In love with community service.

I’m in love…that’s right I admit it. I’m in love with community service. One of my favorite causes is a tent city here in Seattle called Nickelsville. The residents call themselves Nickelodeons and they are a model tent city. They are self-governed and as they often say on their website, they are homeless not helpless. Many of the people I met here have jobs and families and are no different from you or I. There are rules here, such as no drugs or alcohol which is probably the reason families with children would join this roaming community.

In their efforts to become self-sufficient they have been working with the city of Seattle in the hopes of finding a permanent location for Nickelsville before adverse weather sets in. Even with recommendations from a citizens review panel and after 7 sites were suggested and narrowed down to one, Mayor Mike McGinn now says that no site will be found this winter.

Wherever they land, one thing is for sure and that is they will need to stay warm and dry. I know they need tarps and more tents as some are looking rather worn. The latest update on their site says that their new site will be available by noon tomorrow so I intend to show up before that to see what I can do. I know that once everything is unpacked and unloaded and the residents have a chance to settle in, boxes of hand warmers will be greatly appreciated along with food items and things like laundry detergent. I will post tomorrow’s activities with photos but I’d like to thank everyone for taking the time to read this and for your contributions.

Please feel free to visit Nickelsville’s site at http://www.nickelsvilleseattle.org/