Redmond and Kirkland councilmembers volunteer to count unsheltered homeless

(l-r) John Stilin (red), David Carson, Penny Sweet, Hank Margeson, Pat Vache' (red), Hank Myers, Toby Nixon (back)

"Last night was the "One Night Count" where the community goes out and counts how many homeless people we have in our cities so that we can raise awareness of the problem of homelessness. Hank and others went out in the middle of the night to do this, so proud of all of them."
   -- Patti Margeson

These Redmond/Kirkland volunteers are all city councilmembers.  Penny Sweet and Toby Nixon are from Kirkland.  John Stilin, David Carson, Hank Margeson (V.P.)  Pat Vache' (Pres.), Hank Myers are from Redmond.  Thank you for your service to our community councilmembers!!

2012 Results for the Eastside:  138 unsheltered homeless.  Of those, 52 were found inside cars and trucks.

AA meetings offered at St. Jude Parish for Tent City residents.

Alcholics Anonymous (AA) Meetings are held in St. Jude Parish
 for Tent City residents and public-at-large

OPINION:   I was driving by the St Jude's Tent City encampment on a Wednesday and noticed this AA sign at the church entrance.  A flyer in the encampment announced AA meetings inside the Parish on Thursday's at 10am.  I was so thrilled to learn ShareWheel (the managing non-profit) and St. Jude (the host) started AA sessions.  Putting a tent over your head is one thing; but helping to solve the medical problems associated with homelessness is a major advancement.  I'm happy ShareWheel is offering more health care for their members than occasional dental work, nutrition, and blankets.  The incidence of alcoholism is high in our society; it's higher for the homeless.  KUDOS for St. Jude and ShareWheel and our community for understanding and accepting our community needs.

Opinion and Photo By Bob Yoder

References: 
Dual Diagnosis of Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Disorder, NAMI, Robert Drake, MD.  2003
Observations and Recomendations for a better Tent City, Bob Yoder, 11/2007

Tent City-4 at St. Jude's Parish

 Tent City
166th Avenue NE on Education Hill
April 26, 2011

LETTER: St. Jude applying for Tent City permit

 "St. Jude Ave.", TC-4  (two years ago)

Dear Bob,

Tent City 4 has asked St. Jude to host their homeless encampment this spring. We are in the process of the applying for a permit with the city. The proposed dates are from April 23 until near the end of July. This would be the third time that Tent City has visited Redmond.

Blessings,

Fr. Dave Rogerson
St. Jude Parish senior pastor
Redmond, WA.
425-883-7685

Photo By Yoder

from desk of Bob Yoder...
RNB is looking for comment balancing this entry.

COMMENT:   OK. We get it already - there are poor people who don't have permanent homes and live in tents. Poverty and homelessness are an age-old problem. We've seen Tent City up-close and what it's like to be homeless (twice so far) and I do have sympathy, but hosting a 10-week camp out every other summer just doesn't solve their long-term social, mental and economic problems and creates security problems for the neighborhood. Maybe St. Jude's should work on building and funding a transitional housing facility, but not in the middle of a residential neighborhood. 
 -- By Anonymous, 3/8

Tent City 4 | Kirkland | moves into location on the Kirkland-Redmond border.

Tent City 4 moved to its new location Friday, April 23 at Lake Washington United Methodist Church on a busy street (132nd Ave. N.E. on the Kirkland-Redmond border). Some neighbors have voiced concern for Tent City 4 residents being in such an exposed location.  Read More.

By Matt Phelps
Kirkland Reporter
4/27/2010

Tent City 4 | Kirkland | Focus Northwest - Photos of move-in to TC-4 on April 23 - 26
By Chad Coleman, 4/27/2010
Photo Journalist for Focus Northwest

Yearly count finds fewer homeless in King County

Yearly count finds fewer homeless in King County:

"Castle and nearly 1,000 other volunteers canvassed King County early Friday as part of the county's One Night Count of the homeless not living in shelters.

The 30th annual count, conducted between 2 and 7 a.m., revealed that despite a deep recession, about 5 percent fewer people were living on the county's streets than a year ago."  read complete story

short clip of homeless

By Brian Rosenthal
Seattle Times staff reporter  

#####

Redmond City Councilmember John Stilin participated in the annual count. 

What does Tent City mean to us?

"Main Street" in Tent City 4, Saint Jude's Catholic Church, Redmond

UPDATED: Early last week, I decided to bike over to Tent City (TC4) for a final good-bye. It was gone! Stakes pulled. No blue tents or honey pots, no litter, and that pervasive smell of stale sweat, finally lost to the breeze. Living four blocks away, we never noticed they had left.

They had departed as quietly as they arrived. Nomadic wanderers. How different this TC-4 is from two years ago. No hoop-tee-doos, or three ring circuses, no dog and pony shows, or City court. They came from Woodinville, they went, that's it. Have you heard different?

Tent City-4 left Redmond on August 1. They've moved to Holy Spirit Lutheran in Kirkland (Juanita) for the next three months. According to Father Rogerson of St. Judes Church, TC-4 averaged around 90 residents with a peak of 100. Business at TC-4 'was good' this year as foreclosures 'hit home'.

Community support came out in mass. Student volunteers, scouts, businesses, church groups, non profits, sports teams, neighbors all showed up to pitch in. Father Rogerson said Parishioners are already asking when St. Jude will host again. His understanding with the city is that "we would do this no more often than once a year. So it will be that long at least."

I'm glad our community can support the homeless, even if it is near our schools and in the middle of our neighborhoods; and is political. It was hard at first, but it seems they do no harm, and we learn from the experience and a little bit more about ourselves. After my visits, I feel melancholic. Others feel differently. The place is mostly a harbor for the lonely and forsaken; a few use it to their end. Rick, my younger brother, probably could have benefited from living from a shelter. He died alone and isolated in a Florida apartment, weakened from a co-morbidity no fault of his own. Rick's isolation was probably what killed him in the end.

Father Rogerson quotes two Gospel verses in St. Jude's consideration to host Tent City-4: Matthew 5:3 and Matthew 25.40. FAQ

A visit with Audi Murphy, of Tent City-4

This is Audi Murphy. He's a Tent City resident, waiting for the bus to go to the library. Audi is carrying a comedy book, the Bible and computer with no web service.

Audi lives about 1/4 mile away from my home in a tent pitched on a parking lot at St. Jude's Church. His neighborhood is called "Tent City-4" though you could barely call it a home. I bumped into Audi at the Junior High Metro bus stop. He said I could interview him. Audi speaks English well.

Audi's life story is one of broken homes and far away places. He is the son of an Irish Philipino and didn't move to the States until 1998. His mother and brother moved to Los Angelos, when he was only 2 years old, leaving him behind. Audi lived with his "father" in the Philipines for eight years until his mother called for him. Audi is a gentle soul and when abusive fighting started with his mother he developed anxieties and anger issues. So, he left to join the Navy.  Working on a Navy boat was his best job but it only lasted 3 years. Audi was dismissed because he started drinking, probably as a way to manage his anger?

Audi moved to Las Vegas and then Kent, WA. He found a Mission in Seattle but, unable to find work, he couldn't pay the $5/night fee. So, he moved to Mercer Island TC-4. He's lived in various Tent Cities for over a year. After Mercer Island he pitched in Kirkland, Woodinville and finally Redmond. He left Kirkland for Alaska to fish for mackerel but got kicked off the boat because he was too small and slow. So, he worked on the dock for 3 months before coming "home" to Redmond.

Audi must be about 20 years old? He wants me to visit him at TC-4. I told him I would. Audi's a kind, quiet soul, eager to find his place in this world.  Audi is itinerent.  He already moved on.

Horace Mann's "Service Saturdays" is a smashing success.

Hi Bob! Your blog post on the Pennies for Piece kids encouraged me to let you know about Mrs. Jarrett’s 6th Grade Class at Horace Mann Elementary.

My son is a student in the class and I can’t say enough about how enthusiastic and supportive this group of kids have been with their "Service Saturday" projects.

So far this school year, the kids have participated in the following:

• Trail work on the Sammamish Trail·
• Worked at a homeless shelter to serve a meal·
• Donated monies to Page Ahead·
• Held a pet food drive for the Seattle Humane Society·
• Held a tea and read poetry for the Fairwinds Retirement Luxury Resort.
• Projects planned for the rest of the school year are making blankets for Project Linus and serving a meal at Tent City 4 on May 11th.

I’m working on getting some photos of our past projects...do you think there is space on your blog for a little shout-out about this great bunch of kids? ~ Marlene Katz

Send me your photos if you want Marlene! What a tremendous success story! I was a lunch buddy at Mann and my daughter went to school there. Your school is great!

Basketball and Church draws Mayor John Marchione back to the neighborhoods.

Updated, 3/22: It's refreshing to see Mayor John Marchione getting out into the community and showing interest in the neighborhoods that elected him our city CEO and Representative. John participated with Fire and Police in student Olivia's High School Dodge Ball Fundraiser at the beginning of his term, but then became bogged down with managing the bureaucracy and budget. For a while , I was fearful John would morph into a total bureaucrat. It doesn't look like it now, but we'll know for sure by baseball season.

Currently, tournament basketball and city-church land use activities are pulling John back into the neighborhoods. Yeh! At the last Council meeting John announced high numbers of students busing to Tacoma to root for our H.S. Boys State Basketball players in the State tournament. It must have helped. Redmond took 5th in the State!

(The http://www.redmondboysbasketball.com/ high school site has stories, pics and video clips).

Did you hear, Lenny Wilkens, the winning Sonic coach during the 1979 NBA championship, was the featured guest at the Washington Cathedral's (WC) event last Saturday? John Marchione's council work on WC land-
use Reviews engaged him with the church . Mr. Mayor was part of the Saturday ribbon-cutting ceremony for WC's massive new recreation/sanctuary facility. (Pastor Tim White is on the left). I missed it, but who knows, John could have been asked to start the tip-off in the Redmond-Woodinville basketball game played in the WC gym (played by football players). If John can throw in the ball to start high school dodge ball games why not throw the tip-off for this church basketball game?

Mr. Mayor, council and staff get involved with churches often during land use proposals. In the case of Washington Cathedral (WC) a large and complicated annexation and re-zone was required at the city's sensitive northwestern Gateway. Critical wetland, streams, slopes and severe traffic were mitigated; this project abutted rare valley agricultural land. The city drew the line on WC's 10 acres along 124th. WC wanted to develop this hillside land to build a large grocery store for income. Meta, Mega or Mighty - a church this size needs income. I attended WC many years ago when it was a Nano/Micro-church at Lake Washington H.S.

St. Jude Catholic Church on 166th Av. & 104th St. stands out in it's association with Mayor Marchione. John is a parishioner. Past Mayor Rosemarie Ives attends. Every year, the Parish hosts a "Mayor's Breakfast". Several high-level staff are members. To many neighborhoods, St. Jude is the home of Tent City 4 (TC4). Though TC4 was a success, two years ago the city and citizens underwent a painfully long and troublesome Review and Appeal process. "Temporary Use" was put to the acid test and failed so miserably that this year the Planning Commission re-wrote the code. When TC-4 opens up this spring at St. Jude any appeals will be adequately managed. My wife and I attended this church once, thinking it was Episcopalian! A Public Notice Sign was just posted for a TC4 opening this Spring.

During the Ed. Hill Neighborhood Citizen Advisory Committee, the City and Mayor Ives got involved with the Pastor Robroy Ranger's Redmond Assembly of God (RAG) on 166th Ave., half way up the hill. Robroy spent months, if not years, generously hosting the Advisory Committee and attending Planning Commission meetings. Part of what came of the meetings were the 166 Ave. 3:2 lane improvements and plans to extend 160th Ave. north. The RAG has a basketball court and the church has hosted teams looking for facility. The RAG also hosts a highly regarded day-care service. The church practices speaking in tongues and other charismatic methods of spiritual enlightenment. Pastor Robroy is incredibly passionate and a friendly sole.

A much smaller land use project transpired a few years ago at Redmond Presbyterian Church on NE 100 St. & 166th Ave. Marchione, a councilman at the time, wasn't directly involved but staff was present. Redmond Presbyterian is only 5 minutes from my home so I had some questions about the tree removal to install a parking lot and children's building. Actually, at the project's completion, I found I could enjoy the trees even more because I could see them -- when taking a short-cut through the forested church lot to the Junior High -- and walking the NE 100 St. sidewalk. In addition a lush, green forested greenbelt and a bio-swale is present and best seen inside the sanctuary!

I've attended all the churches listed above but finally found a home at Redmond Presbyterian with Rev. Dr. Larry Grounds and his flock. The church inspires faith in God, celebrates children, and honors community. Larry did his Doctoral dissertation on "Children Stories in Worship". Now I know why we love and learn from his skits for the children every Sunday! Larry's talks are exceptional. This verse about neighbors read last Sunday at Redmond Presbyterian triggered me to post this story. Coincidentally and in theme with this story, Larry Grounds played basketball in High School. He broke his ankle while playing. While in recovery his ministry germinated.

05/2007, TENT CITY-4 Observations & recommendations for a better Tent City

OPINION:  I have experience with alcoholism in my family and I sold psychotropic medication for five years to psychiatrists for bipolar, OCD, Depression, and ADHD. I have been a Board Member of NAMI-Eastside.

It is evident alcohol use will never be totally eradicated from Tent City even with the "zero tolerance" Code of Conduct policy. Under the Share/Wheel nonprofit policy, residents are "disbarred" by their own members (escorted out of camp by their peers to a bus stop) when caught drinking in camp.

TC4 evictions for alcohol and disorderly conduct are enacted by tent city residents, staff, and parishioners; that's the **policy. During eviction, the police department is rarely, if ever, called to assess the evictee for health & safety needs, counseling, escort, or even incarceration. I strongly encourage and recommend a policy where the police be called during evictions so professional , objective assessment can be taken. Yes, police intervention may cost taxpayers more money short term, but it is safer for citizens, more humane for the afflicted and probably more cost effective long term. 

About 23% of tent city homeless (NAMI) are afflicted with a serious mental illness and likely need medical attention, medication adjustments, and social support. NAMI-Eastside and the Hero House members (for social/vocational rehabilitation) should have greater awareness and presence in Camp.

Safety & health assessments during evictions, ideally, should not be the responsibility of Tent City resident peers. Peer support should be primarily dedicated to spiritual, caring, and informational needs. Phone communications are an option for follow-up by a resident or neighbor who cares. Upon entering TC ("the Hilton) and departing, some Tent City evictees need to "bottom out" from alcohol and they often need medical attention and psycho-pharmaceuticals. **Alcohol and other drugs are commonly used to "self-medicate depression, mania, and other mental illnesses.

My brother died from the isolation of co-occurring mood disorder & alcoholism. He was isolated in an apartment, unemployed, miserable from brain damage associated with medication dis-continuance. He could no longer cope. One day he stopped his medication and died. Had Rick not been isolated he might still be living. Thus, my recommendation for the humanity, kinship, and social support of a Hero House and a Tent City.

One final thought before listing support services. Why couldn't Alcoholic Anonymous conduct meetings at TC4 encampments?  (Update: 7/1/12: They started AA meetings in 2011 - including road signage on 166th). Progress in attending to TC resident mental health-care needs probably will not occur until Share/Wheel and host facilities take mental illness and substance abuse out of their closet. ShareWheel's FEAR that permits will be denied when admitting a high presence of mentally ill is unfounded.

Precedent has been set over and over for TC permit approvals. Community tent cities are here to stay - with or without community awareness of the high incidence of mental illness.
ShareWheel and host facilities should no longer feel a need to "shelter" the mentally ill from neighborhoods and their chance for better health.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***SHARE/WHEEL - Operator and Manager of Tent Cities of Puget Sound
Call 206-448-7889 [ask for AA, Hero House, and peer support]
Website: http://anitraweb.org/homelessness/faqs/tentcities.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HERO HOUSE - psychiatric and vocational rehabilitation and support. 9-5PM. computers for job hunting and training. subsidized lunch. van pick-up. must apply with proof of diagnosis. confidentiality secured. CALL: 425-614-1282. 14230 NE 21st Street, Bellevue, WA. 98007. http://herohouse.org/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.A. - Bellevue - 1299 - 156th Ave. NE. #160. CALL: 425-454-9192. http://alcoholics-anonymous.org/