Nickelsville to move near Washington Middle School?
Update: I have looked into this - still waiting for district response - but I learned from a Times reporter that the site will have 35 people living there, 24-hour security and a fence.
End of update.
The West Seattle Blog is reporting that the Nickelsville homeless camp will be moving to a site at 20th and Jackson which is near Washington Middle School at 21st and Jackson.
I'll ask the district about this.
Thanks to alert reader Amy.
End of update.
The West Seattle Blog is reporting that the Nickelsville homeless camp will be moving to a site at 20th and Jackson which is near Washington Middle School at 21st and Jackson.
I'll ask the district about this.
Thanks to alert reader Amy.
Comments
But there's a difference between homeless students at a school and a homeless encampment near a school.
HP
CHM
- Too funny
Mind filling me in on what you find so funny? Is it homelessness, or what? Or do you laugh at people, not with them?
http://realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/8066
As a WMS parent I am really not sure how I feel about this.
WMS Parent
https://www.facebook.com/groups/nickelsvilleworks/permalink/668957719798508/
Tracy @ WSB
some compassion, think how horrible it would be to be cold and wet for 9 months!
CCA
HP
Having a homeless encampment as a neighbor is not all sparkly unicorns. Some individuals are in the camp because of the economy or personal tragedy. In regard to students, compassion for a fellow human would be the lesson for the soul.
Some campers are there because past criminal behavior will exclude them from access to apartments or other housing where background checks are performed. In regard to students caution would be the topic to ingrain to keep them safe.
Nickelsville camped in the parking lot of our preschool. No prior notice was given to parents. It was not a pleasant experience. A definite uptick of drug dealers on nearby street corners while the camp was present, loud profane arguments right next to the preschool playground. Those are the milder occurrences. It just wasn't a preschool appropriate setting. Especially, with no notice to the parents.
It is a complex situation that not all adults can navigate. I believe most Middle School kids have the capacity to benefit provided the adults around them are honest about the new neighbors across the street. They are not all evil and they are not all angels, so be properly cautious until you know which is which. Or, in the case of middle school kids who haven't finely tuned their antennae, always be cautious.
Be Safe
Any of these "warnings" must be mindful that camp residents may be in that classroom, looking for acceptance and an education.
Be Safe
Mr. Morrow is currently being criminally investigated by the FBI and by local authorities for shoddy financial practices, possible theft of funds, and for forcing encampment residents to attend protests and hand over gift cards, cash, or tangible goods in order to remain in the camp. Much of this illegal activity has been reported for years by past residents, and there are indications that city officials have looked the other way for years as well. There is no active social service outreach within the encampment, and efforts made to establish such ties have been rebuffed.
As someone who has been involved with the homeless community for some time, I can say that families with children (with one notable exception) are the first to be placed by social services in transitional housing. This is not to say that some end up in cars, in weekly motels, on couches, in tents, and occasionally on the street. But if they are looking for help, they are usually the first to get it. The exception is families with teen boys, since they are excluded from some of the safe houses. There is work being done to find better ways to keep these family units intact as they are placed.
I am a longtime advocate for the homeless, and I do not support what is happening with Nickelsville whatsoever. They have repeatedly refused offers of help if they do not think it will benefit their political goals, even if such help would directly benefit residents. As one small example, they have refused offers for indoor shelter space on several occasions, citing that it would reduce their visibility to city residents.
As to the crime factor - there are definitely members of the community with criminal backgrounds, and a small number with active warrants or who are level 3 sex offenders. They do not conduct true resident screenings (despite what they say), and reports are that they only remove residents on those grounds when it suits other needs. Overall though, there is only a slight uptick in petty crime in the immediate vicinity of the camps, far less than some detractors think. But as another poster said - it is not all sparkly unicorns there.
I strongly urge your readers to think carefully about how they spend their time and money, and to consider helping the homeless through another avenue. At the very least, read up on Nickelsville and Scott Morrow before giving them your support. There is a great need within our community, and it is best served through other means than this.
DK
was damp, damper, and dampest, and COLD. And this despite having the best (and expensive)
tent and goretex everything, and summer weather.
So perhaps it is true that Tent City has political motives, they are not wrong in saying visibility is important for change to happen. Our country is
very uncomfortable with homelessness. Thus
out of sight is out of mind. While I own my
house, I have realized since high school how
easily that could change. My parents owned
rental property and we have heard many stories
of people losing their homes after falling ill or losing their jobs. We turn our heads away from homeless people because we do not want to allow that we could become them.
While single mothers with children have priority for housing, this only gets them indoors IF there is housing available. I know several families who have been waiting for section 8 housing for more than 2 years.
Tents are a bad solution, yes, but better than
freeway entrances, or under bridges and
overpasses. We have many of those groups
too, here in Wallingford.
And yes, there are probably sex offenders in the camp. But there are probably more of them sleeping in doorways and alleys. There are also several level 3 offenders living inside homes, in every neighborhood, registered, and not registered.
CCA
AT LEAST 98% of the residents abuse drugs and/or alcohol DAILY. They "democratically" elect junkies to posts such as camp arbitrators and security so no problems ever get solved because the "criminals are running the jail" so to speak...
In my time there I barely slept due to the never ending drunken fights and/or junkie arguments/drug usage activities (such as the junkie neighbors who sold drugs and/or the users who loudly imbibed in said drugs.)
Make no mistake, they WILL sell drugs to kids middle school age and not think twice about it. The ONE 14 year old girl at Nickelsville spends her time with a 21 year old man who does nothing but smoke weed and play video games. The girl's mother smokes weed daily and drinks to excess regularly. The mom declined to go into housing...even though it meant keeping her kid on the street.
I could go on but my point is that some good people end up homeless but the vagrants at Nickelsville are there for the most part because they're active addicts who want to use and abuse drugs & alcohol.
They want free everything too...food, clothes, blankets, tents, water, etc...because they're homeless oh poor me...and they WILL start steaLing from cars, stores and homes in any neighborhood they move to. And they are filthy too...rats will come with the camp too because they cook and leave food everywhere and pile up garbage in and around their tents...including bottles of urine and drug needles.
WATCH YOUR CHILDREN...the bums at Nickelsville will be. They're nothing like the tent cities that are run by Share/Wheel (Nickelsville is NOT a part of Share/Wheel btw...) ly enforces pages and pages of rules.
Get loud with the city council and the school district and the police presence in your area because it IS a dangerous circus coming to your town and while they call themselves "Nickelodeons" they are NOT kid friendly and shouldn't be allowed within 10 MILES of a school or decent neighborhood!
You are either clueless or you are lying and you were never at Nickelsvile.
SHARE and Nickelsville are run by the same guy: Scott Morrow. The reason they seem like two separate entities is because SHARE cannot run legally run a tent camp within Seattle city limits. But they do it anyway, informally.
Read more about the SHARE/Nickelsville connection at my blog: roominate dot com.
Thanks.