The Dismantling of Nickelsville

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-10-02 20:12:00 UTC
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Just because advocacy efforts are not always successful, does not mean the fight was not worth fighting. Efforts to cease the eviction of Seattle's tent city community were not successful; the tent city is gone. But let us not forget that its former residents still do not have adequate housing, so the battle is not over.

On Thursday - as promised - Seattle police cleared out Nickelsville, Seattle's tent city. Residents were given to 1:00pm to pack up and go. According to the Seattle Post, the scene was disheartening. "Most people shuffled out of the encampment, but several people refused to leave, and officers used bullhorns to repeat the order to vacate." Those who refused to leave - about a dozen or so people - were arrested by police. The rest relocated to a city park.

To those who called Nickelsville ‘home' for the past year, it was more than a place to sleep. It was a community where people typically shunned by society were accepted. It was a place where "power in numbers" meant safety, assistance, and having a voice. As communities across the country grappled with the questions raised by the influx of people in tent cities - Provide support or ignore? Dismantle or sanction? - many people pointed to Nickelsville as the example of what could be. It represented both the extraordinary plight of the poor in this country, but also the inspiring ability of people to coalesce in even the darkest of conditions.

To the former residents of Nickelsville: Wherever you land next - whether it's another illegal campground, a winter shelter, or permanent housing - I hope you continue to feel the urge to make their voice heard as though you still had the support of tent city. Know that there's a world of us out there who will continue to have your back, tent city or not.

Image from the Seattle Post.

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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