Help Candace Mercer Move to Safety

The situation near Unity Commons has become too stressful and dangerous to continue living on Pattison Street

Hello all,

I am asking for community support to help me get out of what has become a very bad situation which is impacting my mental and physical health. Living across from Unity Commons, a mixed homeless shelter and supportive housing project has exposed me to frequent violence, unpredictable behavior from people in severe mental health crisis, and almost daily fentanyl use/dealing. There is constant camping, fighting, partying, screaming and people passed out.

I am forced to basically become a first responder to any number of volatile incidents. I have to do triage without any training or desire. I have become hypervigilent, instantly attuned to developing situations.

Do I call OPD or just Unity Commons?

Is that person sleeping, passed out or dead? Should I do a welfare check?

Is this fight just a bunch of verbal abuse or is it going to break bad?

One night I awoke to see orange flames out my window. Someone had set my neighbor’s truck on fire.

My fear is watching someone die. My greatest fear is watching someone die and not making the right call. I have Narcan. Two doses, in case one is not enough.

It is one thing to read about the homeless crisis, or see it driving or walking past, but it is another level when it is in front of your home and with no respite or escape. They watch me when I garden and when I leave the house. The desk I write from looks onto a serial drama with recurring characters (Drum Guy) and plot twists you can’t see coming.

Many situations leave me shaken and disoriented. Did I do the right thing? I upload footage and post on social media. I want people to see what it is like. I don’t want the city and the service providers to have the “we didn’t know” excuse. I want other neighborhoods to see what happens when these projects have management like LIHI that does not actively work to integrate into the community.

There have been approximately twenty arrests within a 1/4 mile of my house since January. In the past 4-5 weeks I have witnessed at least six visits by OPD within sight of my house. Today, July 4, this happened as I was writing.

The below happened while I was editing on July 5, note the large torch in his hand for smoking drugs. I later went out to lunch and came back to see OPD in front of Unity Commons. There have been at least eight OPD visits in the past month, probably more, because I don’t see them all. Today I heard there were eight OPD cars at an incident at Devoe and Martin Way, 1/4 a mile away.

About a month ago, around ten at night, there was a man yelling violent threats for over an hour in a tone that sounded like he meant every word. He got aggressive when OPD arrived, they tased him. A month before that there was a nasty fight that led to an assault arrest. We believe, based on evidence found, there was a rape in the woods behind my house last summer.

I have twice written about the situation, first at the five month mark after the project opened.

I then followed up with a second piece this February, which includes over 125 images and clips showing the relentless quality of the takeover of Applehill by the street subculture. I used to hear kids playing in the evening. No more. It was a silent spring.

Since February, the situation has worsened, especially with summer. I live across from an open air drug market. It should not be acceptable, but nobody really cares. I have done my best to document and to fight back, to make it a hostile place to use and sell drugs.

One way has been to compile videos into a YouTube playlist, which appears to be getting the word out in a limited fashion. It was a desperate and risky strategy, making me a target.

AN OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF

Fortunately, I am finally nearing the top of a list for subsidized housing after over a decade of trying. As of July 3, I am #17.

I estimate I have 2-3 months left on Pattison Street. I wish it was sooner, but truth is I need the extra time due to my health. However this has strained my financial resources to the breaking point.

I have been doing my best to prepare all year—selling things, giving things away, accumulating resources, but I now need help.

I have hit a wall with both my stress level and my physical capacity.

Going into the home stretch, I cannot do it alone anymore.

I need money and I need help with practical matters.

I am honored to be included as the first woman in PNW artist Sherry Pence’s victims of Left Wing Violence series which also includes Andy Ngo, Chris Elston and Fred Sargeant.

MONEY

I need money for the following:

• Movers

• Paying people to help me pack/clean if I do not get help

• Move in fees for new place

• My rent is $326 per month more than my Social Security (I have applied for aid but fear discrimination based on who is administering the program, someone associated has expressed negative views of me on social media.)

• Dump run fees

• Lawn work

• Take out food for when I am in too much pain to cook

• Miscellaneous unforeseen expenses

• Any remaining money will go toward making my new place a home, there are a few material goods I will need once moved including a countertop dishwasher and possibly a dryer.

I am frugal. All funds raised will be carefully spent.

There are several ways to donate money:

• Donorbox (has processing fees)

• Paypal (no fees with friends and family) candy@candio.com

• Zelle (no fees) contact me at OlympiaFTW2021@gmail.com for information

• Substack (processing fees) If you are not a paid subscriber, you can upgrade to paid or make a one time donation

• Venmo (no fees) @CandyMercer

• Check (email OlympiaFTW2021@gmail.com for address)

• Cash (if in Olympia, email OlympiaFTW2021@gmail.com for address)

• Restaurant Gift Cards I will eat almost anywhere! A big help because cooking has been hard and an army marches on its stomach.

• Retail Gift Cards Amazon, Walmart, Fred Meyer, Safeway, Target etc for things SNAP does not cover like paper goods, cleaning supplies and cat litter.

I am selling much of what I own on Facebook Marketplace, message me for link if you want a piece of me. I have art, plants, cool stuff, weird things, clothes, fabric, craft supplies and board games for sale. I am selling almost my entire library, lots of very interesting books! You are also welcome to schedule a time to come look around, I won’t be able to list everything. I have a lot of free stuff too!

Hardy and prolific hens an chicks $3-15 depending on size of pot.

You can also support me by purchasing merch at candio.com. I have canvases, clothing, bags, candles, phone cases, mugs, journals and more cool things for sale. Get some holiday shopping out of the way—your future self will thank you, as will I!

BECOME A FORCE MULTIPLIER

If you are in the Olympia area, I could also use some physical help and material goods. I live by the VFW/Unity Commons off of Martin Way, the Pacific Ave I-5 exit is about a mile away.

Due to my health, I am very limited physically even in the best of circumstances. I have really pushed myself hard the past few months and I am feeling it. I am hitting a wall.

The threat of violence and exposure to verbal abuse (even if not directed at me) has caused my PTSD to return. I have not been able to sleep properly because I am constantly awakened by drama or partiers. I nightmares about my space being violated, these are happening more often and leave me shaken.

Furhermore, I am shamed on social media, primarily Nextdoor, for my reporting. I am told I should be more compassionate and kinder to the people who have been causing harm to me and my neighbors. I was recently banned for thirty days from Nextdoor after a relentless bullying campaign. There is the ongoing general hate as well, currently taking the form of a sticker/poster campaign.

The work I do is incredibly hard. It is mentally taxing but also takes you to dark places. The last two stories I reported on did were especially difficult as they involved child sexual abuse and trans fetish pornography. I am currently working on a followup to the Jonathan Moore story as his case is scheduled for trial this week.

In person support will be the rocket fuel needed to propel me across the finish line. I have had to drastically cut back on socializing due to near total austerity with time and money. I will be honest, it has left me kind of lonely. Social contact really helps my morale and energy.

I am only able to work for short periods at a time. 1-2 hour shifts are optimal, afternoon and evenings are best but I can be available almost any time.

WAYS TO HELP LOCALLY

These are the tasks/goods I can use help with (contact information below):

• Packing and light cleaning tasks

• Weed wacking my “lawn” and some other outside tasks

• Dump run

• Boxes and packing supplies dropped off at my house, especially small and medium boxes (I have plenty of large and xlarge), bubble wrap and packing tape.

• Recommendations for honest and reasonably priced movers

• I will need a dryer in my new place if my landlord does not let me take the old one

• Driving me on errands—I promise to be efficient

• Drop off takeout food—for when I am in too much pain to cook

• Help getting settled post move

I will appreciate any of the above to a great degree.

I would also appreciate if you could share this post to people you think might be interested, to get the word out.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Email: OlympiaFTW2021@gmail.com

Facebook: Messenger

Twitter: DMs

Text: use one of the above contacts for number

Original recipe white meat KFC really helps my morale.

A NEW CHAPTER

People are constantly asking me why I don’t just move. The short answer is that I simply have not had the resources. I had to wait for the perfect situation.

Moving is one of the top five most difficult events in a person’s life. I have been in limbo for months.

The move will be life changing in so many ways. First of all, I have been told it is very safe and quiet where I am going. This will allow me to heal emotionally from the human suffering that I have been exposed to at Applehill for the past few years. My address will no longer be public knowledge.

More importantly, this is subsidized housing, my rent will be 30% of my Social Security instead of 135%. I will finally be able to breathe without financial stress for the first time since I became disabled in 2003.

This will give me almost unlimited freedom to work on my health and continue to do important projects. There is nobody in Olympia doing what I do. I have done quality in depth investigative reporting on Substack and feed stories higher up the media chain. This past year I broke many stories that became national and even international news. I had my footage featured on Fox News for the first time.

I am looking forward to be able to fully committed to my projects. My aspirations include more writing (a book?!?), art, video projects, public speaking and podcast interviews.

This is a mountain in my garden made one stone at a time. This is the power of sustained small effort and it is the metaphor for my life. I feel I am doing the most important work of my career at age 60.

Each contribution that gets me to the summit will be met with deep gratitude.

I will probably not producing much long form Substack content until the fall, though there are a couple stories in production. I will continue to do micro reporting on Twitter and documenting life by Unity Commons on YouTube. My street art sticker program supplies stickers monthly to a network that spans the United States (happy to hook you up!). I am showing my art for the first time in a long time in a group show in San Francisco in September in what may be a historic art show that could get attention worldwide.

Thank you!

I have so much gratitude. Im the beforetimes, I used to publish frequent gratitude posts on social media, thanking my supporters by name. I feel it is no longer safe to do so, but know how much your support means to me.

Candace Mercer is an artist/writer/activist based in Olympia, WA. She has written on homeless response and political violence in the PNW. In 2021, she ran for Olympia City Council. Her art can be found at candio.com.