Cindy and Cheryl were not here. Alan called Cheryl. Cheryl said she and Cindy had made progress making contact. They said they would send material to Alan, who would forward it to the other members of the Development Team.
Neal reported on discussions he had had with the new pastor at his church. This Lutheran church just installed a new pastor after having conducted a 3-year search for a suitable candidate. This pastor is a younger person. Neal feels this pastor may well be receptive to our project if we present it in a positive manner, emphasizing that this is a constructive effort to help homeless become self sufficient. The parish is the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Lakewood, and the new clergy person is Pastor Paul E Zeigler. Neal hopes to be able to take him to Seattle tent city camps to see how they work.
Meeting Discussion: We gave a brief overview of our project for the benefit of the 3 new people. Topics discussed were the history of TCT (Tent City Tacoma), its origins in OT (Occupy Tacoma), and our month-long efforts in getting the city to draft an appropriate code.
Reports: As there was a new person, we had brief introductions. Vince talked a bit about how TCT got started, the role of Occupy Tacoma activists, especially Neal. He handed out some material describing who we were and what we have been doing.
Wayne, the new person, is from Graham. He talked about his activities assisting homeless people in Graham and expressed interest in checking us out, possibly working with us.
For the benefit of the new person, Vince and others described our requirement to line up more than 1 possible host church site so when the tent city has to move, there will be a place to go. Vince mentioned that one church seems interested in possibly hosting a tent city. Two weeks ago, he had a meeting with the pastor. It was a productive meeting. Patricia says that if we get one site, other churches will be more likely to step up to the plate.
We discussed a bit about MDC (Metropolitan Development Council) project to renovate the BayWatch Apartment building. This building will be renamed for Randall Townsend, a homeless veteran who 4 skinheads attacked and murdered some years ago.
We also talked about the need to have some sort of fiscal arm. Neal brought up the 501(C)3 process. He would like to have us work with an established group. Vince said he will consult with some FUMC people. Associated Ministries might be able to serve as a financial agent, but they will not be willing to organize or manage us.
Neal reports we have an intern. This intern will be working under Neal through a program with TCC as part of an academic activity. Neal reports that he can act as a go-between for Prince of Peace Lutheran. Neal has had some contact with new pastor, who will be installed around March.
Vince wants to lay out the critical steps we must now take to make a tent city a reality. He wants to invite the Seattle folks back when we have more churches lined up here in Tacoma.
Meeting Coordinators: Facilitator: Vince; Notes: Alan
Meeting Participants & Introductions: Vince H, Bill B (Greater Seattle Care), Patricia M, Gene (United Methodist, TC3 related), Sylvia Sass (Involved in Tacoma civic groups), Carol Maryano, Pastor; Chuck (Heller United, writer, Bethel United, has been homeless), Dennis Shaughnessy (The conversation). Neal Rogers, Peter Roderick (Catholic worker, Guadalupe House). Cody Sharlin, Dick Moran (FUMC Issaquah). Jan Bennet (involved in TC4), Leslie Ann Knight, (Pastor at Fircrest United Church, involved in TC4). Pastor John. (My apologies if I left out anyone. I did not have access to the entire signup sheet–AOS)
REPORTS: In addition to our regular 4 participants, many other people attended this meeting for the first time. They were visitors from institutions who had been involved in community affairs and various tent cities. The meeting was very informal, without a strict agenda.
Vince started the meeting by giving bit of a description of our history. This introduction covered the material in Patricia’s written history. Patricia discussed the long process we had gone through with the city authorities. She described our efforts to get the City Council to pass a code regulating tent cities.
We also talked about the necessity of securing funding once we set up. One church seems open to the idea of being a host, but they are hesitant to commit until we line up some other possible sites. Several attendees mentioned that some churches may not have space but can help with other resources. At the present time, high on our list of priorities is finding other potential sites.
Dick from FUMC said we have an advantage in that the city does not restrict how frequently we can set up a site within city limits.
We also discussed the very high fees the city charges for a permit. Several visitors from Seattle said that after a while, the city may lower the cost of obtaining a permit. Many churches lacking the facilities to provide a site may be able to help defray our costs and provide other resources. One Seattle pastor said he thought we didn’t really need to have 3 or4 sites lined up. If we have one or two successful tent cities, other churches may be more willing to provide a site. We will gain a bit of a reputation for stability and reliability. Bill talked about the advantage of having the kind of stability that SHARE/WHEEL has.
Agenda: The agenda was not formalized, as the meeting was short and there were only 3 in attendance.
Business: Neal announced that in addition to attending school, he now has a job in a small vape shop. His employer is an example of a small business that supports the idea of a tent city in Tacoma. All of the staff have had experience with homelessness at some point in their lives. We expect to see other businesses support the idea of a tent city as TCT becomes more of a reality.
Vince put out a followup letter to churches in the community. We are beginning to see some response. Vince has been able to encourage several principals from several churches to attend our Jan 5 meeting. We will have a presentation. We are encouraged that there seems to be some developing interest in this project.
MEETING DETAILS: Vince had an appointment with Pastor Nina. Vince came away from that meeting feeling that we had some homework to do. He feels it makes sense for us to find 1 or 2 other churches who might be willing to engage in our project and have a joint meeting with them. The letter we sent out triggered some interest in North Tacoma. Vince feels it is important for him to call these pastors and set up a joint meeting.
Vince will try to cultivate some sort of relationship with Safe Streets. Vince has had some communication with Wanda from Safe Streets, and she said Safe Streets are not opposed. They just have questions. Possibly, Neal could give our presentation to Safe Streets.
Patricia suggested seeing if Bethlehem would sponsor an ad-hoc shelter on a freezing night. Icy weather may help break the ice. Patricia is needing to take a leave of absence from Tent City Tacoma for a while to take care of other pressing business.
Vince will work on a model text for the telephone calls.
Oct 20, 2014 MinutesATTENDING: Neal, Patricia, Vince, Alan
MEETING NOTES: Vince reported that he made contact with Pastor Nina and will be having a meeting with her in the near future. There were some reservations about sponsoring a tent city at a meeting of some church members and neighbors. Someone from Safe Streets had met with them to discuss neighborhood watch matters, and the Safe Streets person had strong reservations about siting a tent city on the property. It was felt that the Safe Streets person had some mistaken notions about us, and Neal or Vince will try to meet with the Safe Streets person to see what can be done to give them more information about us.
We also discussed the mailings that Vince sent to his colleagues. What is needed is someone to attach phone numbers and possible contact names to the list that Vince used for sending out mail. Patricia said she would enjoy doing that, and she took on that task.
Meanwhile, Neal got an email from a Baptist church, and they seemed interested in the idea of a tent city. Neal wrote back. Vince will try to enlist the cooperation of some pastors he knows in Seattle whose churches have had positive experience with tent cities.
PROGRESS MADE: Only Alan and Vince were present. The meeting was very informal. They discussed what they viewed as being the next steps to take. Alan and Vince will look up phone numbers and pastor names from the mailing list. Then they will divide up the names for phoning the pastors. Vince will write a script. Then Alan and Vince will organize a phone bank.
So the next 2 steps are to organize a phone bank and for Vince to contact Pastor Nina. Vince has already tried several times but has been unable to. Respectfully submitted: Alan OldStudent
ATTENDING: Vince (facilitator), Patricia, Alan (Note Taker), Neal, Blaine, Lisa.
AGENDA:
Future of project.
MEETING DISCUSSION:
Neal:
Neal is starting school soon. He will have to scale back his involvement somewhat. However, he can probably be present in a camp in the evenings but will be in classes during the day. We will likely have to change our meeting time to accommodate Neal’s school schedule.
VINCE’S REPORT AND LETTER: These minutes will combine all the items on the agenda without teasing them out.
Vince actually made arrangements about the tents at today’s meeting. Vince and Neal decided Thursday or Friday would work if they could get Mike to agree to one of those days. Vince called Mike, and they set up Friday morning to move the tents. Mike will bring them down, and Vince and Neal will get them to Bethlehem Church.
We also discussed the practicalities of sending out the letter of appeal to other possible church host sites. We decided that September was not a good month to do it for a variety of reasons, and so we will send it out after that. This is a time when many pastors are out on vacation. Pastor Nina herself is out until August. We have had both cooperation and some resistance from the City itself.
The content of the letter still needs some work. We discussed mail merges, whereby we print up address labels for the envelopes.
When Neal deals with the tents at Bethlehem, he will talk to John about a mailstop at Bethlehem. Alan will fix the letterhead at that point. It seems a bit crowded at the top. The top of the letterhead needs only contact information, and we can take out the Facebook page URL, and email and perhaps put it in the footer. We just need the mailing address and phone number at the top, under the graphic. Alan will redesign this letterhead when we have assembled the new information.
NEXT MEETING: Normally, we have meetings on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month. However, the first Monday of September is Labor Day, and we decided to skip that date. So our next meeting will be on September 15.
Thanks to Neal for proofreading these minutes and checking them for accuracy —Editor
