More city-run homeless camps coming to Seattle, but for RVs
Jan 17, 2016, 10:59 PM | Updated: Jan 19, 2016, 6:33 am
(File, MyNorthwest)
(File, MyNorthwest)
On the heels of two new homeless tent camps opened by the City of Seattle, the city is moving on to open more, and they aren’t just for tents.
The city is currently working on a plan to open one more tent camp — that will host 50-80 people — and up to three sites to accommodate RVs and people living in their vehicles.
Seattle Council Member Sally Bagshaw said that talks are currently underway with other government agencies and private entities to partner up and create the new camps for RVs, which she describes as “KOA like.”
“With dumpsters, porta-johns, security, oversight, monitors and a code of conduct like what we require in the encampments,” Bagshaw said. “And we’ll open them up in weeks, not months.”
Mere weeks because the city has recently budgeted $7 million toward the homeless issue, not to mention Mayor Ed Murray’s declaration of a state of emergency, putting nearly $50 million toward the effort.
The new tent camp will host 50-80 people, Bagshaw notes, and all of them, like the current sites operated in Ballard and Interbay, will serve as points of contact for the homeless community.
“What I like about these encampments, and I went and visited one on Friday, I know that they are safe places for community and for people to go,” she said. “There are case managers there for people to move up and on — to get the services they need.
“This is not free parking forever, but while people are getting services they need, it’s a space with a roof over their head,” Bagshaw said.
Where exactly the RV camps will be located is not yet known as deals are still being made, but Bagshaw said that the intention is to spread them out so no one area of Seattle is home to all three.
A need for action
The idea for an RV camp sponsored by the city is actually one promoted by Magnolia residents who recently held a community meeting about the issue of RVs lining neighborhood streets. Among the neighborhood’s concerns were that some of the many RV residents have been contributing to crime, and waste along the road, according to Magnolia neighbors.
Bagshaw attended that meeting.
“There were hundreds of people there. It was not like one of these neighborhood meetings with 25 or 30 people,” she said. “There was standing-room-only outside with people wanting to get in.”
“They were articulate that they wanted to take care of the homeless, but also they want the police to take care of the drug dealers and the city to clean up the mess that people have left — there’s hypodermic needles left in piles and garbage that people have thrown out.”
“They had a message they wanted delivered to the city and they did not feel the city was listening to them,” she added. “My response is that ‘you are absolutely right,’ in terms that there are problems here and we got to get moving. No more talking, we need actions.”
Queen Anne residents also recently gathered to discuss the same problems they are facing.
Bagshaw, and the city’s action is not just based on the people of Seattle. The council member said that information from the police department is also proving that action needs to happen sooner than later. The information Bagshaw said she was given by Seattle police is:
• There are about 70-90 vehicles in Ballard with people living in them
• There are about 70-80 vehicles in south Seattle with people living in them
• There are between 250-400 tents set up around Seattle sheltering the homeless
“That is a manageable number for us to be able to approach people in the tents, ask what help they need, and provide a place to be around the county,” she said.
“The camps — nobody, particularly me, thinks they are the end all,” Bagshaw said. “For now, for place to be tonight, it’s the right thing to be doing.”
