Action Alert: Tell Seattle to Stop the Sweeps!

On any given night, shelters across the country are full and thousands of people do not have a place to sleep. It is baffling that a city government would want to shut down a peaceful, self-governing homeless encampment, particularly in the midst of a recession. But this is exactly what Seattle officials are rumored to be planning, a sweep of Nickelsville.

Shutting down a peaceful homeless encampment without providing viable housing alternatives is not only bad policy, it's both inhumane and dangerous for those without a home. Your action is needed today; express solidarity with the residents of Nickelsville and tell Seattle officials to stop the sweeps!

Earlier this week, residents of Nickelsville announced on their blog that Port officials were threatening to sweep the tent city on September 30th (Wednesday). Tent city residents were warned of the Port official's intentions in a cooperative meeting last week. Nickelsville residents requested a permanent location to relocate the tent city, making it clear that they would not move peacefully until this one request was fulfilled. Thus far, the city has not provided an alternative location.

The protests began last night, with homeless self-advocates camping outside the homes of Seattle's mayor and city counselors. Today, Change.org is expressing solidarity with the residents of Nickelsville by waging an email campaign in support of their request for a permanent, safe place to relocate Nickelsville.

The tent city residents have taken pride in their "homes" by transforming into a safe and orderly community. They have formed a supportive and clean environment that operates much like any other gated community. There is a food donation tent, a cooking station, a security tent, and "house numbers" for each tent. Take a photo tour of Nickelsville as it is today. While you're at it, meet a few residents of Nickelsville, like Gus and Coreen. Listen to their stories. If not for Nickelsville, these individuals may have ended up in situation leaving them much more vulnerable to the dangers of the streets.

Sweeping Nickelsville - dismantling the tents, confiscating the tents, and arresting the residents - will do nothing to address the root causes of homelessness. It will do nothing to make safe, permanent housing more accessible to any tent city residents. Dismantling tent city will put these individuals back at square one; having to rebuild their community from the ground up.

What's more, Seattle officials should learn from their recent experiences. Just last year, city officials ordered a sweep of Nickelsville. According to Seattle Weekly, "the two-day sweep was expensive: $27,866 for staff, a rented tractor, portable toilets, safety equipment, immunizations, and dump fees... It's about half of what the city spends to house 75 people during the entire six-month season at its emergency winter shelter in the basement of City Hall."

Your action is urgently needed today. Tell Seattle officials that tent city sweeps are outrageously counterproductive from both a public policy and a human rights perspective. Rather than uprooting the residents of Nickelsvile, Seattle officials should be targeting the root causes of homelessness.

Image from the Seattle Times.