{"id":565,"date":"2009-09-12T21:53:42","date_gmt":"2009-09-13T04:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/?p=565"},"modified":"2012-10-12T21:38:49","modified_gmt":"2012-10-13T04:38:49","slug":"tent-city-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/tent-city-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Tent City 4"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"floatleft\" src=\"http:\/\/nworiginals.com\/clams\/tc4a_tents.jpg\" alt=\"Tent city 4\" width=\"118\" height=\"163\" \/>This is a post I&#8217;ve been meaning to write since last February, when I first visited <em class=\"b\">Tent City 4<\/em> as my participation on the <em class=\"b\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.serve.gov\/\" target=\"-blank\">National Day of Service<\/a><\/em> that President Obama called for.     Since then, I&#8217;ve taken donations to them several times.<\/p>\n<p>I decided to return yesterday (another National Day of Service) to drop off some supplies, talk to residents, and take a tour and some pics of the new location (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hslckirkland.org\/\" target=\"resource_window\">Holy Spirit Lutheran<\/a> in Kirkland, WA).<\/p>\n<div id=\"boxpink\"><em class=\"b\">The mission of Tent City 4:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To provide a <em class=\"b\">safe place <\/em>for homeless people to spend the night and <em class=\"b\">keep their belongings<\/em><\/li>\n<li>To give a homeless person the <em class=\"b\">privacy and dignity<\/em> of their own residence (a tent)<\/li>\n<li>To develop a <em class=\"b\">sense of community<\/em> for homeless people who are isolated and alone;<\/li>\n<li>To <em class=\"b\">empower homeless people <\/em>by being responsible for their own community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>There are <em class=\"b\">so many reasons why people end up in a position of homelessness <\/em>&#8211; and Tent City 4 provides a place for up to 100 residents to call &#8220;home&#8221; &#8211; single men, single women and couples. Some are only there for a few weeks or months &#8211; others have been there for a couple of years. The <em class=\"b\">average stay is 6 weeks<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"floatright\" src=\"http:\/\/nworiginals.com\/clams\/tc4-will.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>On a visit early summer, Will <em>(assigned the job of accepting donations that day)<\/em> gave me the tour.  He lost his job of 14 years in Arizona and moved to Seattle last year looking for working in the fishing industry <em>(which didn&#8217;t work out so well)<\/em>.  He shared a tent with his fiance&#8217; &#8211; which is kept <em class=\"b\">spotless<\/em> and graced with potted gerbera daisy.  He said he needs to have that bit of natural beauty in his surroundings to feel grounded.<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"b\">Will inspired me to give service\/donation of flowers<\/em>.  So I purchased 7 small pots, some potting soil, a bunch of flowers, and set about creating floral gifts to help residents tents feel more like &#8216;home.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"floatleft\" src=\"http:\/\/nworiginals.com\/clams\/tc4_flowers.jpg\" alt=\"Several residents tend to potted plants outside their tents\" width=\"88\" height=\"113\" \/>They were quickly snatched up when I delivered them a couple of weeks later.  I noticed one of them as I passed by the couples tent area yesterday and was happy to see they were still being cared for and thriving.<\/p>\n<p>It appeared Will and his fiance&#8217; were no longer residents.  I hope he&#8217;s found good employment and somewhere indoors to live.  <em class=\"b\">Living outdoors can be brutal<\/em> in the summer heat and winter cold.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"floatright\" src=\"http:\/\/nworiginals.com\/clams\/tc4a_tourguide.jpg\" alt=\"Tent city resident\" width=\"264\" height=\"175\" \/>My tour guide this visit is <em class=\"b\">taking classes<\/em> at the local college to get a better job.\u00c2\u00a0 He wants to be a web designer, photographer &#8211; and possibly offer tours of Seattle.\u00c2\u00a0 We discussed how beautiful it is here, and how much there is to see.<\/p>\n<p>It turns out he was caring for three of the flower pots &#8211; he&#8217;d taken them as their owners moved on so they&#8217;d survive.\u00c2\u00a0 I told him that when the summer flowers die, I&#8217;ll bring pansies in to replace them for the winter.  He liked that idea.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"floatleft\" src=\"http:\/\/nworiginals.com\/clams\/tc4a_ladies.jpg\" alt=\"Debi and friend at Tent City 4\" width=\"243\" height=\"161\" \/>Also on this trip, I asked each resident if they&#8217;d like their picture taken.  Many said no &#8211; but just as many were delighted and said yes, especially when I told them <em class=\"b\">I&#8217;d bring back prints<\/em> for them :).   Debi asked for a extra copy so she could put it on her husband&#8217;s grave.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"floatright\" src=\"http:\/\/nworiginals.com\/clams\/tc4a_1.jpg\" alt=\"Tent city resident\" width=\"95\" height=\"146\" \/>I&#8217;ll be returning sometime next week with pictures in hand &#8211; as well as at least one item I know they currently need <em>(I&#8217;m on an email list to get regular updates of the needs).<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I think TC4 is a really great idea and am grateful that various churches in King County are willing to play host. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Due to city ordinances, they are<em class=\"b\"> limited to 90 day stays before they have to pack up the entire setup and move to another property<\/em>.   The first time they go to a new area, there is resistance from the local residents.\u00c2\u00a0  But once they&#8217;ve had their 90 day stay, people recognize that TC4 is a good and responsible part of the neighborhood and they are much more welcoming for future stays.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"floatright\" src=\"http:\/\/nworiginals.com\/clams\/tc4_tents1.jpg\" alt=\"Tent city 4 in Redmond, WA\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There are <em class=\"b\">strict rules of conduc<\/em>t &#8211; no alcohol, no drugs, no sex offenders, no fighting.  One offense and you&#8217;re out.  There is security at the entrance 24\/7.   They self govern,\u00c2\u00a0electing residents to serve on the executive committee. All residents are required to attend a weekly meeting, and to <em class=\"b\">perform at least one task a day<\/em> for the community.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"floatright\" src=\"http:\/\/nworiginals.com\/clams\/tc4_foodtent1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>Members of the hosting church usually provide a <em class=\"b\">hot dinner<\/em> for them each night.  The rest of the meals they&#8217;re on their own with a food tent containing a fridge, microwave, toaster and coffee pot.  A local dry cleaners <em class=\"b\">donates the laundering of the blankets<\/em> each week.\u00c2\u00a0  Residents are responsible for their own laundry.  Food, clothing, personal care supplies, etc.  are donated by community members.<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"b\">More details about Tent City 4 are available in this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hslckirkland.org\/pdfs\/tc4faqs.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">FAQ &#8211; click here<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Tent City 4 is open to the public 24\/7 &#8211; and they are <em class=\"b\">happy to give tours<\/em> into the early evening.  Just stop by with your donation and ask to be shown around.  It really is worth your time and energy to do so.\u00c2\u00a0 They&#8217;ll be in Kirkland through October 31st, 2009 (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hslckirkland.org\/map.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">map here<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Here is a short list of some things they currently (and usually) need.\u00c2\u00a0<em class=\"b\"> It doesn&#8217;t take much to make a difference<\/em>:<\/p>\n<table style=\"sm1\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"8\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"100%\" bgcolor=\"#f4ebf5\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"38%\">Paper towels<br \/>\nPaper bowls<br \/>\nPaper cups<br \/>\nSpoons<br \/>\nCoffee<br \/>\nCreamer<br \/>\nHot and Cold cereal<br \/>\nSingle serving can products<\/td>\n<td width=\"26%\">Ketchup<br \/>\nMustard<br \/>\nMayo<br \/>\nChili<br \/>\nBath towels<br \/>\nBleach<br \/>\nRazors<br \/>\nShaving cream<\/td>\n<td>Socks<br \/>\nUnderwear<br \/>\nT-shirts<br \/>\nSweatshirts <em>(esp large sizes)<\/em><br \/>\nFlip Flops for the shower<br \/>\nShoes<em><br \/>\n**used, in usable condition is fine, except for underwear<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>You can also send a donation to: <em class=\"b\">Kirkland Interfaith Network<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Mail to:<br \/>\n8316 NE 143rd ST.<br \/>\nKirkland, WA 98034<br \/>\nMake checks out to KIN and put TC4 in notation. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"floatleft\" src=\"http:\/\/nworiginals.com\/clams\/tc4a_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"117\" height=\"173\" \/>They&#8217;ll make sure your donation is used specifically for Tent City 4.  (Kirkland Interfaith has several projects they sponsor).  <em class=\"b\">Right now $52 will buy someone a new tent<\/em> &#8211; and tents are ALWAYS needed, as most of them aren&#8217;t designed to be lived in 365 days a year.<\/p>\n<p>So what do you think about Tent City 4? \u00c2\u00a0 I&#8217;d love to hear <em class=\"b\">your thoughts and experiences<\/em> with community service, homelessness, outreach, etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a post I&#8217;ve been meaning to write since last February, when I first visited Tent City 4 as my participation on the National Day of Service that President Obama called for. Since then, I&#8217;ve taken donations to them several times. I decided to return yesterday (another National Day of Service) to drop off &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/tent-city-4\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Tent City 4<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[53,50,51,49,48,52],"class_list":["post-565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-social-issues","tag-community-service","tag-homeless","tag-homelessness","tag-social-issues","tag-society","tag-tent-city"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2896,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions\/2896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}