‘Boy in the tent’ enters school for the first time at age 10: ‘I want to go back’

A 10-year-old boy who lived in a tent in a park in North Seattle while his mother was trafficked on Aurora Avenue walked through school doors for the first time ever on Tuesday, capping a months-long rescue effort led by a local nonprofit and spurred by neighbors who refused to look away.

“This young man has been in fight or flight since the day he was born,” said Kristine Moreland, executive director of The More We Love, a Kirkland-based organization that provides outreach and services to homeless women and children. “Yesterday was his very first day of school, and the most beautiful part is he said, ‘I want to go back.'”

The boy’s journey from an encampment littered with rat droppings and urine bottles to a classroom began in October 2025, when Moreland and her team first visited the tent where he was alone. His mother was struggling with fentanyl addiction and being sexually exploited. His father refused offers of housing, food, and services.

Neighbors had called the Seattle Police Department and Child Protective Services repeatedly. Each time, authorities determined the boy was not in imminent danger.

“Everybody kept saying the same thing: He is OK. He is safe,” Moreland said. “We continued to show up at that tent, knowing that that was not the case.”

‘Not a chance’: Nonprofit refused to let ‘boy in the tent’ return to life on the streets

In December 2025, KIRO Newsradio reported on the boy’s situation, drawing widespread public attention to the case. Moreland was recorded offering the family immediate shelter — a private room available that day. The father turned her down.

“Not from you,” he told her.

But neighbors kept watching. Moreland’s team kept showing up. And in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2026, a Seattle police officer called Moreland to say the mother and boy were ready to accept help.

The mother entered care for active fentanyl addiction. The More We Love connected her with recovery services and arranged behavioral health treatment for the boy through Seattle Children’s Hospital. Moreland said the organization partnered with another mission for long-term housing, but that agency was unable to handle the boy’s behavioral challenges and released the family back to the streets.

“We said, not a chance,” Moreland said. “Our case managers have dug in day after day, helping this little man get through this.”

The mother remains in recovery, Moreland said, calling it “a big deal” while acknowledging the difficulty of learning to parent while breaking a generational cycle of trauma and addiction.

“She has been in the cycle predominantly her whole life,” Moreland said. “We really have to work on her traumas as well.”

Moreland says ‘boy in the tent’s’ case is far from unique

Moreland said the boy’s case is far from unique. She said she receives calls daily from law enforcement and community partners reporting women and children living in encampments across the region. She urged the public not to romanticize the challenges ahead for the boy, including the possibility of bullying at school.

“And what if he was still living in the tent?” Moreland said. “Then where would he be?”

The More We Love recently received a $500,000 matching donation from an anonymous donor to fund rescue efforts for women and children in encampments. Every dollar donated to the organization through its website, themorewelove.org, will be matched, Moreland said.

The privately funded nonprofit also operates a crisis center where staff cares for infants born exposed to fentanyl. Moreland said the organization needs volunteers to help rock and comfort the babies.

Moreland, who has done outreach work in Seattle for nearly 25 years, said the boy now has “an army of encouragement behind him.”

“This is hope to me,” she said. “And reminds me to continue every single day in this work.”

Manda Factor is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. Follow Manda on X and email her here. 

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