[Posted on The Olympian's Web site]

Published June 02, 2008
Lawsuit challenges Lacey's new law on homeless tent city
THE OLYMPIAN

LACEY -- Advocates for the homeless have sued Lacey to overturn a law that bans a tent city and instead requires churches to shelter the homeless indoors.

The lawsuit claims the City Council did not follow a proper procedure before it approved the law April 24 with a 4-3 vote.

Panza, a nonprofit group that supports Camp Quixote, Olympia’s tent city; Selena Kilmoyer, Panza’s secretary; and three residents who attend churches in Lacey -- Elizabeth Penney, Ronna Smith and Donald Stern -- filed the lawsuit in Thurston County Superior Court.

The lawsuit contends that while the city posted meeting notices and held public hearings and other meetings both before the Lacey Planning Commission and City Council on a draft law regulating temporary homeless encampments, no such steps were taken for a later draft that required faith-based groups to shelter the homeless inside their churches.

As a result, supporters of the law were uninformed that Lacey churches don’t have adequate room to both shelter the homeless and minister to their congregations, Kilmoyer said.

For more on the story, see The Olympian Tuesday.

Regarding the earlier post about the dire financial straits of Bread and Roses, I think it may be instructive, for those who may be unfamiliar with the amazing stuff B&R does in this community, to explain what it does and why it is important to keep it going. The work that you all do is hard work, done with love, for those who are marginalized. I think it is important to tell that story as we are facing a future when more and more are going to need the kind of services you provide.

So, Rob, please give us a rundown of the importance of B&R.

On Thursday afternoon, April 3 at 4 p.m., the Rev. Carol McKinney of the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation and folks from Interfaith Works will be celebrating Moment of Blessing at the site 3400 block of Harrison where our homeless acquaintances died last week in a fire. Please attend, if you are able, to show solidarity with our brothers who have left us and to consider the tragic circumstances that led to their passing. If you are not able to attend, please pause for a moment and remember in your heart not only those who have left us, but the many, many among us who live in trying and dangerous circumstances.

I don't know about you, but I can't think of one single thing I can buy in Lacey that I can't buy somewhere else.

Not that it will, in the scheme of things, make any difference, but why don't those of us who support Camp Quixote and care about homeless people take a look at doing our shopping in those places that understand that a regional, even state approach is needed to providing social services, including a safe place to spend the night if your home is a tent.

Do we lose anything by doing this? Maybe some of our smaller, struggling, independently owned businesses have something to gain here.

Ah, the end of December, when the MSM starts using some secret, unquantifiable formula to determine the Top Ten this and that.

You know what I mean: Top Ten News Stories of the Year. Top Ten Celebrity Gaffs. Top Ten Weight-loss Programs. Top Ten You Name It.

So, here's a challenge to Olybloggers!

Instead of ranking events, can you tell the rest of us what thing, or things, changed your life in the past year? Good, or bad, what was a defining moment for you in 2007.

It can be personal, it can be community-related, it can be whatever you want it to be.

And, I'm asking folks to refrain from sass-back (in other words, please be respectful of others thoughts). This is a chance for all of us to relate what has been important in the past year, without passing judgment on what has been important to others. I

'll start:

Camp Quixote. You've seen in another post that the Camp has been nominated for Person of the Year. I concur with this nomination. What an amazing bunch of folks!

The camp has changed my life and certainly some notions I had about homelessness and homeless people. I have watched it move from its difficult birth downtown where it was the target of community misunderstanding and scorn, into an accepted part of our big-hearted community. Getting to know the residents; the people who support the camp in large and small ways; and working with the faith communities that have stepped forward, sometimes with few resources, to host the camp or be present to it in other ways, has been eye-opening and delightful.

I know, I know, it seems right now as if everyone is looking for donations toward one worthy cause or another. Bread and Roses, the Salvation Army, the list goes on and on as we work toward ensuring a warm bed and a hot meal for those in the community who are homeless and/or hungry.

So, this is a warning. I am adding to that list. With temperatures dropping and snow(!) maybe on the way the 24 residents of Camp Quixote (men and women) have four particular items on their wish list: sleeping pads or air mattresses of some kind; waterproof coats; gloves; and long underwear. These can be of any size and color, used or new. Donations may be taken to the Camp, which is located in a large, grassy area behind First United Methodist Church, on Legion Way and Boundary Street in East Olympia.

And a tip of the hat to all of you in the community who have given generously to the camp in one way or another over the past 10 months. Thanks to all of you, we've come a long way in building community support and acceptance since that cold February night when the camp first formed in downtown Olympia.