Campout at City Hall

Real Change is setting up camp at City Hall, to protest the city's handling of homelessness and new policies regarding homeless encampments. The planned protest is scheduled for March 13th, with Real Change encouraging supporters to "bring a tent and a friend" down to City Hall.

The protest has been spawned by a proposed city protocol, which would force people living in "illegal encampments" to vacate and find somewhere else to live within 48 hours or risk being forcibly removed. The new protocol would also allow city employees to throw away any possessions found at such encampments, as long as they were valued at less than $25. The city would only have to notify the property owner if the items were worth more than $25 and if the owners' name was on the item.

Real Change and other homeless advocates believe that it is immoral and inhumane to punish people for living outside, when there is not enough shelter or affordable housing available to meet the needs of the population. Not to mention that the proposed protocol, just might infringe on those little things known as the 4th, 5th and 14th Amendments of the Constitution. You know, the ones that guarantee protection from unreasonable search and seizure, taking personal property for private use without just compensation, and the right to due process.

This January during the annual "Night Out Count," which tracks the number of homeless individuals in Seattle, there were 2,631 people sleeping outside of shelters in cars, doorways, and encampments. On that night, which was below freezing, Seattle shelters and transitional housing had already been filled to capacity with 6,000 people utilizing their facilities.

Heartbreak available for you in black and white at Seattlest's Flickr Pool, image courtesy of Dylan Koutsky