Despite rainy, gray weather this past Saturday and Sunday, UW students, staff and faculty turned out to help residents of Tent City 3 move from Trinity United Methodist Church in Seattle’s Crown Hill neighborhood to their new, three-month home in UW’s W35 parking lot near NE Pacific St. and Brooklyn Ave. In addition to the normal lifting, lugging, packing and unpacking involved in moving 40 people, COVID-19 precautions were incorporated. Volunteers watched their distance, wore their masks and washed their hands frequently.
For those unfamiliar with its history, TC3 is a long-time self-governed community of homeless individuals and families. The camp moves every 90 days in the greater Seattle area utilizing invitations to church parking lots and other properties. TC3 screens potential residents for sex offender status and does not allow drugs, alcohol, harassment or violence. The average time someone lives at TC3 varies from a few days to several months.
TC3’s residency at UW this quarter follows the first TC3 residency at UW in winter quarter of 2017, the first hosting of a sanctioned community of homeless people by a public university. UW grounded the decision to host in 2017 on the University’s academic mission. More than a dozen classroom and clinical courses connected students and TC3 residents in 2017.
The decision by UW to host again came as a result of advocacy by Tent City Collective, a group of UW students, alumni and Tent City 3 residents looking to repeat the success of 2017. However, the pandemic changed UW’s instructional approach after the commitment to host TC3 had been made. This year’s academic interactions with Tent City 3 are likely to be largely virtual with the exception of clinical courses.
Pandemic precautions added more to the planning. TC3 will have a lower cap on maximum resident numbers while at UW in order to ensure adequate camp spacing. The camp will have extra hand-washing stations. Public Health Seattle & King County has had and will retain responsibility for regular coronavirus testing at TC3 and will provide contact tracing if required.
To learn more about the TC3 at UW and UW’s broader work on homelessness, visit UW’s Addressing Homelessness webpage.
Contact the Tent City Collective if you’re interested in volunteering. Visit them on Facebook or email tentcity@uw.edu.
To donate food or supplies to TC3, visit their webpage.
For questions about the hosting decision and logistics, email regional@uw.edu.