I’ve got close to 30 pages on my degree project so far, it’s 1:47 in the morning, and I need to procrastinate. My whole plan to stay away from facebook isn’t so effective with the blog as a second option. Oh well.
Today I didn’t get quite as much work done as I had hoped, but I did get some good hang out time with Shannon who helped me clean my kitchen and swept our floors (thank you!). Later we walked to meet up for church at her house and decided to stop by and introduce ourselves to our temporary neighbors, Tent City 3.
Tent City is “a group of up to 100 homeless men, women, and, in rare temporary cases, children, who live together in a group of tents on the property of a host.” Essentially it’s a camp of people without traditional housing (their tent is their home) who live together on lots primarily owned by churches (who invite them to stay). Over time tent city has gained a great deal of respect by most individuals in the Seattle area, most notably because of their strict code of conduct and their positive influence on the community.
Tent City is currently at the Cherry Hill Baptist site, which happens to be right outside of our living room window. I can sit and watch people come in and out, get food at the gas station and socialize by the entrance. They’ll only be in this spot for another month (the city of Seattle has a written agreement with them that they will move at least every 3 months) and I hadn’t gotten a chance to come by and say hello.
When we stopped by I wan’t sure what to say except, “Hi, just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood and tell you we’re glad you’re here.” I soon figured out that visits like ours were common, and there was a response system in place: (1) Introductions, (2) Camp tour, (3) Discussion of guidelines and rules, and (4) Q&A. Seriously.
Our tour guide walked us around the camp, which holds 100 people now and has 3 separate living quarters: (1) Families each in their own tents, (2) One large tent for single women and (3) One large tent for single men. The camp includes honeybuckets (that’s Seattle for porta potties), a kitchen tent (churches come and cook meals regularly), and an entertainment tent (i.e. the TV room). The most important rules of tent city are no alcohol and no drugs. The code of conduct begins with: WE, THE PEOPLE OF SHARE/WHEEL, IN ORDER TO KEEP A MORE HARMONIOUS COMMUNITY, ASK THAT YOU OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING CODE OF CONDUCT.
Mack, who was on entrance duty at the time, was a round, elderly and jovial man with a big white beard that was stained red around the mouth from his lasagna dinner. He was so pleasant and welcoming; I really did feel like I was visiting a new neighbor.
There is (of course) always controversy about alternative living arrangements for people who are without homes, but I for one am a big fan of Tent City, and especially proud that they depend on the support of churches to survive. I’m glad that Seattlites can see the good work of the church and hopefully recognize the love and generosity of Christ
Here’s a video to show you their humble abode:
I loved this post so much that I actually wrote a post about it and linked your post in my blog. We have a teeny tent city in CC, but it certainly isn’t looked upon with respect and honor! This is really cool (and super organized!) Thanks for sharing it!