(Image: @parkupine via Instagram)
Capitol Hill’s tiny Williams Place Park was the latest public space to be cleared of tents and personal belongings as homeless encampment sweeps continue in Seattle.
The treed square at 15th and John was swept Thursday, Seattle Parks confirms. The park will now be closed through June 17th “in order for Parks and Recreation staff to address any damage to the park and reestablish vegetation,” a spokesperson tells CHS.
Thursday’s clearance follows a mid-May sweep of Broadway Hill Park and a much larger clearance effort in April at Miller Playfield as the nearby Meany Middle School prepared to welcome students back for in-person learning after months of at-home instruction during the COVID-19 crisis.
As it has cleared the parks where encampments formed during the pandemic, the city has also provided public safety justifications for the clearances. At Williams Place Park where camping has been a regular issue in recent years, the city says the Seattle Police Department and the Seattle Fire Department “responded to the general vicinity around the encampment located at Williams Place at least 39 times over the past six months, 19 of these calls were for tent fires, or other illegal burns. Additionally, the Fire Alarm Center was advised of 5 additional illegal burns at the encampment.” CHS reported on one fire at the encampment in March. In January, police investigated a stabbing involving a victim living in the park.
As in the Broadway Hill and Miller sweeps, the city says it stepped up outreach efforts prior to posting notice of Thursday’s work to remove any remaining tents, camp supplies, and garbage from the park:
For over a week, the HOPE Team, a City of Seattle program within the Human Services Department that coordinates homelessness outreach and referrals to shelter, has been coordinating outreach efforts with providers to those living unhoused on Williams Place Park. Shelter resources offered by outreach providers included wraparound services such as behavioral and mental health, case management, and housing navigation, to help end a persons experience with homelessness.
The city spokesperson sasy “five individuals residing onsite” received referrals to shelter — three to the Executive Hotel Pacific, one to the Interbay Tiny Home Village, and one to Bridge Shelter. Seattle’s ongoing “shelter surge” includes leasing rooms in two downtown hotels.
Officials say so far in 2021, the city’s Homelessness Outreach and Provider Ecosystem (HOPE) Team in partnership with outreach providers has made at least 465 referrals to shelter. “A referral indicates that an individual experiencing homelessness has accepted an offer of shelter and they have been connected to an open shelter resource,” the city spokesperson said. Since the end of March, over 225 referrals have been into new hotel-based resources.
City policy requires sweep workers to store two bins of any personal items left behind. “People can retrieve their items by calling 206-459-9949 and the City will work with individuals to make arrangements to deliver items,” the city says.
DID YOU FIND THIS ARTICLE USEFUL?
Give CHS a buck and support local journalism dedicated to your neighborhood. SUBSCRIBE HERE. Become a subscriber at $1/$5/$10 a month to help CHS provide community news with NO PAYWALL. You can also sign up for a one-time annual payment.
Latest Capitol Hill homeless sweep clears Williams Place Park - CHS Capitol Hill Seattle News
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment