April 22, 2022 Update Kitsap County-Weekly Encampment Report

As we near the time of eviction of the Veterans Park in Port Orchard, wanted to update on what's been happening behind the scenes. St. Michael's Hospital, Kitsap County Public Health, and the Mayor of Port Orchard were contacted in an appeal to come up with solutions to caring for the medical and housing needs of our unsheltered neighbors in Port Orchard who are soon to be evicted from Veterans Park. 

Some resources were sent to the Mayor of Port Orchard and Kitsap Public Health director and could be helpful to others to share with your community that may be experiencing concerns regarding our homeless neighbors. Please review the following:

The Puyallup tribe had very similar problems to our community. This village is an answer. These solutions work. People are given the dignity they need and the surrounding community is not upset because the 'village' remains less of an eyesore than tents in a park. There are many examples of this working if you are interested in knowing more:

https://news.puyalluptribe-nsn.gov/puyallup-tribe-of-indians-tiny-home-village/

https://www.curbed.com/2021/04/tiny-home-village-homeless-los-angeles.html

People cannot afford housing right now. The demand is much higher than the supply. This is a temporary solution, but has been shown to be effective. Key to these interventions working is having codes of conduct for inhabitants and 24 hour surveillance. Safe Parking works effectively in the same way--24 hours surveillance and code of conduct.

There are many solutions that may not be well known or seem impossible, but these solutions have been shown to be effective. Please pass along to your local community members and leaders.

Additional Update: Please view video for vision for providing medical respite for our unsheltered neighbors. This was a Kitsap county program pre-Covid that was very successful, but was discontinued when COVID took priority. Goal is to consider a model such as this to get unsheletered, medically fragile populations into housing and providing assistance to navigate the medical system: https://vimeo.com/366366876