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TL;DR – Scroll to the bottom for the lazy/busy version stock letter to send or email to ALL THREE COMMISSIONERS (esp Warne) and contact info for all three. Now get back to work and read this later.
We desperately need your help contacting our local officials today. GHC commissioners met today and almost moved to deny grant funding to a much needed shelter based on both social media outrage trolls and inaccurate/incomplete information. We were present for the virtual meeting of the Grays Harbor County Commissioners bi-monthly meeting on the first and third Tuesday of the month (an event hopefully present on your own calendar now). On the agenda was the grant funding for the shelter proposed by Chaplains on the Harbor. Listed as “Chaplain’s on the Harbor Emergency Shelter Contract for 35-40 beds – $1,080,000 (grant)”, this money comes from the CARES act funding for Emergency Solutions Grants, NOT the county.
The two recently elected right wing commissioners seemed opposed to the funding, despite one of them seeming quite confused about a couple aspects of the project. Kevin Pine of District 2, whose brother participated in the white riot that occurred January 6th AND coincidentally convinced little Kev to run for office.
The other being Jill Warne of District 1, seen here joking about not knowing how to execute a job that literally determines the life and death of people in this county.
Now, since both these people have made their careers as politicians thus far on – not being politicians, some degree of incompetence is to be expected. But a few of the things mentioned by Kevin in particular were a little hard to believe, so let’s dig in.
First, he tried some casual fear mongering about how the big scary emergency shelter would be in the heart of downtown Aberdeen, a place known to be reserved strictly for the wealthy. This was pushed back on by many in attendance, including commissioner Vickie Raines of District 3. But you don’t have to look any further than the cover document (most likely provided to the commissioners beforehand) to see that the project has yet to move into the phase of selecting a location.
Next he turned to the big boogeyman in the room, the shelter being a LOW BARRIER SHELTER! Queue the scary music. Kevin, as well as members of the hate group SOAP (Save ‘Our’ Aberdeen Please) profiled in our last post, seemed almost deliberately confused on not only what a low barrier shelter WAS but on the fact that the shelter is not described as being “low barrier”. People seemed to think that a low barrier shelter meant that there were no rules or perhaps even laws to keep people safe. Or that people would be allowed to take drugs and do otherwise illegal things without consequence while staying at the shelter. A murky vision of a sin-fueled drug dens swam before our eyes as Kevin described the emergency shelter to be operated by a church, referred to in the same cover letter as above, a “sober safe space”.
Low barrier means that people aren’t denied service because they are mentally ill or addicted to drugs. These programs are designed for that very purpose, in fact to remove that aspect would make any proposal ineligible as per the requirements of the county. You read that right, the county’s own request for proposal REQUIRES any project granted these funds (specifically designated for emergency shelters) to be a low barrier shelter, which was the reason given for the county commissioners to deny it. That’s the banal cruelty of our system for you.
We can also see from this Request for Proposal (RFP) document from the county that the concept of a low barrier model is based solidly on evidence-based practices. So basically, the people who don’t know what they are talking about don’t think it’s a good idea while the people who DO know what they’re talking about think its a great idea. One side has hear-say, the other has science. As if these were two equal opponents using logic and reason to debate an issue in good faith.
The note at the bottom seems almost hand written with this opposition in mind. “*Note: Low-barrier shelters may establish requirements that prohibit the use of drugs and alcohol in common or shared areas of the facility. In addition, facilities may establish behavioral expectations that limit disruptive or violent behavior resulting from intoxication. However, the requirement to abstain completely from alcohol or drug use is not a component of low-barrier facilities.” So on top of, you know, all the laws this shelter could obviously make and enforce rules to keep people safe, thats kind of the whole point here. The simple fact is that these people don’t care about the taxes as it’s not coming from their taxes. They don’t care about the safety of the residents or staff, as rules will ensure both. They don’t care about drugs, as alcohol is never mentioned in their fear mongering, even though it is the most likely substance to be abused and lead to violence. They don’t even care about those experiencing homelessness, or they might have used this RFP as an opportunity to propose their own facility, although they would have to operate within the county guidelines as a low-barrier shelter. They still could have proposed their own solution, with all the rules it could legally handle. Just think, it could have helped so few.
Another issue that was confused at the meeting was the ever present issue of funding. The money for this shelter is not coming from the county, it is coming from the Washington State Dept of Commerce, and is specifically dedicated for use for “street outreach, emergency shelter, rental assistance, and related services”. They would presumably deny this crucial shelter to ALL because of their fear someone who “doesn’t deserve it” would get a cot for the night. Everyone deserves the right to live. This money cant be used for anything else…what is wrong with these people? Not to mention the allocation chart of the county’s total CARES Act funding shows a clear bias I wonder if you can spot. I’ll give you a hint, it’s going mostly to the same people now filling Kevin’s ears that the poor people are hurting their business or costing them money, as they sit back in their homes and grab cash for NOT operating – and I can not stress this enough – THE BUSINESSES THEY OWN! I mean, where even is the slice for this sort of shelter funding, public health?
So you may now be pissed off and wondering aloud how do I contact these people and let them know what I think about all this. Well, to be honest, the best way would be to join a right wing hate group, but then you’d be in a real pickle. Another viable option would be to simply be well connected, perhaps a family friend.
“What’s that?!” you say? You thought that it was his brother who convinced him to run? Well as you can hopefully tell by now nothing really adds up with ol’ Kevin. He says he’s conservative, and that he wants to help those suffering from a lack of housing and a lack of health care. But then he can deny not spending the county’s money, to a private entity, taking money from a special dedicated fund, for a homeless shelter, that will use jobs to employ a staff, while helping people get back to work and paying rents. He votes to dismiss, or moves to deny, or – ah hell! Who cares about knowing how to do this job anyway. Deny, not because of any science based reason, as the science clearly leans towards a low barrier model, but based on internet rumors and gossip. Inconsistency and hypocrisy at full throttle, Kevin looks poised to shoot to the top of the Republican ticket in years to come.
Kevin Pine, seen here contemplating the death of the poor.
Anyway, fuck this rotten system that promotes needless suffering to satisfy the profit margins of a few. Below is the contact info for these jabronis, as well as various prompts/stock letters for people to use in their emails or letters. Please consider writing to these people, especially Jill Warne, she seemed to realize that she wasn’t fully informed on all the facts and wisely decided, as did the full commission eventually, to table the matter until more community outreach can be done. She may be more amenable to the arguments posed here than the clearly disingenuous and thoroughly disinformed Kevin. I personally don’t see a solution in turning to the government for assistance, these folks will always have more money, more connections, more back dealings, more masks for their hate, more reasons to deny our humanity. I want system change. But as a friend told me, “We must stay alive to get there”. Stay safe out there, and don’t forget this is all happening during a pandemic.
In Love and Rage, CRMAN
In an effort to increase the abysmal accessibility of the so-called public meetings we are going to be collecting comments and letters from our friends in the streets to pass along to the commissioners. The commissioners couldn’t be bothered to go ask them what they thought about this project, and its likely they have no idea its been proposed. If you asked them your responses might be skewed I guess. We will bring the public to them going forward.
We also are publishing these prompts to either get your creative juices flowing to construct your own personal letter, or to simply help make choosing the right words easier. Feel free to edit or add how you see fit. Commissioner contact info is at the bottom, please email each one individually. Get to know these three people, they unfortunately have an enormous amount of power over our lives.
Prompt 1 – for those currently or previously experiencing homelessness:
Grays Harbor County Commissioners Vicki Raines, Jill Warne, and Kevin Pine, My name is _________________ and I have been a resident of Grays Harbor for _____ years. I am writing today in support of Chaplains on the Harbor opening a shelter. I am currently not living in ideal circumstances and have been surviving by sleeping _________________________________________. (Examples: outside, at the shelter, in my car, with friends) I started living this way _____ years/months ago because _______________. This situation was brought on by _________________________________________________________________. I hope that with stable housing where I feel welcomed and supported I can (goals) _________________. I have been trying to ________________________, and I think I can reach that goal when I have the security of having a safe place to be where people accept me. I support Chaplains on the Harbor opening a shelter space in Grays Harbor because the people who work there have been where I am. They know what I go though. Also, they have been out here on the street helping us in every way they can for a long time. I know I can count on them because they have been there for me.
Sincerely, ____________________
Prompt 2 – for those currently or previously experiencing homeness:
Grays Harbor County Commissioners Vicki Raines, Jill Warne, and Kevin Pine, My name is _________________ and I have been a resident of Grays Harbor for _____ years. I am writing today in support of Chaplains on the Harbor opening a shelter.
While I am currently in a house, I realize that it could perhaps be me out there, either in a different circumstance, or down the road a ways. I want to live in a place that would take care of me if I lost my house, and not turn its back on me in my highest moment of need.
I support Chaplains on the Harbor opening a shelter space in Grays Harbor because the people who work there have been where the people they intend to serve have been. They know what they go though. Also, they have been out on the street helping in every way they can for a long time. I know I can count on them because they have been there for the community.
Sincerely, ____________________
Prompt 3 – for those currently or previously experiencing laziness or busyness:
Grays Harbor County Commissioners Vicki Raines, Jill Warne, and Kevin Pine, My name is _________________ and I have been a resident of Grays Harbor for _____ years. I am writing today in support of Chaplains on the Harbor opening a shelter.
Sincerely, ____________________
Contact Info:
Grays Harbor County Board of Comissioners (360) 249-3731 / 1-800-230-1638
Local outrage over garbage devolves into dehumanization of unhoused community
The latest round of reactionary outrage over the “garbage” that has steadily been accumulating in and around downtown Aberdeen began as a Facebook post by local business person Kellie Carlson Daniels. Mrs. Daniels had enough of the wrappers and shoes strewn about her city and decided to do something about it. She began snapping photos of pieces of garbage lying around town, this soon lead her to the unhoused community behind City Hall. Soon she had abandoned the garbage documentation escapade for bigger game, taking highly intrusive and exploitative photos of the private spaces where these folx live. Going so far as to enter the camp and take photos of peoples living quarters trying to document…garbage?
Polar vortex catches many unprepared, including mutual aid groups
Over the weekend of February 13th a polar vortex swept through the region bringing freezing temperatures and threatening the unhoused community in town. This was not technically a surprise since winter occurs literally every single year and Grays Harbor Emergency Management was citing The National Weather services reports on potentially lethal temps as early as February 9…
Polar vortex catches many unprepared, including mutual aid groups
Over the weekend of February 13th a polar vortex swept through the region bringing freezing temperatures and threatening the unhoused community in town. This was not technically a surprise since winter occurs literally every single year and Grays Harbor Emergency Management was citing The National Weather services reports on potentially lethal temps as early as February 9.As of February 12th we were on the phone to CCAP trying to figure out how to get more spaces opened up to shelter folx on an emergency basis. We learned a lot in those talks and were somewhat deflated to learn that neither the city or county had any plans to open up more spaces.
There is only one cold weather shelter in town, ran by Coastal Community Action Program (CCAP) and funded by Grays Harbor County (GHC) with a capacity of 25 people. The contract specifies this minimum capacity and its minimal hours of operation. Despite receiving thousands of dollars for this facility it remains apparently understaffed according to CCAP. This under staffing is what contributes to its low capacity, since GHC imposed stricter restrictions on the ratio of sheltered individuals to staff following a COVID positive test there earlier this year. This test, the restricted spaces, and a general lack of trust in the institutions running the Cold Weather Shelter (CWS) have led to it being under utilized as a shelter. The county’s own estimates put the number of unsheltered people living in the county at anywhere between 500 and 3,000 people. They delineate, define, and qualify between types of “homeless” from “literal homelessness” to “unstably housed“. Split apart these numbers range from roughly 500-700 people who are literally homeless and 3,000 unstably housed. Needless to say the county’s 25 bed shelter is insufficient to shelter even the lowest estimate.
To be clear we do not place the blame for these circumstances on CCAP, they do wonderful work in their capacity, which doesn’t typically include running a shelter. We put the blame squarely on the so-called leaders in positions of power who had to have seen this all coming and did nothing.
On the evening of February 12th with the snow piling up to dangerous levels we at Chehalis River Mutual Aid Network stepped our work into overdrive – donations were requested and received, we distributed all the hot food we could, and we provided cold weather gear to those unable or unwilling to go to the shelter overnight. We told our friends we would check back on them in the morning and left them out in the snow. We were caught unprepared by this weather event and did our best to get rally and provide and learn from the experience.It will not come as a surprise to hear that we were ecstatic when we were made aware of another mutual aid group in town opening up an emergency shelter. This shelter was being set up on the fly in a matter of hours by a separate mutual aid group and NOT city or county officials. This is what community looks like. We were delighted and immediately went to work offering our support to that project including sharing the info and volunteering our time. Unfortunately for all involved this shelter was only open for one night because of circumstances outside of our control. We were sad to see it close and no new shelter has opened up in its place.
We here at Chehalis River Mutual Aid Network are not yet at a capacity of being able to open and run a shelter, so we refocused our attention on our previous mutual aid work distributing food and supplies to the unhoused where they are at. We learned that transportation is one of the largest hurdles to folx utilizing even the current CWS, since it is difficult to move all of ones belongings that distance each day. A 24-hr shelter, zero barrier shelter would solve this issue, and a 24 hour shelter run as mutual aid and not institutional charity would be even better. But until radicals can effectively address the root causes of these material conditions no amount of cold weather shelters will be enough to shelter us all. Capitalism will continue to evict us onto the streets for being poor and then harass those in snow-covered tents in the middle of a pandemic, housing crisis, and snow storm. As the police did during and after this extreme weather event.
The leading cause of being exposed to houselessness of any kind is a lack of affordable housing, also known as landlords. We should perhaps be willing to look beyond the very institutions and systems that force people into poverty with starvation wages while allowing landlords to increase rent arbitrarily and without end. Because the officials in positions of power seems perfectly content to let poor people die in the streets as long as the landlords can collect more and more rent, we must take care of each other through mutual aid and autonomous direct action.
Local outrage over garbage devolves into dehumanization of unhoused community
The latest round of reactionary outrage over the “garbage” that has steadily been accumulating in and around downtown Aberdeen began as a Facebook post by local business person Kellie Carlson Daniels. Mrs. Daniels had enough of the wrappers and shoes strewn about her city and decided to do something about it. She began snapping photos of pieces of garbage lying around town, this soon lead her to the unhoused community behind City Hall. Soon she had abandoned the garbage documentation escapade for bigger game, taking highly intrusive and exploitative photos of the private spaces where these folx live. Going so far as to enter the camp and take photos of peoples living quarters trying to document…garbage?
Once back in the comfort of her house these photos were posted to her account and the comments section opened up to a whole new interpretation of the term “garbage”. As conversations ensued, it became more and more clear that the garbage that most people truly seemed upset with were the human beings being subjected to a disgusting lack of shelter in our community. The familiar “garbage” talking point only provided so much cover, as people in a comment thread locked from public input let their thoughts be known. Our sisters, our brothers, our friends, ourselves; we could be in this very same position quicker than we think. In a time of increasing back rent debt due to COVID-19 and the number of people unstably employed and/or housed, this sort of callous lack of regard for the material conditions of our neighbors seems misguided at best, and sinister at worst. With all of the high stakes problems our community faces today, garbage has to be among the pettiest. Some people in the comment section were there to offer counter narrative to point out that it is not a “homeless” person problem but a litter problem. Or perhaps more broadly, a lack of affordable housing and health care problem.While some blamed city officials, past and present, others simply blamed the unhoused folks who have daily concerns about where to sleep and eat, not for operating their own garbage services. All this “social media chatter” especially from business leaders, led to the smallest of actions by elected officials. They hired two temporary workers to clean up the streets until another plan can be thought of. It also contributed to an article on The Daily World about the so-called “garbage problem”. This thread on Facebook soon turn just as toxic as the last; with a photo of peoples homes, not garbage, credit of Kellie Carlson Daniels.The previous mayor Erik Larson even commented to remind everybody that the current mayor had CUT the clean up program after taking office, only to reinstate it now. So, in short a right wing mayor was elected, he cut a program that helped clean the city streets of garbage, the people who voted for him didn’t appreciate the marked increase in garbage and complained to have him reinstate it. A fine example of electoral politics if ever there was one. What we need is not partisan politics, but mutual aid.
Reacting to the amount of money the city allocated for the temporary workers some suggested the unhoused folx clean up the streets of their city, or face some sort of banishment from the city. Perhaps not realizing that while the unhoused will clean up after themselves if given the proper resources, they are not responsible for cleaning up all of downtown as they are certainly not the only people littering. As evidenced by the cleaning done by them today after being provided dumpsters by the city and garbage bags by us at Chehalis River Mutual Aid Network. Most people tend to clean up after themselves, but it’s hard to DIY a dumpster or garbage truck.
UPDATE: After cleaning up one parking lot next to the cold weather shelter, multiple people were forced to move the vehicles they live in to another location. This tried and true tactic of harassing people into moving from place to place is less than a bandaid, causing more harm than good. It does absolutely nothing to address the underlying issues and causes undue hardship for people in already precarious and difficult situations.
The final form of this whole debacle was not calls for the obvious solutions of providing people with the tools and resources to take care of themselves and their community, but dehumanization.Calls for MORE incarceration as an answer to being unhoused and good old “tough love”, when data actually shows that the best way to end honelessness is both to raise minimum wage and lower rents. Incarceration actually proves to be one of the most expensive options as shown below. Common refrains such as “they dont want help” and “they chose to live this life” fly in the face of the stories we personally hear everyday in our interactions with the community.
Then of course there are the proposed camps. Some, misunderstanding the issue, thought that the city was running some sort of shelter (instead of simply allowing a few people to sleep in tents in back of city hall) that just simply didn’t have enough rules attached. If we only vested our city government with some way to…let’s say compel – or force…some kind of labor from these highly vulnerable and already exploited people. Maybe just have it all wrapped in a nice little camp, a camp for working people…who have to work or are thrown out on the streets. A camp where people are forced to labor for existence…we can think of what to call it later I guess. Whatever you call it it certainly doesn’t sound like a novel idea.
If you are wondering if anyone stepped up to defend the idea of forcing people to work have no fear. There was no shortage of tired out arguments and tropes from the past. As we all remember from history its not free labor if you house, feed, and “care” for the people you are exploiting. A project to extend the carceral state further into everyday life by criminalizing poverty and erecting prison camps for the poor and unhoused would be the next logical step in our continuing descent into this capitalist dystopian nightmare.
The issue here is not unhoused individuals, its not even garbage, the issue is the systems we live in that demand the lowest possible wages and the highest possible rents, all the the service of profit. It is clear that neither left wing or right wing politics are sufficient to solve any of the problems we are facing today. In fact they have been largely responsible for creating and perpetuating the systems that oppress us all. There is no doubt that the bureaucracy will grind on as it has for so long, leaving many in its wake. We do not need them. We here at Chehalis River Mutual Aid will be around countering toxic narratives, providing mutual aid for our community, and looking out for the most vulnerable among us. We are tired of the us/them created by such hostile right wing narratives and mean to labor directly and joyously with our friends and family in the streets to build a better world.
We will be holding the above mentioned event in partnership with Food Not Bombs, Cultivating Roots, and Activism in Action. Bring your mask and work gloves and meet us at 357 Oak Street Aberdeen, WA 98520 this Sunday Oct 25th from 12PM to 2PM.
We are holding this event in order to drum up some interest in these local mutual aid projects as well as to bring people together to meet and talk about other projects in need of starting, current needs, future events, and anything else that we feel needs addressed. Please consider joining us here or online to get involved in whatever capacity you can.
This list along with the following resources will be on our NEW Projects, Ideas, and Resources page as well, along with some podcasts episodes that may be of interest.
They would also like help installing a free pantry located at the garden. They will be working with FNB to ensure that the garden is producing as much food for as many people as possible.
***UPDATE 10/25*** New compost will be added to the beds and finish getting the garden ready for winter by some final weeding, collecting seeds, and planting winter cover. This time we hope to get more of the housing community members to come out and join.
Will be tabling some tasty vegan food made with ingredients from the garden, as well as looking to recruit some volunteers for future organizing and actions. (think community fridges, free pantries, etc). They will also be accepting donations of any food products AIA cannot make use of such as fresh produce.
***UPDATE 10/25*** FNB is calling all artists to come and help finish their banner, they have a new blog post all about the next steps for making a Food Not Bombs group. They are trying to connect with the houseless community to find out where and when are the best for tabling a weekly meal.
Is and has been working closely with many mutual aid groups in the PNW region to bring supplies to people affected by COVID-19, wildfires, and capitalism generally.
They will be collecting weekly for continuous deliveries throughout the region and locally at least until the end of the year. Please follow them on Facebook and check below for a current needs list from Fire Igniting the Spirit, Snack Bloc PDX and Symbiosis PDX.
From AIA:
Reminder! Today’s event at Cultivating Roots with the Chehalis River Mutual Aid Network — AiA has joined the coalition of mutual aid partners doing local work and is holding a donation drive today to contribute resources.
Please support, go share a free meal, assist in garden work party, and drop donations going to mutual aid partners throughout the region.
If you have gently used items please contact April Obi to drop off for local houseless outreach
Supply needs include: (New/Unused)
*PRIORITY NEED*
*PPE*
Diapers
Wipes
Formula
Children’s Socks
Children’s coats
*Paper Towels*
*Toilet Paper*
Bottled Water
*Laundry, Dish, Body Soap*
*Household disinfectant*
*Hand Sanitizer*
*Plastic Spray Bottles*
Adult socks
Adult Winter coats
Adult rain gear
Umbrellas
Flashlights
Tents
Tarps
Sleeping bags
Dog & Cat food
Batteries
Gloves
For food donations please contribute to the little pantry in Hoquiam or speak with contacts today at the event.
We will be holding the above mentioned event in partnership with Food Not Bombs, Cultivating Roots, and Activism in Action. Bring your mask and work gloves and meet us at 357 Oak Street Aberdeen, WA 98520 this Saturday, Oct 17 from 12PM to 2PM.
We are holding this event in order to drum up some interest in these local mutual aid projects as well as to bring people together to meet and talk about other projects in need of starting, current needs, future events, and anything else that we feel needs addressed. Please consider joining us here or online to get involved in whatever capacity you can.
They would also like help installing a free pantry located at the garden. They will be working with FNB to ensure that the garden is producing as much food for as many people as possible.
***UPDATE*** Will be aiming to turn over the remaining garden beds and planting a winter cover crop of fava beans. A few beds are still in need of repair, and this time we hope to get more of the housing community members to come out and join.
Will be tabling some tasty vegan food made with ingredients from the garden, as well as looking to recruit some volunteers for future organizing and actions. (think community fridges, free pantries, etc). They will also be accepting donations of any food products AIA cannot make use of such as fresh produce.
***UPDATE 10/17*** FNB is calling all artists to come and help make their banner, they have a new blog post all about the next steps for making a Food Not Bombs group.
Is and has been working closely with many mutual aid groups in the PNW region to bring supplies to people affected by COVID-19, wildfires, and capitalism generally.
***UPDATE 10/17*** They will be collecting weekly for continuous deliveries throughout the region and locally at least until the end of the year. Please follow them on Facebook and check below for a current needs list from Fire Igniting the Spirit, Snack Bloc PDX and Symbiosis PDX.
From AIA:
Reminder! Today’s event at Cultivating Roots with the Chehalis River Mutual Aid Network — AiA has joined the coalition of mutual aid partners doing local work and is holding a donation drive today to contribute resources.
Please support, go share a free meal, assist in garden work party, and drop donations going to mutual aid partners throughout the region.
If you have gently used items please contact April Obi to drop off for local houseless outreach
Supply needs include: (New/Unused)
Diapers
Wipes
Formula
Children’s Socks
Children’s coats
Paper Towels
Toilet Paper
Bottled Water
Laundry Soap
Household disinfectant
Hand Sanitizer
Adult socks
Adult Winter coats
Adult rain gear
Umbrellas
Flashlights
Tents
Tarps
Sleeping bags
Dog & Cat food
Batteries
Gloves
For food donations please contribute to the little pantry in Hoquiam or speak with contacts today at the event.
We are holding this event in order to drum up some interest in these local mutual aid projects as well as to bring people together to meet and talk about other projects in need of starting, current needs, future events, and anything else that we feel needs addressed.
Is looking for volunteers to help turn over the garden beds for the end of the season. A few beds need repair, and of course they would love to bring the local community out to get in touch with the garden. They will be working with FNB to ensure that the garden is producing as much food for as many people as possible. They would also like help installing a free pantry located at the garden.
Will be tabling some tasty vegan food made with ingredients from the garden, as well as looking to recruit some volunteers for future organizing and actions. (think community fridges, free pantries, etc). They will also be accepting donations of any food products AIA cannot make use of.
Is and has been working closely with many mutual aid groups in the PNW region to bring supplies to people affected by COVID-19, wildfires, and capitalism generally. They will be collecting for a run to Idaho this week, and hope to make some more local connections to bring their excellent work home. Please follow them on Facebook and check below for a needs list from Snack Bloc PDX and Fire Igniting the Spirit:
–
As of February 12th we were on the phone to CCAP trying to figure out how to get more spaces opened up to shelter folx on an emergency basis. We learned a lot in those talks and were somewhat deflated to learn that neither the city or county had any plans to open up more spaces.
This under staffing is what contributes to its low capacity, since GHC imposed stricter restrictions on the ratio of sheltered individuals to staff following a COVID positive test there earlier this year. This test, the restricted spaces, and a general lack of trust in the institutions running the Cold Weather Shelter (CWS) have led to it being under utilized as a shelter. The county’s own estimates put the number of unsheltered people living in the county at anywhere between 500 and 3,000 people. They delineate, define, and qualify between types of “homeless” from “literal homelessness” to “unstably housed“. Split apart these numbers range from roughly 500-700 people who are literally homeless and 3,000 unstably housed. Needless to say the county’s 25 bed shelter is insufficient to shelter even the lowest estimate.
It will not come as a surprise to hear that we were ecstatic when we were made aware of another mutual aid group in town opening up an emergency shelter. This shelter was being set up on the fly in a matter of hours by a separate mutual aid group and NOT city or county officials. This is what community looks like. We were delighted and immediately went to work offering our support to that project including sharing the info and volunteering our time. Unfortunately for all involved this shelter was only open for one night because of circumstances outside of our control. We were sad to see it close and no new shelter has opened up in its place.
Our sisters, our brothers, our friends, ourselves; we could be in this very same position quicker than we think. In a time of increasing back rent debt due to COVID-19 and the number of people unstably employed and/or housed, this sort of callous lack of regard for the material conditions of our neighbors seems misguided at best, and sinister at worst. With all of the high stakes problems our community faces today, garbage has to be among the pettiest. Some people in the comment section were there to offer counter narrative to point out that it is not a “homeless” person problem but a litter problem. Or perhaps more broadly, a lack of affordable housing and health care problem.
While some blamed city officials, past and present, others simply blamed the unhoused folks who have daily concerns about where to sleep and eat, not for operating their own garbage services. All this “social media chatter” especially from business leaders, led to the smallest of actions by elected officials. They hired two temporary workers to clean up the streets until another plan can be thought of. It also contributed to an article on The Daily World about the so-called “garbage problem”. This thread on Facebook soon turn just as toxic as the last; with a photo of peoples homes, not garbage, credit of Kellie Carlson Daniels.
The previous mayor Erik Larson even commented to remind everybody that the current mayor had CUT the clean up program after taking office, only to reinstate it now. So, in short a right wing mayor was elected, he cut a program that helped clean the city streets of garbage, the people who voted for him didn’t appreciate the marked increase in garbage and complained to have him reinstate it. A fine example of electoral politics if ever there was one. What we need is not partisan politics, but mutual aid.
Reacting to the amount of money the city allocated for the temporary workers some suggested the unhoused folx clean up the streets of their city, or face some sort of banishment from the city. Perhaps not realizing that while the unhoused will clean up after themselves if given the proper resources, they are not responsible for cleaning up all of downtown as they are certainly not the only people littering. As evidenced by the cleaning done by them today after being provided dumpsters by the city and garbage bags by us at Chehalis River Mutual Aid Network. Most people tend to clean up after themselves, but it’s hard to DIY a dumpster or garbage truck.
Calls for MORE incarceration as an answer to being unhoused and good old “tough love”, when data actually shows that the best way to end honelessness is both to raise minimum wage and lower rents. Incarceration actually proves to be one of the most expensive options as shown below. Common refrains such as “they dont want help” and “they chose to live this life” fly in the face of the stories we personally hear everyday in our interactions with the community.
If you are wondering if anyone stepped up to defend the idea of forcing people to work have no fear. There was no shortage of tired out arguments and tropes from the past. As we all remember from history its not free labor if you house, feed, and “care” for the people you are exploiting. A project to extend the carceral state further into everyday life by criminalizing poverty and erecting prison camps for the poor and unhoused would be the next logical step in our continuing descent into this capitalist dystopian nightmare.
