Curious about what Olympia City Council candidates plan to do for poor people?

Candidates for the November election will be on hand to answer your questions.Join us to ask them about homelessness, services, downtown, police, public space…whatever hasn't already been asked!

Hosted by Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights and No Gap at Koinonia Hall in the First Christian Church, at 701 Franklin St SE in Downtown Olympia

POWER and NO-GAP will provide dinner and childcare.  Questions?  Want to help cook or set up?  Contact POWER at 360-352-9716  or  welfarerights@riseup.net  or  look us up at http://www.oly-wa.us/power/

POWER is an organization of low-income parents and allies advocating for a strong social safety net while working toward a world where children and care giving are truly valued, and the devastation of poverty has been eradicated.

NO-GAP is an organization working towards building community support to address the issue of poverty in Thurston County. We are bridging the gap between low-income and marginalized populations and their desired resources.

What does the current downturn in the economy, global warming, civil unrest and natural disasters have in common? Come and discover how these and other current events are setting the stage for an unprecedented global crisis that will impact the lives of us all. ***SEE ATTACHED FLYER FOR MORE DETAILS*** You will come away from these amazing Scriptural-based Keynote presentations clearly understanding how you can face these coming crises unafraid and with absolute confidence. LOCATION: Java Flow Coffee House, Washington Street & State Avenue TIME: 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. every Thursday night CONTACT: Liberty of Conscience Ministries at 360-402-1154 for more information. Thanks for looking. . .see you then! Scott

What do the current downturn in the economy, global warming, civil unrest and natural disasters have in common?

Come and discover how these and other current events are setting the stage for an unprecedented global crisis that will impact the lives of us all.

***SEE ATTACHED FLYER FOR MORE DETAILS***

You will come away from these amazing Scriptural-based Keynote presentations clearly understanding how you can face these coming crises unafraid and with absolute confidence.

Location: Java Flow Coffee House, Washington Street & Fourth Avenue

Time: 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. every Thursday night

Contact Liberty of Conscience Ministries at 360-402-1154 for more information.

Thanks for looking. . .see you then!

Scott

via email:

SATURDAY, NOV. 1 - 5pm
Hosted by Camp Quixote at
St. John’s Episcopal Church - 114 20th Ave SE in Olympia
With speak out and potluck to follow.
There is no charge to get in. Free childcare available.

Willie Baptist is a formerly homeless father who serves as the Scholar-in-Residence for the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary where he is responsible for the new Poverty Scholars Program training dozens of low-income leaders to become Scholars-in-Residence for other seminaries, universities, and religious institutions. Coming out of the Watts uprising and the Black Student Movement, Willie has worked as an organizer and leader of the United Steelworkers Union and the National Union of the Homeless. He is former Education Director of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union and currently serves as Coordinator of the University of the Poor.

These events hope to encourage dialogue on issues facing poor and low-income people in Olympia and around the US and on building a movement to unite the poor and their allies to fight for an end to poverty.

There is no charge to get in. Free childcare available.

Two of my friends(who wish to remain anonymous) are in need of assistance. I have seen Olyblogers in the past help out people who are in need and I was hoping this could happen again. This Mother and daughter duo need security deposit and moving expense money of 900 dollars.

Both of these women are amazing, kind and inspiring people, who are constantly helping others. They have been living in a trailer for almost a year now and finally found an apartment they could afford, however the move in costs are more then they can handle by themselves. I hope olyblog can help. It would mean the world to these women. Their trailer is small and has many problems, the biggest problem is their trailer cannot stay warm and winter is coming soon. If this community can help out even a little this would be greatly appreciated.

Capitol Clubhouse located at 618 7th Ave SE Olympia Wa 98501 is accepting donations on the behalf of these women. If you are able to help drop off donations with Jeff Aldrich at The Capitol Clubhouse. Thank you.

I came across the following argument in a book called Home From Nowhere (circa 1994), written by new urbanist pundit, James Howard Kunstler. It, of course, brought to mind the current issue of condos on the isthmus and got me thinking about how having a difference mix of classes living in downtown would affect Oly's poorer classes. I should probably point out that this excerpt is from a long chapter about the importance of civic life/civic interaction to the health of American civilization. In it, Kunstler argues that suburbia and the automobile have been destroying civility in America for the majority of the last century.:

[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.

It seems ironic to me that the City of Olympia can pat itself on the back for all of its good deeds (and it has done some) when it is neglecting what could be the best deed of all -- taking a lead in the efforts to find housing solutions for everyone.

Last year, the Council took an important and compassionate step in adopting an ordinance that allows faith communities to host tent cities. This progressive action allowed Camp Quixote to form, legally, and to benefit both its residents and the Olympia community. The City of Tumwater followed that lead; it is my great hope that Lacey and Thurston County someday will come to the same decision.

So, my suggestion to the Council is this:

Step 1: Before you pass this RV ordinance, do your homework. Take a day off from your job, or a City Council field trip and go downtown and meet the RV residents where they are. Talk to them. Learn of their circumstances. Have them explain to you the discrimination they face from landlords because they have bad credit, because they are felons, because they have fallen on hard times and simply don't have enough money for what is required to move into an apartment here, if they can even find one they can afford (Olympia's apartment vacancy rate is 3.2 percent/actual rent for a 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment is $916, according to last Sunday's Olympian). Figure out, with them, what a solution might be before they chase them out to Tumwater, Lacey or Thurston County, where they will just be chased out again and into the woods, where adults, let alone children, will not be safe.

The City of Olympia has now seemingly made it their policy to sweep homeless camps using probation work crews. They do this without an answer as to where these people can go without being disturbed.

They also have consistently done this without contacting direct service providers. Organizations like the one I work for, Bread & Roses, and our close partner EGYHOP, can at the very least provide harm reduction services to campers who are forced to move. I feel justified in saying that I don't trust the City of Olympia to effectively advocate for individuals transitioning from one campsite to another. It's not their job to be advocates, which is why they should seek out advice and help from those whose job that is. I should be very clear, however, that this is not a role I'm willing to fill over and over for years to come. I simply will not be a part of people being pushed around from one unsafe environ to the next. I think that viewpoint reflects the overall view of the homeless advocate community.

Being that there is going to come a point, likely sooner than later, where advocates are going to start refusing to aid the City in this capacity, the City should think long and hard on one question. 'Where can people go and be left alone?'

If Steve Hall, the Council, or Staff can quickly answer that question, then a lot of time can be saved on providing people with stability, which we've learned from Camp Quixote is therapeutic and empowering.

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To be accurate, this person is not a panhandler, he is a street performer. Go check him out most evenings along 4th Ave!

Name: Richard

Age: 29

Hobbies: Music and Cooking. "Soon I'll be in an apartment and I want to go to SPSCC to study music first, then cooking. I already have 6 months of community college from Seattle, so I have a head start."

Favorite Books: The Bible, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit, Grimms Fairy Tales and poetry by William Blake and Jim Morrison

Favorite Movies: Apocalypse Now, Young Guns, Maverick, Last of the Mohicans, Legend, The Princess Bride