Homeless man takes us inside his Seattle alleyway ‘home’
Apr 7, 2016, 3:06 PM | Updated: 3:12 pm
This homeless man, not the same as the Capitol Hill alleyway man, set up a shelter in a vacant business doorway in the University District. (Richard D. Oxley)
(Richard D. Oxley)
It’s not a tent, but it’s shelter according to a Seattle homeless man who is sharing photos of his Capitol Hill alleyway home on the internet.
“Several people have asked me how I live. I thought I would show it here,” a homeless man wrote on Reddit under the screen name Viamana.
Related: Different approaches to a shared homeless crisis
“I live in an alley doorway, have for almost two years,” he wrote. “I have permission from the owner of the business that I live behind, am great friends with all the employees, who often let me shower and do laundry at their homes, and I get paid to clean the alley and work security, making sure the addicts don’t do too much damage at 3 a.m.”
The man said that he has also caught kids spray painting in the alleyway and has scared them off, too.
He posted a series of photos online to show the tiny space he has come to call home in Seattle. The doorway is about 5.5 feet x 4 feet. He says he can sleep if he lays diagonally down the center of the space. He goes to the bathroom in a bucket clearly labeled “poop” and he reports the bucket has not been stolen yet.
His space also comes with an extension cord for electricity, provided by one of the neighboring businesses. This is how he keeps his tablet charged — his means of binge watching online TV, he writes.
See the photos here.
