Tent City should be embraced, not shunned

While many people want nothing to do with Tent City, Seattle Pacific University is again rolling out the welcome mat for the homeless encampment.

The roving camp of about 100 people, known as Tent City 3, has been scrambling to find a new home since it was forced to leave Haller Lake Methodist Church in North Seattle after overstaying its permit.

Currently, the group is camped underneath I-5 in Ravenna near Green Lake, but the city says they have to move by Wednesday.

The group is pleading with Mayor Ed Murray to let them stay until SPU is ready to accommodate them in January. KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don are firmly behind the effort.

“Think about this. There are the people that nobody wants. That nobody wants to be around. These are the people tonight, as it gets colder, as we head into the winter months, will be sleeping under the I-5 bridge,” says Don O’Neill.

Don is a longtime resident of Queen Anne near the SPU campus, and says the outpouring of care from the students and staff there last time the encampment set up on the campus was overwhelming.

“You’d have tons of kids that would go over there, and they would help put up the tents and they would help put up the generators, or if they needed supplies or tarps or whatever, and then they would fight to feed the people,” says Don.

Last time the camp was set up on the soccer field, but this time SPU will have them right in the middle of campus on the main lawn.

“I think it’s great these kids are living out their faith,” says Don.

Some neighbors weren’t as eager to welcome the camp last time. Don says one sent out an email warning others of potential rapes, robberies and other crimes. Don sent one of his own praising the group and welcoming it to the neighborhood.

“I called one of my cop friends and he said, ‘You know what’s kind of unusual? Wherever Tent City goes, the crime rate kind of goes down for whatever reason.’ They don’t know why that is, but all these things people think happen, they don’t happen,” says Don.

SPU is doing more than just offering a place to stay. The school is offering classes on homeless issues, and giving students the opportunity to volunteer in a number of ways.

“Hosting Tent City 3 is a concrete manifestation of Seattle Pacific University’s mission of engaging the culture and changing the world. Through this experience the SPU community has a unique opportunity to care for — and learn from — our neighbor,” the school says on a section of its website dedicated to Tent City.

For Don, “I think it’s really cool.”