuesday Evening on Seattle Channel

WHAT:          Mayor Ed Murray will deliver a special, live address to the residents of Seattle to give an update on the City’s efforts to address homelessness since the State of Emergency was declared on November 2, 2015. The Mayor will be delivering his remarks from Mary’s Place Family Center in North Seattle, which is a shelter for women and families that opened last summer in a City-owned building.

 

The Mayor’s speech will be aired on Seattle Channel (Channel 21 on Comcast & Wave) and streamed at: http://www.seattlechannel.org/live

WHEN:          7:30 PM

                        Tuesday, January 26

                                    WHO:             Mayor Ed Murray

WHERE:       Mary’s Place Family Center

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