REALCHANGE June 10 – 16, 2020 $2 CASHorVENMO JUNE 10 – 16, 2020 n VOLUME 27 NUMBER 24 n REALCHANGENEWS.ORG YOUR VENDOR BUYS THIS PAPER FOR 60¢ AND KEEPS ALL THE PROCEEDS. PLEASE PURCHASE FROM VENDORS WITH LAVENDER 2020 BADGES. GATHERING $100,000 $90,000 $80,000 $70,000 $77,767.50 $60,000 MOMENTUM $50,000 The protests against police brutality gain strength $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 SPRING FUND DRIVESee page 10 A VIRUS HAVEN FOR SENIORS Vanishing mobile home parks have been a refuge for those at high-risk of contracting COVID-19, p.3 FILLED TO THE BRIM BOOK REVIEW: HOW THIS COMPARES TO OUR PAST STRUGGLES, p.4 We’re drowning in plastic, p.8 A STEP BEYOND RAGE TO LISTING OF DEMANDS, p.5 TEENS WANT POLICE EXPELLED FROM SCHOOLS, p.6 REALCHANGE REALCHANGE 2 OPINION June 10 – 16, 2020 June 10 – 16, 2020 NEWS 3 “Passover is not over yet because the Real Change exists to provide opportunity The case for building tiny house and a voice for low-income and homeless angel of death is still riding.” people while taking action for economic, REPORTER’S villages during the pandemic — Eloise Mickelsen social and racial justice. NOTEBOOK Real Change offices By SHARON LEE supportive services and security. Local the curve of disease transmission. Fed- 219 First Ave. S., Suite 220 Guest Writer governments still have to figure out what eral, state and local governments should Seattle, WA 98104 to do afterward. As new shelter stan- allocate funds so that we can shelter every 206.441.3247, www.realchangenews.org eattle’s adoption of tiny house villag- dards for physical distancing are being single person separately and safely in ac- Get tested es as a crisis response to homeless- developed to address COVID-19 and other cordance with CDC guidelines. As of May he city of Seattle and University BOARD OF DIRECTORS Yolanda Altamirano (President), Malou Chávez, S ness several years ago is now paying infectious diseases, what will happen to 12, hundreds of people living in LIHI’s tiny of Washington (UW) teamed Shelly Cohen, Matthew Hayashi, unexpected dividends as an ideal form of the thousands of unhoused men, women house villages were tested for COVID-19 up to create two coronavirus Hannah Hunthausen, Pamela Kliment, T Jim Lauinger, Maria Elena Ramirez, Mary Riski shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic. and children who are now sheltering in and no one was found positive, according testing sites in an effort to provide free The mandate from public health offi- hotels? If they can no longer return to the to the public health nurses who reported testing to determine who has the virus. EDITORIAL STAFF cials is clear: Stay home, stay separate, stay shelters they came from, will they be sent the test results to staff. The facilities — former Seattle emis- Staff Reporter Ashley Archibald Editor Lee Nacozy clean. But you can’t stay home without a back to the streets? With the pressure to help people living sions testing sites at 12040 Aurora Ave. Features Reporter Kamna Shastri home and you can’t shelter in place without Will we see even more homeless on the streets avoid the coronavirus, our N and 3820 Sixth Ave. S — are open Art Director Jon Williams shelter. A basic condition of being homeless people on the streets after the pandemic experienced team has streamlined our Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. REAL CHANGE STAFF is the necessity of frequenting and inhabit- because shelter capacity is being reduced new villages’ setup time from three months to 3 p.m. Circulation Specialist Wes Browning ing public places: You must look for food, across the board? down to four weeks. We are happy to share People can register for a testing Organizer Evelyn Chow bathrooms, warmth and ad hoc shelter. In early April, King County rented our experience with others on how to cre- slot in advance by going to seattle.gov/ Volunteer Manager Katie Comboy Managing Director Shelley Dooley This often requires interacting with others. the Red Lion Hotel, located in the city ate and operate tiny house villages. mayor/covid-19-testing. Communications and Development In the public interest of flattening the of Renton (just south of Seattle), to de- Tiny house villages cost far less than The partnership will increase the Associate Alexis Estrada curve and basic human decency, all avail- intensify Seattle’s largest homeless shel- extended hotel stays and can remain in number of tests by 1,600 per day. Founding Director Timothy Harris Field Organizer Neal Lampi able resources should go toward ensuring ter. The lease was for 90 days. The initial place for years. The city of Seattle is fund- “The implementation of stringent Vendor Program Manager Rebecca Marriott that every person has a safe, clean, warm response from the mayor of Renton was ing nine of the 12 villages. The average mitigation measures have saved lives Lead Organizer Tiffani McCoy Vendor Case Manager Ainsley Meyer and separate place to live or, at very least, a demand that the county remove the 200 cost for a person living in a tiny house and slowed the spread of the virus, Office Manager Ari Shirazi shelter. Homeless people are frequently homeless people immediately at the end of is $38 per day, compared with $56 for an but the virus can quickly resurge if we Development Director Camilla Walter elderly or in poor health, two factors that the lease. Renton officials stated that the enhanced shelter bed and $130 or more don’t do testing, contact tracing and increase the risk of COVID-19. Traditional hotel is not zoned as a shelter and that the for a night’s stay in a hotel. In March, isolation,” said Ana Marie Cauce, UW VOLUNTEERS Editorial Committee Susan Storer Clark, shelters with barrack-style open sleeping county should ensure that homeless indi- Mayor Jenny Durkan provided immedi- president, in a press release. Laura Ditsch, Willie Jones, James Jenkins, Dagmar arrangements are problematic for prevent- viduals not remain in Renton, but return ate funding for LIHI to build 50 more tiny Expanding testing capacity is criti- Matheny, Paige Owens, Tiron Rowe ing the spread of infectious diseases; to their original shelters in Seattle or find houses to help 60 unsheltered individuals. cal for getting the virus under control Contributing Writers Rabbi Olivier BenHaim, having people sleep inches away from one other options. For cities and counties, not LIHI opened a new village focused on the because people who test positive can Hanna Brooks Olsen, Wes Browning, John Helmiere, Michelle Galluzzo, Dave Gamrath, another is dangerous. only is paying for hotel stays expensive needs of homeless African Americans, isolate themselves and avoid spreading Kelly Knickerbocker, Joe Martin, Patrick “Mac” On April 20, Seattle & King County and hard to sustain, but NIMBY and anti- Native Americans and Alaska Natives Photo by Matthew S. Browning the disease. McIntyre, Jill Mullins, Oscar Rosales Castaneda, Susan Storer Clark, Megan Wildhood, Mike Wold Public Health officials announced that homeless sentiments can easily flare up and also doubled the size of an existing Eloise Mickelsen in her home at Halcyon Mobile Home Community for seniors in north Seattle. Research out of the London School 112 homeless people and staff working and divide those communities. village, which operates on a housing-first of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine sug- Photographers and Artists Alex Bergstrom, in homeless shelters were infected with model. Mayor Durkan praises tiny house gests that as few as 10 percent of the Matthew S. Browning, Sam Day, Natalie Dupille, Jeffrey Few, Valerie Franc, Susan Fried, Seth covid-19, and that two homeless people Another Approach: Tiny Houses villages as “probably the most successful cases may be responsible for 80 percent Goodkind, Derek Gundy, Lisa Hagen Glynn, Lara had died. In mid-April at the Multi-Service Since early March, when public of- shelter we have to get people into long- Communal yet standalone houses may unlock of the thread. Kaminoff, Ted Mase, Dave Parish, Joseph Romain, Wes Sauer, Katie Wheeler Center South shelter in San Francisco, ficials were scrambling to de-intensify term housing, and it has become some Scientists call these people “super 96 people and 10 staff tested positive — shelters to protect people from the coro- of the most sought-after shelter for some good health, shows Seattle mobile home park spreaders” because they tend to infect Copy Editors Pamela Bradburn, Mason Duke, Merry Nye, Morgan Wegner this was the largest outbreak in a single navirus, families and individuals living people experiencing homelessness.” large groups of people all at once. One shelter nationally. On April 23, officials in the Low Income Housing Institute’s We know that low-income housing, By ASHLEY ARCHIBALD are obeying the rules and carrying on torium another six months with the hope such super spreader in South Korea — Real Change Volunteers Yolanda Altamirano, shut down the Division Circle Navigation (LIHI) tiny house villages have been able including permanent supportive housing, Staff Reporter properly,” Mickelsen said. “That other 40 that it would give the Seattle Department dubbed “Patient 31” by the country’s Cathie Andersen, Carla Blaschka, Maridee Bonadea, Pamela Bradburn, Chris Burnside, Center in San Francisco’s Mission District to shelter in place and implement public is the real solution for all people experienc- percent are wildcards.” of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) health authority — infected 40 people Cathy Clemens, Jim Freier, Candace Gallerani, after two people tested positive and the health procedures to stay safe. ing homelessness. Hopefully this will gain loise Mickelsen watched with hor- Halcyon residents almost lost the se- time to move the process forward.