We discussed changing the meeting time to weekly, and we chose Wednesday, 4 to 5:30, beginning Aug 26, 2015. Provisionally, we will meet at the Rescue Mission, and we will try to hand out these leaflets. Neal will work on them, and Bud says he has a black-and-white laser and can print them. Sam, Marvin, Sunny, and Stephanie from Seattle will come to as many of these meetings as possible. We will try to involve the homeless in these meetings.
We talked about fundraising. Cindy will talk to Cornerstone, where she has an account. She will find out if it is possible to set up some way for Alan to integrate a donate button on the website. Cheryl will check into setting up a sub account under her religious organization “Serenity Love.” Alan will look into 3rd-party vendors. For material donations, we need to talk to Pastor Nina of Bethlehem Lutheran Church. It is possible that Spaceworks Tacoma may be able to help us with a storage space.
BUSINESS: This morning, a group of our core developers, as well as people from Seattle SHARE/WHEEL, met with Kierra Phifer, assistant to Senator Patty Murray. TCT and SHARE/WHEEL activists raised many questions about why we have laws that make it illegal to help homeless. For example, Cheryl asked why giving blankets to homeless people or feeding homeless people in the parks are illegal activities.
Marvin, one of the Seattle people, suggested talking to the mayor. He suggested that the word “camp” or “encampment” are both okay, as long as it is preceded with the word “organized.” The term “organized camp” or “organized encampment” may not raise too many alarms, whereas the word “camp” or “encampment” without a modifier brings up images of spontaneous groups of homeless people living in the bushes.
Marvin also suggested making sure the camps are kept open to visitors from the community. He suggests meeting with neighbors before setting up an organized camp. Marvin also asks why it has to be churches. He notes that his research indicates there are 37 public land sites in Pierce County that could be used. That brings up the question of why is it only religious and educational institutions that are not banned from hosting a tent city, when in a larger sense, this is a city responsibility. Why is there money for hurricane and earthquake relief but no money to remediate homelessness?
Vince brings up the question of what are we to do next? Bud discussed involving some new people. We also discussed the business plan a bit. Vince will try to talk to Troy to find out what the plans are for his facility and how they can mesh purposes with TCT.
Quijote Village Visit: Cheryl discussed the visit to Quijote Village (QV) that several members of our development team made. QV has good community relations, and we can learn from their experiences. They are willing to provide advice.
Seattle Visitors and Discussion: We had several visitors from Seattle who have had experience with Share/Wheel tent cities, as well as with other places. They gave us a lot of information, were very articulate and generous. They offered to come up again if we needed them to do so.
Marvin discussed the finances involved in running a tent city. He talked about fundraising. We should not just ask for funds in general. We can ask for support of specific items, such as payment of a use fee, payment of ports-potties, etc.
Ashley discussed the importance of making positive contacts with the media and getting them on our side. We said one of the local columnists, Matt Driscoll, seemed sympathetic to the idea of a tent city and had written several articles about it. He also attended one of the TCT meetings. As we get more off-the-ground, we expect he will take us more and more seriously.
The Seattle visitors agreed that the most urgent problem to solve is waste disposal. We need adequate toilet and dumpster facilities and to make sure they are being used appropriately. Other important needs are transportation. We can ask supporters to contribute bus passes and a camp car for more urgent situations. The EC (executive committee) members have very short terms, maybe a couple of weeks. They may not hold this office more than 30 out of 60 days.
On Aug 3, we will have a meeting with one of Senator Patti Murray’s aides, Ms Carol Pfeiffer. Our Seattle visitors advise asking for “assistance” for specific items instead of money. Marvin emphasized the importance of this. He also emphasized not asking FEMA for funds. Instead, we ask for “assistance” for specific items.
Sam says the most important thing for TCT is to find a site for the first camp. Some possible church hosts are hesitant to be the first unless there is a second, because they don’t want to tell us that a camp has to move at the end of 90 days if there is no new site already lined up.
Sam and the other Seattle visitors suggest we tell the church 2 things:
It would be the law, not the church, telling us to move.
If, after we’re set up and the church develops “buyers’ regret,” or if there are problems we can’t address at that site, we are prepared to move within 24 hours if asked, even if we have no other site lined up.
OUTREACH: Neal, Bud, Cheryl, and Lisa went to Olympia camp. They learned some ideas of how to make a tent city more “bureaucracy” friendly. We need to connect with political allies. Bud will send out a letter to Matt Driscoll, a political columnist with the TNT. Alan will ask Matt to talk with Bud, Neal, and others on Development team.
RANDALL TOWNSEND APARTMENTS: Troy Christianson responded to our calls by leaving a voice message. Vince says will try to set up an appointment with him.
TEMPLATE FOR BUSINESS PLAN: Bud and Cheryl have been working on a business plan. Cheryl has much experience with making business plans, something the rest of the Development Team lack. But Bud has been doing some study on the matter, and he and Cheryl came up with a template. Various members of the Development Team have taken on responsibility for writing segments of it. After hearing Bud and Cheryl talk about it, all of us understand how important having a business plan is for the success of our project.
NEXT MEETING: Vince will be out of town during the next meeting time, which is July 20, 2015. So Vince will not be able to arrange for us to have our usual meeting place. We decided to meet at the downtown Tully’s located in the old Bostich Hotel at 764 Broadway.
Coordinators:Facilitator: Vince; Notes: Alan Attendees: Barbara, Cheryl, Bud Neal, Brenda, Sarge, Andrea, Alan
Agenda & Business:
INTRODUCTIONS: For the benefit of new people, we had short introductions. Each member gave a brief statement about how and why they are involved in Test City Tacoma.
Vince talked about the next steps necessary to implement our first tent city. We discussed the homeless problem and addressed the money situation with Barbara. Reference was made to The News Tribune article on homelessness in Tacoma. Cheryl discussed the lack of accountability in some missions. Neal gave some background about the MLK shelter’s experiences during the 1990s.
Barbara asked about Nativity House, and there was some discussion about this.
Sarge talked about how long-term homelessness can lead to difficulty in trusting those expressing a desire to help. He says the experience of homelessness can be quite psychologically damaging and lead to feelings of disconnection. Sarge also mentioned that homelessness can exacerbate feelings of paranoia. He said authorities sometimes seize and discard homeless people’s material belongings, such as clothing, tents, and carts, as they clear out encampments and move out the residents.
Vince talked about the process of discussing our project with churches. We need to find at least 4 churches who are willing to host a site before we open our first one. He says having a live on-the-ground example of a successful camp helps in smoothing the way for oher churches to sponsor tent cities.
Sarge described the chaotic situation in some buildings he knows about that are used to house the homeless. Vince feels that there has to be some way of holding such operators of these buildings accountable for maintaining unsuitable conditions and accepting unsuitable residents. We discussed some arrangements for mediating some of these problems.
Sarge asked questions about how Tent City Tacoma will handle residents with acute mental illness episodes that make them incapable of being in a community.
Adjournment: We adjourned at 5:45 PM and will meet at 4 PM on May 18, 2015 at the same place.
Coordinators:Facilitator: Vince; Notes: Alan
Attendees: Bud, Cindy Carter, Cheryl, Vince, Alan, Brenda Bacon, Neal. Tom Tufte, Matt D, Sarge. (We also had a guest, Matt Driscoll, who is a political columnist and commentator at the Tacoma News Tribune. Matt has a special interest in social justice issues).
BUSINESS OF MEETING:
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS: We welcomed new attendees and briefly introduced ourselves.
NEAL’S PRESENTATION: Neal gave a PowerPoint presentation of the history and goals of the Tent City Tacoma project. He and others answered questions afterwards. This presentation is designed to help educate community members about Tent City Tacoma and how it can have a positive impact on the community, as well as help the homeless.
GENERAL DISCUSSION OF OUR GOALS AND PURPOSE: Vince had invited a number of clergy to attend from around Puget Sound, some of whom have had experience hosting tent cities. Only a few came. Vince and others described a bit of our history, how we came to be. Our next step in implementation will be to line up at least 3 potential host sites. For legal and permitting reasons, those potential host sites must be churches. The camps must rotate out of each site every 90 days to be in compliance with the city use permit.
Business: We discussed Neal’s pastor’s concerns about “syncretism.” There are some religious organizations who might feel that participating with a variety of different groups might not be good for their doctrinal integrity. However, most religious institutions would not be hesitant to work with other religious institutions on Tent City Tacoma because of fears of “syncretism.”
We discussed the tentative plans for 2 weeks. Our core developers will be contacting people for this event tomorrow. Neal will try to contact Freezing Nights. Alan will invite Matt Driscoll, a political columnist he knows, to come to next Sunday’s meeting. We will try to have some kind of condensed story for the meeting. We will also try to have some balance in the way the meeting is run. Vince will act as facilitator. We may have some light refreshments at the door. Below is the proposed agenda:
Present: Vince, Bud, Neal, Cheryl (a little late).
Business: Neal reported on a chance meeting with Colin DeForest while on his way to our meeting. From him he got quite an update on the Freezing Nights project in Puyallup. We need to interact with that project, to share what we are trying to do, what we know, etc.
Discussion shifted to “Housing First” programs, such as that now under way at the Bay Watch Apartments across 7th from the church. Here too we need to build ties and learn more. Vince will try to contact MDC (manages the Bay Watch) to see if someone can meet with us to tell us how it was developed and how it is running (perhaps at April 6 meeting).
BUSINESS: Cheryl reported on a list of church contacts she developed some years ago for a food drive. She still has that list.
Vince mentioned that while TCT had been working with the city to develop a use permitting process, city officials sent us a list of churches located within city limits that could qualify for hosting a tent city.
Some time ago, Vince sent out letters to the pastors on the city list. We did get a few responses, but we didn’t follow up those responses very well. So Vince sent out a second letter. This resulted in a meeting in January, 2015, and among the attendees were some clergy from outside of Tacoma who had had positive experiences hosting tent cities. Vince has contacts with Methodist church clergy whose parishes have hosted tent cities and would be willing to discuss their experiences with Tacoma clergy.
