SEATTLE -- A first of its kind project launches this week that allows homeless families to live in their vehicles in a Seattle church parking lot.
"We prefer to call it 'safe parking,'" said Pastor Stephen Grumm of Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church in the Loyal Heights neighborhood.
Grumm and the church congregation will be opening up five parking spaces for homeless families living our of their car. They will also have access to the church restrooms and outlets for charging
cell phones.
The City of Seattle is paying $30,000 to Compass Housing Alliance to oversee the program, which will help accommodate the families and offer on site resources to help them find a job and new permanent housing.
"We want to provide a safe place, a temporary place to create a sense of transition," said Grumm. "Our hope is that they will be recognized as people in need."
But not everyone is 100 percent sold on the idea. Many neighbors are concerned and Grumm said the spaces have been already been relocated once because of concerns from a neighbor.
"A while is a while, but forever is forever," said Mike Galloway, a separate neighbor who has concerns. "People have got to go to church too you know."
But Pastor Grumm insists the program will be safe and designed to help get families back on their feet, and the congregation has been working with neighbors to alleviate any concerns.
City of Seattle Councilman Mike O'Brien said its important that these families have a safe place to get back on their feet.
"These folks are close to being out on the street and their family being split up," he said. "We don't want that to happen."
The city estimates about 500 people in Seattle currently live out of their vehicle.
The church and the city have been trying to get the program going for years. They say they're now ready to get it going and isn't the only church starting a "safe parking" program.
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