Armed with tools and goodwill, dozens of volunteers gathered on Nov. 21 to build homes for 50 residents at Nickelsville in Ballard. The site is one of three new encampments sanctioned by the city, part of Mayor Murray’s effort to increase housing for homeless people.
The site includes five tiny houses, built by such organizations as YouthCare, the pre-apprenticeship program of the Tulalip Tribe and the Sallal Grange in North Bend. Houses built by the Tulalip Tribe featured doors donated by Native artists. The new Nickelsville site also contains three family-size tent platforms and 16 platforms for singles.
Kitty D., who lives at the Nickelsville site on South Dearborn Street, led volunteers with the assembly of a steel shelter frame that will cover the communal kitchen area. “People tend to make stereotypes about the broken ones,” Kitty D. said. “They forget those who are not broken — people who cannot earn enough money to find a place to live. I read a lot. I was raised in a small town where we spent a lot of time outdoors. I know how to survive in the cold, how to survive when you wake up with frost inside your tent and water frozen in your pans.”
Volunteer Colin McCredie drew the plans for the site and composed a materials list. A general contractor in the past, McCredie was forced to leave his rental apartment in Tukwila this past spring. “My friend said, “I don’t know what to tell ya, but I do know they are pet friendly over at Nickelsville. I said, ‘I’m not living in Nickelsville! I’m not living in a tent, are you kidding me?’ She said it may be just temporary, so just try it. So that’s what happened: I came to Nickelsville, and I stayed all summer.” McCredie said that he now lives in an apartment, which he got through assistance from Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI).
Sharon Lee, LIHI executive director, attended the construction with Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim. The site requries a 15-foot setback from Northwest Market Street, due to risk of landslide.