Back in February, SHARE and WHEEL—the shelter providers and homeless advocacy groups that have run self-managed tent cities in Seattle for many years—began doing outreach about plans to relocate Tent City 4 from its current location at the Seattle Mennonite Church in Lake City to the site of the former Lake City Community Center four blocks away.
Ten tent city residents fanned out across the neighborhood, knocking on doors and handing out about 500 flyers notifying residents about the move, and the group held a well-attended community meeting where only two people objected to the new location, according to several people who were present. One of those, a woman who worried that the community would block access to a farmer’s market, withdrew her objection after realizing it would not. “We had nothing but a positive response,” WHEEL organizer Michele Marchand said.
By design, Tent City never stays on one site for more than a year—a commitment that helps mitigate community concerns about their presence. Their lease at the church ends on Saturday, May 17, and all 104 residents, including families with a total of 17 kids, plan to leave that day. Until last week, they planned to sign a lease with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to move to the community center site, with Journey Christian Church serving as the “faith sponsor” at the new location…