Surfing the Tsunami

CONTENTS 2/3/2021
Building Community
Soup Brigade
Of Course Base Camp Turns People Away
Cold Streets
Can Anyone Confirm This?
Criminalizing Homelessness
Positive FEMA Change
Ongoing Needs
Space Available?
Educate Yourself Tomorrow
Plastic Drawers?
Conservation District Ballots
Roof Inspection / Repair?
Free Desk, Mattress
Love Poem To America
Anne Feeney
Radio Free Flip: Groundhog Day

BUILDING COMMUNITY

Freedom requires responsibility. Freedom Of Speech works so much better if it includes Responsibility To Listen.

SOUP BRIGADE

Can anyone cook for tomorrow or Thursday evening, to deliver here to our house at 6:45 or 7 PM? I’ve got ingredients & containers.

The situation at Geri is unsafe due the combination of another upcoming sweep, plus some food tent volunteers again appear to be itching for a fight with the authorities. I’m not currently supporting delivery there.

Other volunteers have been working to get new systems in place. Outreach folks who are known and trusted have been setting up drop spots to leave meals near folks camping in the woods in various places. These campers are urgent not to be noticed and swept, and will not connect with strangers.

Our ability to deliver food and supplies will rely on the outreach volunteers. They’re trying to set up regular drop days and times for smaller groups scattered around our area. I have delivery folks for the next two nights. Thursday 2/4 and Friday 2/5, they will pick up here at 7 PM if I can arrange cooks. I have other outreach volunteers interested in regular mid-day Monday and Wednesday pick up for distribution. I think we are aiming for only 25 meals per day at this point, and would happily accept fewer because that’s much better than nothing. We’re still working out this new system, so expect changes. But I have supplies and ingredients. You can sign up directly with me, and deliver your hot meal here. 360-671-4511 text or email.

OF COURSE BASE CAMP TURNS PEOPLE AWAY

The head of the Lighthouse Mission / Base Camp spoke publicly on the radio last week, and confirmed that Base Camp is indeed unable to take in everyone, that there are problems they cannot handle. And he encouraged the city to create another shelter for those they must turn away. I’m tremendously relieved at this. It interrupts and contradicts the story that all those still living on streets are choosing to refuse resources. I’m heartbroken that elected officials are still repeating this.  “How dare you turn down our nice boiled liver and Brussel sprouts?!”

The tone of outrage, that people would turn down their lovely new shelter out of sheer spoiled stubbornness is very hard for me to listen to. It’s unfair to both our unhoused neighbors, and to Base Camp, setting unrealistically high expectations.

We need information collected, without blame: How many are turned away, and because of what issues? Then we can figure out how to fill those gaps. But meanwhile, we need emergency winter shelter now, today, this week.

City Hall’s street address is 210 Lottie Street, 98225.
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org

The Whatcom County Courthouse address is 311 Grand Avenue, 98225
ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us
council@co.whatcom.wa.us

COLD STREETS

At roughly 3am Monday morning, volunteers tried to help get 2 individuals into BaseCamp who were found dangerously chilled in the streets. One of them uses a wheelchair and was trying to sleep in it. It took a while to get a hold of someone at BaseCamp, but they wouldn’t let these people seek shelter. Not until 7am. This appears to have to do with COVID tests being unavailable at night, at least so far. But this does leave our only local shelter unavailable during the night if temperatures fall. Neighbors living on the street often don’t have access to weather reports to let them prepare.

CAN ANYONE CONFIRM THIS?

The city has posted the following. 

“Public Works crews assisted campers in gathering their belongings, offering transportation, and connections to find safe shelter and other services.” 

I cannot find a single person among the volunteers who helped campers escaped the sweep, who can confirm a single instance of such assistance from any non-volunteer. Can any of my readers here tell me of such help being given?

https://cob.org/services/safety/emergencies/covid-19/city-county-addressing-tent-encampment-and-emergency-winter-shelter-needs?fbclid=IwAR3HRswMtR8Qp4MNiMEnnMEqwhylspsBNibvwSaq1BUWXhxti5c4gqI9Ohw

CRIMINALIZING HOMELESSNESS

Washington State is having a public hearing on upcoming bill 5107. The bill would make “unauthorized camping” on any publicly owned or maintained land a misdemeanor, which would lead a massive amount of the homeless population to be criminalized and stranded with no place to go. And with a criminal record, it’s even harder to find a job or a rental. Here’s how to submit a written testimony (click ‘CON’ to show your dissent):

https://app.leg.wa.gov/CSIRemote/Senate

please feel free to share this. They will take written testimony up to tomorrow 2/4/2021 at 10:30 AM.
Committee: Housing & Local Government
Date/Time: 2/3/2021 10:30 AM
Bill/Issue: SB 5107 Homelessness/shelter
Location: Remote Public Testimony

You don’t have to do any more than click “Con” that you oppose this bill, and enter your name and contact information. When I did it, I also added that criminalizing camping creates additional barriers to employment and housing rental for people experiencing homelessness.

POSITIVE FEMA CHANGE

FEMA has changed federal reimbursement policies to accommodate homeless people staying in motels. But there are many hoops to be jumped through, apparently including getting our governor to declare an emergency. And probably the County as well. But the money can now be available.

https://invisiblepeople.tv/breaking-fema-changes-policies-to-accommodate-homeless-people-staying-in-hotels/?fbclid=IwAR2_Ngj51Bt8J5D0FW03_jFu4Yre5Nx7_YLfnOGS33RkiUsZwjfasVv99GI

ONGOING NEEDS

* Batteries AA AAA
* Hats/ mitts / mufflers
* Water,
* Different soft snack foods,
* Foot warmers, hand warmers
* Garbage bags
* Toiletries – tampons, TP & wipes, new combs and brushes, toothbrushes

SPACE AVAILABLE?

From the City’s website:

• Space is currently available at Base Camp and the overflow facility as well as other options provided by the City, Whatcom County and partner agencies providing support for people experiencing homelessness.

I received this from a neighbor:

FYI (an dwith no bias to all the many sides of the complex issues) I walk past the Holly St drop-in center every morning and every evening, and during this entire recent crisis, though lights/heat were temporarily turned on, and beds and bedding were visibly set into standby mode, I have not seen anyone either in residence, waiting to get in, or being turned away. Since Base Camp is the intake point, turning away if any must be happening there.

EDUCATE YOURSELF TOMORROW

United Church of Ferndale is hosting an online interview with Bremerton native Richard LeMieux this Thursday February 4th at 6:30 pm. He is the author of “Breakfast at Sally’s: One Homeless Man’s Inspirational Journey”. 

In 2002 he lost his business, his home and family, ending up living in his van with his dog Willow. His story of befriending the local homeless community while sharing meals at local churches and the Bremerton Salvation Army is both brutal and inspiring. After the week we have had, this might be healing. There will be an opportunity to make a Love Offering to the Bremerton Salvation Army and HomesNOW.org. Here the link to register. 

https://greaternw.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIrd-6spz0uHNH7UVrBBaJQgI7i5SwJa1Qj?fbclid=IwAR04kuZhzJYa7SqiPwZyGkWZ0jsA2oVAD0-oIEJeauwxyiX5popUWA83PTA

PLASTIC DRAWERS?

Wanted: clear plastic drawer sets (Rubbermaid or Sterilite type) for the tiny home villages. Thanks! Someone said they usually have them for about $5 at Habitat if anyone is up for going inside. You could call first. Until after the Civic Field sweep, you could deliver them here for safety.

CONSERVATION DISTRICT BALLOTS

Deadline To Request Ballot (Via Link): February 8, 2021

https://whatcomcd.org/board-elections

Basics (more on website-link above):
·       Election for Whatcom County Conservation District.
·       You will not automatically receive a ballot, even if you voted last year.
·       No in-person voting this year due to Covid-19.
·       Completed ballots must be mailed in or dropped off at the conversation district office by March 23rd at 4:00 p.m.
·       The conservation district’s mission is to assist land managers with their conservation choices. The district, established in 1946, works with Whatcom County landowners and farmers to manage natural resources in the county. The conservation district is governed by a board of five supervisors, who are all local residents.

ROOF INSPECTION / REPAIR?

Any recommendations for a house in Cornwall neighborhood would be appreciated.  Thanks.  rhondayounker@comcast.net  425.466.7136

FREE DESK, MATTRESS

We are giving away a sturdy, hardwood desk, and queen size mattress. Both are used but in good shape. Also a free desk chair in less good shape, but usable. We also have a twin mattress for sale for $50, and a pretty wooden cabinet for $20 obo. They are currently out front at 2728 Walnut Street.  Contact Mardi Solomon (360)325-6002.

 LOVE POEM TO AMERICA

He was still dealing with his feelings over the death of his father. His relationship with his father was complicated. His father, an educator and an activist for voting and rights for African Americans, had died in Mexico, to escape the racism of America. He was struggling to make a living as a poet, and then his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Langston Hughes, who was born on February 1, 1902, had been trying to make sense of the everyday injustices he saw in his world, when innocent young, black men, such as the Scottsboro Boys, would be accused of crimes they did not commit and sent to prison by all-white, all-male juries who ignored a supposed victim who confessed she lied.

He was on a train, to visit his mother, when he just started writing the words that came to him. Feeling the sorrow, the pain, wondering whether the darkness would ever subside, but hoping to see some light, he wrote:

“Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machines
I am the Negro, servant to you all.

I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!

I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.

O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”

The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?

For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.
O, let America be America again—

The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,

And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!”

ANNE FEENEY

“A few weeks ago Anne Feeney, our dear friend and my former music partner, fell while doing her laundry, and fractured a vertebrae.  She was hospitalized, where she contracted COVID.  She had been doing well, not showing any symptoms, but she took a turn for the worse on Friday.  She was unresponsive since then.  Dan and Amy are with her now.

Amy asked me to reach out to many of our mutual friends and ask them to stop what they were doing and sing her a song.  Thank you to all that did so.  I put them together into an hour and a half video, which Amy and Dan have been playing for her round the clock.  THANK YOU to all that contributed.

Since then she has been squeezing their hand with some strength and raising her arms at the end of songs and she even opened her eyes for about 7 hours!

I ask that if you know that she knows you, please also send me a song.  I will be loading them all up to an unlisted you tube channel sometime today so that she can hear more of our voices.

ACTION: I also ask that all of you tune into her spotify station and follow her – and lets give her some spins! in solidarity,

Viva La Feeney!  ~ Chris Chandler

RADIO FREE FLIP: GROUNDHOG DAY

A day late, but still an ear worm, and still makes me laugh. And oh so local! Thanks, Zeke Hoskin!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1usH8fxEWNA

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org

If you’re willing to share your phone and address with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission.

If you want to ask me to post something, just email me. If it’s urgent, phone. If it’s a real emergency, call 911.

CONTENTS 1/30/2021
This Starfish
Real Life Reassurances
Coolers
Straw Bales
Relocated Campers
Soup Brigade
Needs List
Cool Donations
Facts With Context
Affordable Housing
Disappearing Fl!p
Current Shelters
No National Guard
Officer Assistance
Starfish & Upstream
Website Is back
Student Safe Space
Motel Mamas
Neighborhood Assn
B&O Impact
Conservation District Election
Orchard Spray And A New Roof
Rental Wanted
Radio Free Fl!p: Who Will Watch The Home Place?

THIS STARFISH

“While wandering a deserted beach at dawn, stagnant in my work, I saw a man in the distance bending and throwing as he walked the endless stretch toward me. As he came near, I could see that he was throwing starfish, abandoned on the sand by the tide, back into the sea. When he was close enough I asked him why he was working so hard at this strange task. He said that the sun would dry the starfish and they would die. I said to him that I thought he was foolish. There were thousands of starfish on miles and miles of beach. One man alone could never make a difference. He smiled as he picked up the next starfish. Hurling it far into the sea he said, “It makes a difference for this one.” I abandoned my writing and spent the morning throwing starfish.”  ― Loren Eiseley

I try to balance my life between “This Starfish” and heading upstream to see why the people we keep pulling out of the river have been falling in, as Bishop Desmond Tutu said.

REAL LIFE REASSURANCES

1. All progress comes through a series of failures. (From my big brother Joe.)

2. Anyone who believes in vast conspiracies has never tried to manage a multi-person project. (I think I got this from Rob Lopresti.)

3. Today’s solutions are often tomorrow’s problems. (Suzanne Carlson-Prandini, but she credits Howard Fuller, her boss at WCC Library.)

COOLERS

You all are AMAZING!!! We have a solid set of coolers that we can use as a lending library to deliver hot meals wherever they wind up needing to go. We’ve already started using them. It is so touching. I’m back at the Crossroads Of Kindness. Thank you!!!

STRAW BALES

Remember when you all donated for straw bales, and then things went sideways and we paused delivery? Now I’m so glad we did! We’re not yet sure when it might be time to try again. Things are so in flux right now.

So: if you want, I can return your donation.

Or: I can hold it till straw bales make sense somewhere

Or: I can spend it on other urgent needs as best I can figure

Zeke made me a database so I probably can figure out how much you donated for returns. Hoping you can let me know by the end of the week. Some checks made it clear that I could spend that donation as my best judgement dictated. After we paused the bales, I used the non-straw-bale-specific donations and bought mylar blankets, tarps, tents, 30 AA headlamps, see-through blue garbage bags for the laundry brigade…

…which reminds me; About 200 bags of laundry were rescued from the bulldozers. Does anyone want to help wash blankets & stuff, or donate towards costs? (Hmmm. I wonder if that means I need to buy another case of blue laundry bags.)

RELOCATED CAMPERS

Emergent needs at the relocated camp at Civic Field: Firewood. Cardboard. BOP has relocated the MealTrain, so it sounds like there is food, at least through Saturday. There are volunteers figuring out how many people are there. I’ve heard as many as 50 but it still seems to be a moving target. Some folks may leave since the parking lot surface slopes and there is no way to set tent stakes. It sounds like porta-potties have been delivered. Whew!

Volunteer outreach workers are sorting out where else campers wound up. We may need to help more than one site. There are also campers who scattered to the woods. And volunteers helped them move, so someone knows where they are, or at least where they were yesterday. We are trying to coordinate with those outreach workers. Get numbers and figure out how to send some hot food and other resources with the volunteers when they would be going anyway.

SOUP BRIGADE

We’ll want to make soup again soon. Right now we’re figuring out where and when and how much. If someone has time to make a SmartFood run for ingredients, let me know.

NEEDS LIST

These should be delivered directly to the Frank Geri ballfields:
Firewood
Cardboard – large pieces

These should be brought to our house:
Tarps 8×10 or larger (we got a great deal on a bunch from Wes at Hardware Sales. Maybe he’d sell us another big batch.)
Blankets – wool blend and dark colored poly, twin or smaller
Hat & Gloves, scarves and mufflers
Large sizes of men’s shoes. Waterproof helps, but anything is better than nothing.
    Men’s size 12 – easy on and off and able to bicycle in.
    Men’s size 13 – hard to find used.
    Woman’s size 10 – hard to find used.
Neck warmers that can be pulled up to cover face and nose
    Is there a group that could sew a bunch of these tubes in a hurry?
Ground pads (I can go back and dig for the link)
AA & AAA batteries
Tampons
Garbage bags, especially extra-large Contractor Weight bags.
Duck Tape – smaller rolls for volunteers to tuck in a rucksack.
Laundry Brigade

COOL DONATIONS

Folks have been donating amazing things:
Hand knit (and some handspun) wool hats, scarves & mittens
Fleece mufflers
160 pairs of hand warmers
Tents and more tents (bulldozed?)
Lots of ground pads (I’m so bummed so many were lost on Thursday)
A station wagon load of clear plastic tubs from a retiring school teacher
100 pairs of new wool socks!

  Let me talk about the socks a little: A friend contacted me about foot care. She’s a wound care nurse. She wanted to know who was taking care of campers’ feet. There is something called Trench Foot, like soldiers in the trenches got in World War One. (You don’t want to know. Argh! Argh! Argh! It’s really awful.) And it’s out there among campers who haven’t been able to dry out this winter My friend and another foot care nurse who’s already been working at this both said clean dry socks are critical for after wound care. Preferably a pair to put on and another to send along. So I called yet another friend who donated socks from Costco once before. Costco said they were almost out for the year. So my friend went and bought a huge box! And may go back for more. You are all welcome to join him. But they’ve got to be thick padded wool or poly hiking socks.

FACTS WITH CONTEXT

From Ed Wood from Birchwood

About two-thirds of the county’s homeless people last resided right here. I suspect there are people in Seattle, Everett, etc., who once resided here. Shipping them back and forth and dumping them would cost a lot, and not get them off the street.

After reading several comments about the makeup of our local homeless residents, I decided to refresh my memory by going to the annual census of homeless populations, The Point in Time census that has been conducted since 2008 (this year’s survey was made Thursday, and I have been told the results will be published in May, although last year’s is dated July). It can be found at https://www.oppco.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Whatcom-2020-homeless-count-report-_081920_UPDATED-FINAL.pdf

A few interesting numbers jump out. The homeless population decreased 16 percent over the time span of the surveys. I suspect the numbers will be somewhat higher this year. Thirty four percent of respondents (those choosing to participate) self-report having mental illness, 23 percent report a physical disability, 17 percent have a chronic illness, 14 percent abuse drugs or alcohol, and 9 percent have a developmental condition. The report notes “Due to the stigma of mental illness and substance abuse, these conditions are almost certainly under-reported.”

About two-thirds reported that their last fixed address was in Whatcom County and thirty-nine percent stated that they are homeless because of eviction/loss of housing (the report lists many reasons, however).

There is a lot to learn about our homeless population in this report. I strongly advise reading it – including the appendices.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

There are places where a full 20% or more of the housing is publicly owned. The state of Utah has eliminated 90% of chronic homelessness. Our government can and has built housing. They can hire locals to build it to boost employment. There is a small, low income apartment building right across the creek from my old house on Moore Street, with 16 one bedroom apartments. I drove past it a week or two ago. After over 25 years, it’s still in nice clean condition with a relaxed air about it. It was never a problem when I lived by it. I would like to see publicly owned, durable, high quality, low-income, well-managed mini-apartment buildings scattered through every neighborhood in town.

DISAPPEARING Fl!P

I’ve been keeping my mouth shut for days, for fear of setting off the powder keg with campers caught in the crossfire. I have relationships with people in all areas of this issue. I wish to preserve those relationships if I can. And I have people barking at me about being “political” for talking too much about the situation at City Hall, and others barking at me for being critical of the protesters’ violence, and some barking that I’m not sharing the City’s press releases so I’m not Fair and Balanced. And folks barking because I said the National Guard was here. (They were right, it wasn’t.) I figure everybody is upset in general and must feel some bit of hope in me. I finally just turned off the computer and went and made soup for Thursday night dinner for the refugees who evacuated to Civic Field. I had heard some of them hadn’t eaten all day.

The issues are complicated and varied. People have been politicized while the humanity of individuals (the homeless, citizens, city workers and police) have been questioned.

CURRENT SHELTERS

Homelessness is complex, and there is no one solution that will work for everyone. I have not been able to find it documented how many people are turned away from Base Camp & the Drop In Center, and why. Not to punish our providers. Of course they can’t handle every problem! But this is critical information with which to understand what the gaps are in our system, and the size of those gaps. Does anyone know if that data is being collected and if so, where it is available?

NO NATIONAL GUARD

Although I was told they were there by multiple sources, our sheriff says they were not there, and that it would have taken action by the governor to have them come. I believe this. US Border guards were there as well as police. Not sure about sheriff’s officers.

OFFICER ASSISTANCE

I had heard rumors that the protesters had been invited back and was shocked but not surprised when the City swept early. I was horrified that, although the publicity all said the officers were there to ASSIST the campers to gather their belongings, find transportation, and safely relocate, I have heard of only one occasion where any assistance was actually given, and that was on the part of one individual officer who permitted a volunteer with a trailer to bring it in closer so the volunteer could load faster and with less effort. I have heard of no lifting, carrying, listening kindly, making phone calls to seek resources or information. Nothing. If others have heard or seen instances of assistance I would appreciate hearing about them.

From an outreach volunteer:

Just an on-the-ground report from me- I went down to the sweep at 10a to try to help break down the food tent. I was there for about 2 hours.  I did not witness any police support for moving campers. There were lines of heavily armed police around the perimeter of the camp, including officers on the roofs of buildings- which I can only assume are snipers? Also, many bulldozers.  

The efforts to get the campers relocated appeared to be exclusively from volunteers and campers themselves. A line of protesters were holding the police line to try to ensure campers had adequate time to move their belongings. I do not believe the camp would have felt safe if the police entered anyway. The police told me they could not keep me safe if I crossed the line into the camp, even though I said I was there to help break down tents. Two homeless men have been arrested, as of now. I witnessed one of the arrests. There did not appear to be violence, only anger and assertiveness which makes sense. 

STARFISH, AND UPSTREAM

So, from where I sit and tap tap tap, I keep in mind This Starfish, and my heart is broken open by your kind response. And we need to keep looking upstream to understand the whole situation. And we’ll need to work together to solve it. And of course we can.

WEBSITE IS BACK

I bought the bottom tier, three year paid version of WordFence. My beloved emergency team of volunteer techies used it to scan and repair. They sat it’s safe now. They ask that if clicking on it ever takes you anywhere else, copy where it took you and send it to me. But they don’t expect any more of that.

It looks like it was a completely random attack.  I wrote asking for help to everyone I could think of that was a techie, and a team just assembled itself. One of my neighbors took the lead, with what seemed to actually be useful and accepted advice from my big brother, and folks I know from Guitar Camp. Thank you all for the rescue!

STUDENT SAFE SPACE

Fountain Community Church will be opening a safe place for middle school aged students. The hope will be to be open in the middle of February thru the end of the school year, Tuesday-Thursday, 2-4pm. FCC is working with the Health Department to make sure that safety protocols are followed. It will be a monitored space with internet access. it could be a great connect space for small groups, or just a place to go just for a change. If you have questions or concerns, please email Rick Qualls: rickq2000@yahoo.com.

MOTEL MAMAS

I called Lydia Place this past week about our support for the Motel Mama’s and learned a lot. If we donate useful items to some specific places, and tell them our donations are on behalf of Lydia Place, the organization is credited. They can then give vouchers to their clients, so clients can shop for free. Here’s what Lydia Place sent me:

Donate your new to gently used items to or on behalf of Lydia Place at our Donation Partnership locations by simply bringing up our name with your donation. Our clients receive regular vouchers to shop at these locations for the exact items they need and want, for free.

The Donation Partner Program is a vital resource for Lydia Place families as it allows us to to provide quicker access to a wider range we do not have the capacity to store or transport. More importantly, it gives our clients a sense of ownership and independence by giving them the option to choose items they want and need to make their new house a home. You can also go to the donation page of our website https://lydiaplace.org/support/

To donate Furniture, Building Supplies, Appliances & Household Items: 

Habitat for Humanity
1825 Cornwall Ave Bellingham, WA 98225
(360) 778-2036 

Children’s & Maternity Items: 

Little Bugs Consignment
2400 Yew Street Bellingham, WA 98229
(360) 756-0507

OR 

Flip Kids & Maternity Consignment
1512 Ellis Street Bellingham, WA 98225
 (360) 671-0954

We currently do not have an active partnership for folks to donate used adult clothing and bedding items. 

If you have Lydia Place donation questions please contact our Community Outreach Coordinator, Joelle Parrs-Weinberg by calling 360.671.7663 x 2007 or by email at joellepw@lydiaplace.org.

COLUMBIA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSN. CALL FOR MEMBERS AND BOARD POSITIONS

Due to my personal health issues and work challenges due to COVID, I will be resigning from the CNA Board, effective with the election at our first meeting on Feb. 23. It’s a new year and typically at our first meeting we have our membership drive. This year requires us to do things differently. We are going to have an in-person CNA Membership Drive on Saturday, Feb. 20th, 10am-2pm at the Columbia Share Shack. If you would like to become a member, there are other ways to join. If you would like to be a member, please fill out this form at: https://tinyurl.com/cnamembershipform, which provides a place to share your interests and a variety of payment options in case you can’t make the in-person Membership Drive. In this form, you will also be able to express interest in becoming a board member!!! We will be sure to invite you to our next board meeting later this month, provided you filled out the form in the next week. Thank you for your interest in making our neighborhood a great place to live.

Please email columbianeighborhoodassociation@protonmail.com if you have any questions. Thank you, Jill MacIntyre Witt, CNA President
Walnut Street

[And thank you Jill for your many years of service to our neighborhood and community!]

B&O TAX IMPACT

Please spread the word that with city hall closed, business owners cannot turn in B&O tax in person. And there’s an error on the address to mail it to on the form. Do not mail it to Po box and zip code listed. Instead, mail it to 210 Lottie St, zip code 98225 ~Eileen Gribble

CONSERVATION DISTRICT ELECTION

The Whatcom County Conservation District dispenses grant money. It’s an important support for both farmers and the environment. Elections to the board that decides how the funds are spent are county-wide but oddly are not included in general elections. The only way to vote in the Conservation District election in March is to request a ballot by February 8. There will not be an opportunity to vote in person this year because of Covid-19. So: if you were feeling complacent about requesting a ballot because there’s always the in-person voting option, that door is closed. Please request your ballot now from  www.whatcomcd.org/board-elections

The ballots are due back by March 23.

ORCHARD SPRAY AND A NEW ROOF

To the Columbia Neighborhood: We are still battling winter moth and coddling moth in our orchard. Does anyone know someone who sprays orchards? Maybe someone who is even a little organic?  We’re also looking for someone who has experience with metal roofing and can put a metal roof on our Pergola. About 15x20ft. ~ Ahwren Ayers 360-312-1244

RENTAL WANTED

We are a 58 & 60 yrs old young couple. We have our own professional business in home renovation and holistic therapy. We are Looking for a home to rent in south bellingham to Lake Samish are preferably starting spring/early summer . we are neat, responsible, friendly and good communicators. We have no pets and do not smoke. We are outdoor enthusiasts along with holistic health and music. If need any carpentry work may be able to do as well. Looking for space thats spacious and light. Around 1000 plus SQ FT, 2-3 bedrooms, yard storage for outdoor gear and tools etc.  ~ Elizabeth Stanton 360 570-8653

WHO WILL WATCH THE HOME PLACE?

Written by Kate Long, sung by Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huj2zoz3oPg

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  flip@columbianeighborhood.org

If you’re willing to share your phone and address with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission.

If you want to ask me to post something, just email me. If it’s urgent, phone. If it’s a real emergency, call 911.

CONTENTS 1/24/2021
Encampment
Base Camp
Soup Brigade
Today’s Ingredients
Bulk Recipes
Now What?
Stimulus Checks?
Conservation District Election
Garden Shout-Out
Bellingham Folk Festival
Radio Free Fl!p:  Peg And Awl

ENCAMPMENT

Very difficult news came out last night. After the riot on Friday, late that night at nearly 11 PM, there was more violence, this time involving a hatchet. No one was killed, but two people were injured. Police had no suspects as of last night. There was no demonstrable connection between the riot and the attack, except the decision to use violence. Those attacked were in a vehicle. The attackers were on foot. And it appears to have happened within a block of City Hall.

Just as kindness has been shown to be contagious, violence can spread. The riot was a bad situation, like a kegger that got way out of hand. Except at least some of the people who invited their out-of-town friends knew this was a very likely result. Young adults with great moral outrage.

I’m guessing the young adults who have been volunteering at the encampment for months could use a safe place to process what actually happened Friday, without being cornered into trying to defend their friends. It looks to me like the Collective folks are both highly principled, and rigid about it in ways that make it hard for them to work with others to find a viable path forward. Much like what has happened nationally.

I am deeply concerned that at least a few of them have been somehow sucked into believing that violence will be necessary to create change. That nothing will change without it. That violence is morally right. That is a very slippery slope. And they are inviting others to join them on it.

Our job is not to tear down the system but to build new ones that will stand as the old crumbles. Systems that are not based on greed. Where greed is not an acceptable basis for any decision at any level. We all carry greed, every one of us, so it doesn’t work to blame others for their greed as if we were morally above it  – but we don’t have to let greed run things.

The riot did not help anyone. It terrified the homeless folks caught in the middle, and may have sucked some of them into joining in, based on their own frustration with the situation. It scared neighbors who have been cooking, donating and writing letters in support. It hardened everyone’s opinions without helping people take in new information. It damaged relationships that will be needed to do the work of creating new options.

I believe, because of this commitment to violence, that we need to offer assistance to campers who would like to move away from the City Hall encampment. The idealism of the collective may land some homeless campers in jail. We need to find safer places for people to camp, since other viable options are not yet available. And then figure out how to support them in other spaces. If we stop bringing food, that will hurt the homeless people who have been relying on us. I’ll be listening and thinking about what to do next, but don’t yet have suggestions.

BASE CAMP

Base Camp helps a lot of people find shelter. It’s good that it’s here and we should support it. But notice that it’s half full and has been all winter. How that could that be? The City tried to contract with just one organization to provide all homeless sheltering, because that is easier, and the City has a lot on its plate. But as near as I can tell they never asked any homeless people what they thought. I got an earful last year when I was doing direct face to face volunteer outreach during the big snow. The Lighthouse Mission organization cannot serve everyone and it is naive for our elected officials to think so and then blame those who won’t or often can’t use them.

SOUP BRIGADE

From the Collective: Please bring meals to the entrance to Lottie Street on Grand Avenue, beside the courthouse. There are now signs to show you where. If you would like a volunteer to come grab donations at your car, honk! It may take a moment for someone to get over to you; we appreciate your patience. Please be as restrained as possible in your honking. Among the homeless folks are veterans with PTSD and other survivors of violence. Sudden loud noises are very hard on them.

TODAY’S INGREDIENTS

Whew boy, do we have ingredients! Potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, cheese, pasta, rice, lentils, split peas, and yesterday someone dropped off a bunch of cans of tomato sauces and pieces. I have more restaurant pans, soup pots, various individual containers and bakery bags. Please come cook it up! Sign up on the MealTrain for now. And contact me before going down.

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke

BULK RECIPES

Great recipes! We assume a 2 cup serving for the Soup Brigade, since we generally have one-dish meals, so you may need to double up, aiming for 6.25 gallons of food. These recipes tell you how many of what size pans, and how many pounds of various ingredients will be needed.

https://www.chef-menus.com/quantity_recipes_pasta_potatoes.html?fbclid=IwAR13bpYCA1NhiJXAa8btUcQjDYBOMSpERwSTljHUa-G2-WiXIZbLS8K6wa0

And here’s a food quantity chart as well:

https://www.chef-menus.com/food-quantity-chart.html

NOW WHAT?

This morning I think it might be helpful to focus on encouraging elected officials to sign a contract and spend the money right now to get more tiny homes being built while the details of where to put them and who to run them get ironed out. Officials would be able to announce the contract as evidence of following through on good intentions. I am vastly relieved that Seth & Satpal have a good relationship and can work together.

I believe it would be possible for them to order the next round or two of tiny homes on Monday and get the company working to build the houses while officials work out the details of where to put them and who to have run them. Then at least there wouldn’t be a lag waiting for the houses to arrive as there was for SwiftHaven. Meanwhile, warming shelters must be opened.

In other cities, homeless citizens have moved out of parks and roadsides when offered tiny home encampments. It’s not a long-term solution but right now it’s a fast and humane stop-gap measure while we create permanent housing that is actually affordable on a minimum wage job or social security check.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/the-story-of-one-ordinary-park-brings-new-hope-for-seattles-homelessness-emergency/

STIMULUS CHECKS?

I love that people are still sending me information on how people without an address might be able to access their stimulus payment.

https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/taxes/homeless-stimulus-checks/

CONSERVATION DISTRICT ELECTION

The Whatcom County Conservation District dispenses grant money. It’s an important support for both farmers and the environment. Elections to the board that decides how the funds are spent are county-wide but oddly are not included in general elections. The only way to vote in the Conservation District election in March is to request a ballot by February 8. There will not be an opportunity to vote in person this year because of Covid-19. So: if you were feeling complacent about requesting a ballot because there’s always the in-person voting option, that door is closed. Please request your ballot now from  www.whatcomcd.org/board-elections

The ballots are due back by March 23.

GARDEN SHOUT-OUT

Last summer I got some help from a nice gent who advertised his yard work and gardening experience on Nextdoor.  His name is Paul and he’s a good worker and very nice guy.  He has worked with Growing Veterans too!  I’m amplifying his message here; he just became unemployed and needs work.  Highly recommended.  Phone: 360-224-0735 or in case the first one gets shut off 360-358-3315.  Thanks! Margie Katz

BELLINGHAM FOLK FESTIVAL

Here’s Today (Last Day)  🤓 🎻

http://www.thebellinghamfolkfestival.com/schedule

Sunday all day: It’s dress like a tune day! Nail That Catfish to a Tree? King of the Fairies? Flowers of Edinburgh? Red Haired Boy? That one you wrote that actually has a perfect name for this that nobody else knows yet?
9am PST – BFF Base Camp is open for business, coffee, questions, breakfast chat, additional staring time
9:45am… PST – Workshops and sessions start and then continue
10am PST – Kids’ Hour! Hang out with the cool cats at the Pickle Palace and learn a tune with other kids
1:15pm PST – Choose your own adventure… Trad Zoomba (sturdy shoes recommended) or songs of connection sing-along with Fl!p Breskin!
3pm PST – Who’s in Your House? and tea time. Let’s meet your pets, roommates and houseplants 🙂
5pm PST – Last Raffle/Happy Hour
5:30pm – 6:30pm PST – Bruce Molsky + the Cayley Schmid Duo featuring Aaron Guest perform over at the Concert Hall, it can also be streamed live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/quarantinehappyhourmusic/

RADIO FREE FL!P:  PEG AND AWL

Bruce Molsky – This is who’s playing this evening at the folk fest! That’s just him on the recording, singing with his fiddle. It’s just beautiful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsrTS0wSuIE

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  flip@columbianeighborhood.org

If you’re willing to share your phone and address with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission.

If you want to ask me to post something, just email me. If it’s urgent, phone. If it’s a real emergency, call 911.

CONTENTS 1/23/2021

Encampment
   What Happened?
   Eviction?
   The Protesters
   Big Picture
   Soup Brigade
   What About Base Camp?
   Bulk Recipes
   Stimulus Checks For Homeless Folks
Found Camera Lens
Bellingham Folk Festival All Weekend!
Radio Free Fl!p: I Bid You Goodnight

WHAT HAPPENED?

Let me begin by saying I was not there. So everything I say tonight is hearsay. Except the parts I saw and heard on video. But here is my understanding as of tonight.

Word was posted on social media that the city was planning a Sweep of the homeless encampment at City Hall. Sweeps generally involve workers coming in and taking everything homeless folks are unable to carry away. The rules say that valuables must be held for 60 days, and there is phone number homeless folks can call to get their belongings back. But that assumes the homeless folks have access to a phone, and transportation to wherever their stuff got taken. And that objects important to them personally have not been classified as garbage and thrown away. As I heard one outreach worker say at a council meeting, “We give them tents, and you throw them away.” Representation on social media made it sound like a full Sweep.

There is a current legal prohibition against clearing occupied sites – Sweeps – during the pandemic. A year ago there were already 700 homeless individuals in the Whatcom homeless census. This year that homeless census will not happen due to Covid concerns. But I can’t imagine there are not many more now.

Friday morning a fairly small group of protesters showed up and took angry and provocative action.  They barricaded Lottie Street. They spray painted graffiti on City Hall. Long-term volunteers and local journalists got shoved, threatened, attacked and chased off site by protesters trying to keep from being filmed. There were attempts to destroy video equipment. A flag was torn down and defaced. City Hall was broken into. Chanting demanded the mayor come out. From the video I listened to, it would not have been at all safe for him to do so. Both City Hall and the library were evacuated. I haven’t been able to find anyone yet who witnessed any arrests. There may have been some, but I haven’t heard.

The protest was very loud, including banging on things and lots of yelling. Many of the homeless campers have PTSD and this was really hard on them.

At 9 PM barricades were still in place, but vehicles were gone. We don’t know if they’ll be back tomorrow. Comment from a long-time volunteer: I can tell you for sure all those folks in today’s videos are not sleeping outside on Lottie lawns.

None of our Soup Brigade cooks had any problem with delivery today despite the goings-on.

EVICTION?

The City did not intend to shut down the whole site – just shift the campers who were creating fire risk with candles too close to the bushes next to City Hall, and one who had placed their tent blocking an employee exit. The encampment is also very hard on the workers in surrounding buildings. The smoke from fires gets right into the buildings and employees with asthma have trouble breathing. All workers are afraid their building will catch fire. Our compassion should also be directed to public servants just trying to do their jobs and members of the public trying to conduct essential business in the courthouse, city hall and library. Workers and homeless campers’ needs are not in conflict. Everyone’s lives will be better when we have housing.

Outreach volunteers worked all Thursday night with individual campers, assisting them to move or prepare to move, or listening to them about their intention not to move in some cases.

It could have been helpful if rather than posting an eviction notice, the City & Fire Dept did one-on-one outreach to campers who were endangering others. They report that they did so, but I have not been able to confirm this with volunteers on the ground. I’d love to know.

Using legal language turns out to have been upsetting for a lot of people. A careful reading of the signs that were posted made it clear to me that it wasn’t a full sweep. But less legalese would have made it much clearer and less upsetting to many people.

THE PROTESTERS

Some people have their own little “heroic” movie script they are playing out.  And they want to use you as “extras.” (Comment from a friend)

They may just be generally pissed-off folks from elsewhere in the region, seeing an opportunity to be “righteously angry” without listening and learning, and without actually supporting the people they claim to be representing.

From a subscriber I have known for years, who is a person of color (very slightly edited for readability):

Around 2:30 some cars including a white Prius, a red Subaru and a grey SUV had blocked a lane of traffic near the Arch Of Reconciliation. There was group of young white people (more than half appeared to be women, but given their hostility I had no inclination to ask about pronouns) who were standing by the cars yelling at pedestrians for trying to read a sign that was part of their barricade. The groups we saw were all young people, all but one person was white, and they mostly appeared to be women.  Given that they used a white Prius and red Subaru to block traffic in jeans and a hot pink jacket, I’d be shocked if they were Proud Boys in disguise — though they do seem to share a similar sense of white entitlement and comfort yelling at people.

One of the protesters was caught on video saying they were from Seattle. An old friend who has been a local activist for decades went down to see if he recognized any of the protesters and he did not.

Protesters used umbrellas to block videos, and to threaten people. This tactic has been seen elsewhere around our region.

BIG PICTURE

I am heartbroken about the delays in getting our fellow citizens indoors and safe. At the same time, I am sympathetic to the fact that no elected officials, and no one else either, signed up to handle this pandemic when they ran for office. Local governments are not allowed to spend money they don’t have. Getting extra money is a long and involved process even when the need is urgent.

The City and County are legally required to sign contracts if they are handing resources to someone. And the principled and idealistic young folks running the food tent don’t believe in contracts or hierarchy. So negotiations between them are stuck.

At its core, government is what we do as a community that we are unable to do for ourselves as individuals – water, roads, fire, etc. A society which cannot or will not house its most vulnerable citizens has failed. We have not only failed locally, we have failed as a nation. I would expect FEMA to be able to help. Maybe the new administration will finally make some funds available.

HomesNOW.org has offered to create more managed tiny home villages. They have a record of success on the ground with SwiftHaven, Unity Village, and former villages like SafeHaven. They have their non-profit 501c3 status. It’s long past time for the City & County to sign with them and let them get to work.

I believe the most effective action we can take is for hundreds and thousands of us to write and phone local elected officials, being warmly supportive of them spending money, providing long-term land, signing contracts, and ordering tiny homes IMMEDIATELY so the company can get them built for delivery as soon as sites are prepared.

It doesn’t help to try to bully elected officials, or anyone else. If there are enough of us, the situation will shift. Gathering friends and speaking up clearly but calmly will create the safety net we need. Encourage your children to write too, to take action. Not to be frozen in fear. It will help them cope, and help us all.

None of us are safe till all of us are safe. When some people get abandoned, everyone knows in their heart of hearts that they could be next. This leaves us all frightened and isolated. And our children are watching.

City Hall’s street address is 210 Lottie Street, 98225.
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org

The Whatcom County Courthouse address is 311 Grand Avenue, 98225
ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us
council@co.whatcom.wa.us

SOUP BRIGADE

There has been much less interference with donations when cooks back up and park on Grand Street above the library lawn. If you are signed up to cook in the next few days, please stay in good touch with me about the changing situation, and also check with me before you go to take food down. I will check in with volunteers on the ground to see what the situation is and where they want to meet you. Today they were meeting cooks by the front doors of the library, safely away from the action. Sign up for the MealTrain, and then talk with me about ingredients, cooking pans & individual containers. I have stuff. So far no one has signed up for either breakfast or lunch today.

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke

WHAT ABOUT BASE CAMP?

Last year I first went to do homeless outreach at the beginning of the huge snow storm, with a pair of long-time volunteers. We took coats, gloves, hats, scarves, and hot food. And we pointed folks we met toward available shelters. I was shocked and horrified at the number of unsheltered folks who told me vehemently that they would freeze to death before they ever walked back in the door to the Mission. Feelings of humiliation seemed to be common among those folks. BaseCamp (and the other Mission shelters) seem to work well for many people, but are very definitely not for everyone. We need a range of solutions.

Clear evidence for this is the many campers who have chosen to stay in miserable conditions over Base Camp. Homeless folks tend to be pragmatic, so it’s probably a deliberate choice. City decision makers have been remarkably uncurious about this. It’s possible it was unworkable to create Base Camp by consulting with only providers and not also talking with the folks who refuse to use them.

Public meetings, especially now on Zoom, are not accessible to homeless folks, almost none of whom have phones or internet access. Making decisions about them as if they were a unit is convenient and efficient – unless it doesn’t work.

There is also a really weird lag here: Announcing the clearance of nearly a quarter of the camping space for a Friday, and announcing the re-opening of an emergency shelter for Sunday. With a snow storm predicted for Saturday. And freezing temperatures already tonight, with wind chill down into the low 20s. Now predicted to be followed by heavy rain Saturday night. Snow might actually be easier to stay warm in, if campers could get dry.

And now the City is encouraging those of us who have been providing support on the ground to stop, without providing viable support themselves. I hope we can continue to support our neighbors, and find ways to help them find long term homes again.

BULK RECIPES

A treasure!!!

https://www.chef-menus.com/food-quantity-chart.html

From Maggie Krostag in Skagit Valley: “I wish I could find a place to share recipes and quantities with people cooking for the  meal train. I know when I helped a friend prepare food, it would have been easier to know what kind of quantities to buy, collect and prepare.” Passed on by Deb Valentine. Thank you!

STIMULUS CHECKS FOR HOMELESS FOLKS

This is about the prior stimulus but the requirements are likely to be similar:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/09/getting-stimulus-payments-homeless-communities

FOUND CAMERA LENS

Found in Lorraine Ellis Court Park, cover for Canon camera lens.
2710 Williams St.  I’ll tape to our front door. ~ Mary Gorsuch

BELLINGHAM FOLK FESTIVAL ALL WEEKEND!

January 22nd, 23rd and 24th

– Saturday all day: Wear a shirt, hoodie, hat, sticker, or something from a place that you’ve been, a band you love, or an event you attended. Oh the memories!
– Saturday 5pm: Hat party! What kind of hat? Wear that fancy one you never get a chance to take out of the house. Wear that reindeer antler headband you still haven’t put away. Can you get it on your head? It’s a hat.
8:30-9:15am PST – BFF Base Camp is open for business, coffee, questions, breakfast chat
9:15am-… PST – Workshops start and pretty much never end
12:00pm PST – 1:00pm PST – Màiri Chaimbeul + Adam and Lotta perform
over at the Concert Hall, it can also be streamed live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/quarantinehappyhourmusic/12:00pm -… PST – Workshops continue
5:00pm – 5:30pm PST – Hat Party Happy Hour! a.k.a. put something on your head time and have a bevie
5:30pm – 6:30pm PST – McKain Lakey + Sweater Weather perform over at the Concert Hall, it can also be streamed live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/quarantinehappyhourmusic/6:30pm – 10:00pm PST – More workshops, dance parties, AH! 👑
ALSO… If a room isn’t being used for something on the schedule, feel free to commandeer it.
http://www.thebellinghamfolkfestival.com/schedule
http://www.thebellinghamfolkfestival.com/

RADIO FREE FL!P: I BID YOU GOODNIGHT

Joseph Spence & the Pinder Family: Joseph Spence was a Bahamian guitarist and vocalist. Raymond Pinder was Spence’s brother-in-law and fellow vocalist. Folklorist Sam Charters was the first to record Spence on his own back porch in 1958 and an album was released on the Folkways label in 1959.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65jQXHIwy00

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org

If you’re willing to share your phone and address with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission.

If you want to ask me to post something, just email me. If it’s urgent, phone. If it’s a real emergency, call 911.