SEATTLE - It's another cold, wet holiday for the thousands of homeless in our area. But tonight there is hope for a new direction for those struggling to survive on city streets.
Supporters of the controversial and sometimes illegal homeless camp called Nickelsville are preparing for what could be a very productive year.
Thanksgiving began just like any other day at the Nickelsville homeless camp - keep the fire stoked for warmth, boil water for coffee.
But on this day, supporters of the controversial and sometimes illegal homeless camp are preparing for what could be a very productive year.
Volunteers at Seattle's New Hope Missionary Baptist Church invite campers out of the church parking lot and into a warm room where they can have a hot turkey dinner and spend the day out of the rain. Once inside the talk turns to the months ahead.
Nickelsville residents have routinely defied city and state orders to move their various encampments to draw attention to the need for a permanent homeless village somewhere in King County. Right now they've been invited to stay in the church lot, but their permit expired February 5, one month into the first term of new Seattle mayor Mike McGinn.
"Our hope is that the new mayor, McGinn, will be an advocate of the homeless and not an antagonist like Mayor Nickels was," says Robert Patterson who moved to Seattle from Aberdeen to find work and ended up homeless.
Mayor-elect McGinn has indicated he would support more stable locations for homeless encampments.
Rev. Robert Jeffrey of New Hope Baptist says the policies of outgoing mayor Greg Nickels, after whom Nickelsville is named, were misguided.
"There are always going to be homeless people," says Jefferey. "To think we can just build apartments and that will solve the problem is well-intentioned, but what do you do with the people in the meantime?"
Jeffrey believes some granting the homeless a piece of land upon which they can camp until they find housing is the best solution. He, too, is hopeful the McGinn administration will feel the same way.
"It would say a lot about the soul of the city, and the future of Seattle in addressing this problem that the rest of the country is just ignoring."
The campers at Nickelsville said they are in desperate need of blankets and sleeping bags. You can drop them off behind New Hope Baptist Church at 21st and East Fir Street in Seattle.
To add a comment, please register or login.