Welcome to Nickelsville, Seattle's Inspiring Tent City

I recently decided to check out Nickelsville, a self-governing tent city in Seattle, because I might find myself there one day. It was as simple as calling the number on the Nickelsville website. A man named Nate told me I could come down between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Nickelsville is currently located at the University Congregational United Church of Christ's parking lot. The first thing I noticed here wasn't the rows of tents — it was that the place is incredibly clean. I saw a man and his dog sitting behind a couple of old school desks and told him I was looking for Nate. "You mean Alter-Nate?" he asked. Apparently there were three different Nates but the one I spoke to is nicknamed Alter-Nate. Thank goodness I didn't meet Procrasti-Nate, since the folks at Nickelsville told me the name aptly fit the gentleman they gave it to.

Alter-Nate was very gracious and agreed to give me a tour. I followed him through a row of tents marked with numbered paper plates that serve as addresses down to a common area, an outdoor kitchen pantry that needed restocking and over to where the portable toilets were. Nate showed me a bike he converted into an electricity generator that he calls the "Cyclotron." The residents can use it to recharge their laptops, phones and so on. It was damaged in the last move (the city requires the camp to move from time to time) but Nate is busily repairing it. I believe they have or had a generator but could only run it twice a day and only if they really, really had to. Buying propane gas takes a large chunk out of the Nickelsville fund.

Other than the noise of the nearby street, Nickelsville is quiet. The 90 folks who live here are clean and look like everyone else. I got invited to sit in the common area and talk with people. I saw a family with two children making dinner on one of the grills. If I do have to come here, at least I know they take families (and pets). Most shelters will take men only or women and children only.

Nickelsville is nothing if not organized. There are rules to follow and if anyone violates any one of the "zero tolerance" rules, he or she is asked to leave. There are other things that make this community stand out. There are jobs available to residents, such as head of security, kitchen coordinator, donation master, tent master, arbitrator, garden master and bookkeeper. These positions are filled by an election process so members have a voice on what goes on here. It's a model community of people who work or are trying to find work. There is a sentence printed on the intake sheet I was given that pretty much says it all: "Nickelodeons are problem solvers, not whiners."

Their example inspired me to make two videos. Please watch them to get to know some of the residents of Nickelsville.

Photo credit: Indy