On Wednesday morning, I learned that a friend was being kicked out of her home, and her community was going to be destroyed.
A notice from the city of Seattle had been taped to her tent informing her of a sweep in two days’ time. It amounted to the state-sanctioned destruction of a safe community that had been built with the care and love of so many individuals coming together despite dire circumstances and an uncaring city.
What was she going to do? I wondered. Where was she going to go?
The Harrell administration has made it clear that sweeps are central to its plan to respond to homelessness. In his State of the City address in February, Harrell said, “The homelessness crisis must be treated like the crisis it is.” And yet, he continues to ramp up sweeps during some of the coldest April days in recent memory in a city experiencing a pandemic and lacking sufficient permanent supportive housing.
After hearing about this upcoming sweep that members of my community were facing, I went down with some mutual aid members to see what we could offer to help. Some people were standing to lose the only home they had known for years. Most people asked for support with moving supplies.
While REACH workers had come by offering connections to resources, the refrain I heard over and over was, “I’m not moving into a shelter.” While these instances will be tallied as folks being “service resistant,” what it really points to is a failure of our city to offer options that actually work for community members.
Shelter types vary, and some are not viable options for people, depending on their circumstances. An offer of shelter doesn’t always meet the needs of couples or people with pets. If there is a specific curfew it could alienate working people whose ability to get around the city is impacted by traffic and transit.
When the best that the city can offer is temporary shelter, disrupting established communities does not make sense. One couple I know has put sweat and money into building a safe structure, insulated against the Seattle rain and cold temperatures. They have a housing voucher, but haven’t been able to find a place that works for them.
So, the best option for many facing a sweep is simply to pack up their belongings and move a couple blocks over. And then wait for the next sweep.
This block-by-block terrorizing of neighborhoods puts trauma on top of trauma for people who are already experiencing instability. It makes it harder for outreach workers to build relationships with their clients. It makes it harder for people to keep the belongings they need. It amplifies the divide between housed and unhoused neighbors, pulling people apart.
It sows chaos and uncertainty.
Another member of the community known for looking out for his neighbors, holding supplies for them and sharing gas when needed, was not ready to just walk away.
“I’ve been here for three years,” he said, “and you’re telling me you’re going to kick me out and take all my stuff? No, not without a fight.”
Stop the Sweeps, a local group that advocates against encampment sweeps, has been a beacon of hope for many this winter. As sweeps ramped up, their team has shown courage and compassion even in the earliest hours of the morning when many are still a few hits of the snooze button away from starting their days. In an unparalleled act of radical support for unhoused neighbors, the group made a real stand against the Seattle Police Department last month as they stood their ground and held off the sweep of 4th Avenue for two and a half weeks.
The community member not ready to just walk away? He’s planning on staying put, and is happy to hear he’ll have the support of Stop the Sweeps when the police and workers come on Friday to tear down his home.
It’s a strategy that offers hope and demonstrates the will of the people in action.
In his address, Harrell sent a message to the public as he talked about prioritizing systems for the city. “Further, if a person wanted to report their concern about an encampment with the city, the city did not have a centralized system to log their report and act,” Harrell said. “Now, for the first time, we are putting the necessary people and processes in place to address the more than 1,500 reports we’ve received from the public, just since taking office.”
The members of the public reporting “concerns about an encampment” are acting in bad faith. At the very least, they’re putting their faith in a bad system.
When there is nowhere to go, we are just sweeping a problem from one block to the next. Placating homeowners who don’t want an eyesore on their block. Putting the perceived safety of housed neighbors over the immediate safety and wellbeing of our unhoused neighbors.
I look around a neighborhood I once knew, and see eco blocks lined up where vehicle residents used to have a place to park and boulders sitting on fresh dirt where tents have been torn up. I see block after block of hostile architecture, stones where homes used to be.
And how many of the people who once lived there are in a better position now?
I know this is not the first sweep, and it will not be the last. With an administration that has a stated focus “to ensure sidewalks are accessible to the public and clear of obstacles and obstructions,” they have made clear which members of the public they answer to, and it is not the most vulnerable among us.
Camilla Walter is the executive director of Real Change.
Read more of the Apr. 20-26, 2022 issue.