Thank you for being a voice and documenting what is happening. A huge part of what we are seeing as a community are people who refuse housing because they do not want to follow the rules/laws of society. As we can see daily, mental health and drugs are the driving factors. The open drug use is not “people standing around outside”. The mountains of trash impact everyone. The stealing has become outrageous and dangerous, affecting those of us living responsibly. What is happening in your neighborhood and all over Oly-Lacey-Tum is not OK. It is not compassionate. It is harming everyone in one way or another. Let’s help the people who really do desire housing and need help to get there. For the rest, they must be held accountable which most likely means money spent on mandatory mental health and drug treatment or sit in jail. The current response to this crisis is clearly not working. Your neighborhood (and many others) deserve good neighbors and to live life without being in a state of flight or fight 24/7.
Regarding the huge fire in the Jungle yesterday: I keep thinking about the Jonathan Choe interview at the Hobby Lobby encampment, and the fire inside the tent with addicts nodding off beside it. It's a level of crazy that hits me in the gut like a sucker punch. This is what our lawmakers encourage: homeless addicts in drugged stupors building fires inside tents near residential areas. Olympia is now full-on Dystopia.
"A solution for the bigger picture involves privatized urban camping. I have watched our local government fail for FOUR YEARS to stand up a basic camp site for RVs. Time to turn to the private sector which could provide a quality product at a reasonable cost."
A hard NO to privatized urban camping. Homeless are relocating to WA—in droves—from less tolerant states owing to the welcoming sanctuary arms of WA Homeless Industrial Complex, Inc. The homeless encroachment will only get worse the more we build and provide for them. When I moved to Oly 15 years ago, I didn't sign on to link arms with homeless addicts. Also didn't sign on to dwelling in a city with a castrated police department. Didn't sign on for breathing burning garbage fumes.
The homeless crisis was created by politicians and bureaucrats, who clearly have zero respect for taxpayers. Jay Burney to taxpayer: "Suck it up, dumbasses. Deal with it."
I'm unapologetically NIMBY. Anyone who tolerates this insanity in their back yard is either an anarchist who digs the chaos or someone with more loose screws than Ace Hardware. The homeless with backpacks, who ride their stolen bikes through my neighborhood are not my neighbors—no matter how loudly the bilious bitches on Oly-Lacey-Tumwater Nextdoor proclaim they are.
I may have already written before to tell you how much I appreciate what you are doing by calling out all this scandalousness. Now, with this latest exposes I decided to say it again - keep it up!
I just moved away from a place in a different state than you where the same activity was just across the street. One time they even fashioned and detonated a home made bomb. The fighting, screaming, music, trash - all excessive and out of control. Oh, and let’s not forget the criminal activities including drugs and theft. Fencing too. I had my packages porch pirated several times before I finally got out of there. When I began hinting of exposing these activities and even contacted the police their retaliation was swift. They began breaking into my place when I was gone. They hacked my computer and phone making it difficult to call for help if necessary. I worked around that one by getting a burner phone and not activating it but using it only for 911.
Therefore, I know from whence you speak. I didn’t allow myself to be victimized and obviously neither do you. I appreciate your efforts.
Thank you for the kind words. I refuse to be a victim, thank you for noticing that. I have security measures in place and I hope by being very public that is also a deterrent.
I think the being public is a deterrent. Also, most of these troublemakers are too out of it to plot some complex revenge. In my case their tactics were pretty crude, though they did have access to some sophisticated hacking/ identity theft tools. My identity has been stolen so many times even that doesn’t phase me anymore. If I had better credit …Just kidding, not really. I do think you are a trailblazer!
Candace your a FAT LYING CUNT all the pics and video are not what you say the are just like when you thought a couple was tagging TBE dumpster in front of your house so you called the cops but when the cops got there and saw no tagging like yoh accused incident people of doing like you always do assuming a d judging what makes you so inclined be do that
I am back after a year because I was in a residential program for women experiencing various challenges, including homelessness. We were not allowed electronics, including cell phones, though we could use the facility computers for job and housing searches. I graduated that program while saving enough money to get a car and a job. I started ticket to work with the DOR. I enrolled in school to become a paralegal and have received my first scholarship ( thank you, DAR). An agency helped me with my move in deposit and furnishings. During the year I lived in that program I searched for rooms for rent while applying to over 30 waiting lists for subsidized housing. Of these, only a handful put me on a waiting list which will likely take years to even consider me. I’m not sure I want to live in these places. I like one called Eskaton but I’m not old enough. Yet. I may be by the time any of the others come through.
My point is, even for “regular” people finding housing can be a challenge, especially with all the scams out there. I experienced more than a few of these attempts , one who was posing as the owner of a vacant house which had been sold for 2 million a year ago ( thanks Zillo).
I mention all this so you will not be so quick to judge me and label me “privileged “ when I say what I am about to say: I am so disturbed by the sight of hardcore homelessness, I did what many before me have done: I moved to deep suburbia. There are no visible homeless here. None.I feel safer. Cleaner. More peaceful. I’m not sorry. I feel for their plight but I want no part of witnessing it. I know this sounds harsh, but there is nothing I can do. It may be that the US is becoming like Calcutta or other third world places and I can step over the bodies without letting it upset me. Perhaps offer some food if I have it. The other day I bought a chicken for the family begging in the parking lot of my work. They rejected it. Not because they were vegetarian either. I don’t like factory farmed chicken so I gave it to a roommate.
I haven’t checked comments on this forum for a year because I have had my own issues with housing, through which I have placed myself on various waiting lists for affordable housing and may actually get an apartment of my own at 30% of my income - it may take years. Yes, years. This system is broken, but with patience and perseverance, can be navigated successfully. While I wait I got a room in a 3 bedroom with two coworkers which will cost roughly half my income. True, not all housing challenged folks are messed up, but even a very stable person needs the aforementioned patience and perseverance. An extra job helps, too.
There are still SRO s in my state and I applied to one tiny home village, but was rejected in favor of someone who was “more hardcore homeless”. It’s like they want to make us as down and out as possible before offering assistance. So, though I’ve applied to at least 30 low income buildings, I’m really not sure I want to live there. The clientele frightens me and now that I’m working more my income, though still comparatively low, is too high to qualify for many programs, such as free health insurance. I don’t utilize the Western medical system anyway, so I’m about to drop the the insurance I have now which costs $200 a month, money which, for me, is better spent on other things.
Not weed. I smoke weed. Don't need foil and a torch. Plus I would smell it. They use a straw and light the foil for a long time. Often you will see them scoping the streets before they take a hit or they will hide under a blanket. Sometimes they pass out after using. Fetty all the way.
What gives you the right to be so fucking judgmental on people????? A good portion of the pictures you have taken an posted are not even what you say they are I'm sure you assume what you want but just know your a lier and a judgmental person..... Most the people you have posted about are kind caring loving beautiful people who are not able to afford a place on their own so stop being a judgmental bitch
Anybody has the right to say whatever they like in this country. Everyone who forms an opinion about anything is necessarily “being judgemental”. You are doing the same when you call someone “judgemental”. Anger and profanity help nobody and this is my judgement.
Candace - as you well should know, theses sad and challenging issues pre dare the existence of Unity Commons. For years you had a major encampment in your neighborhood and there are others nearby. If Unity Commons wasn’t there, you likely would have 100s more people on the streets around you. Yes this is a sad communal crisis, but please don’t blame the hearty nonprofits trying to better it.
AKSHULLY, as I state above we had major camps in 2017-8 and we got rid of them, since then we have had zero tolerance for camping on Pattison Street with fairly good results. Things were relatively calm in the period before Unity Commons opened. Even when they had the temporary shelter I had zero complaints. Since they opened, we have had the problems I have vividly illustrated. Interfaith Works and LIHI have a responsibility to be good neighbors and they have failed. Would you want to live with this in your literal front yard? They are making it harder for future projects. Had they been good neighbors I would have reported that. I am not going to lie to protect them.
Candice your a lying bitch you say your scared of the people who live in the shelter and apartments well you have no right to post videos of anyone with out permission keep up the lies and the posting with out permission and the ones your posting about will take your ass to court you have no idea what we are going through or why we there mind your own business
It's absolutely legal to film in public spaces. Your threat has been archived. It demonstrates what you are willing to do to stop my reporting. Stop treating Pattison Street as a park and there won't be any problems. Take it somewhere else.
I know I am afraid of these dangerous people, and with good reason. And it is legal to film in public places, with a few exceptions, of which this instance was not.
@Paul absolutely not true. There is a big distinction between unhoused individuals and individuals who refuse housing. The people you see here choose to stay outside because of drugs. Sprinkling housing on them won't fix the issue. Unfortunately many people (including the lawmakers) are blind to this fact.
I agree that the people who choose to refuse housing are usually practicing addict and/or severely mentally ill. Many are too ill to successfully pursue and get into the housing being offered. I know because for the last year I’ve been applying to the housing “sprinkled” around. It is a fairly complex procedure which requires much stamina, vigilance, and perseverance. The population that this is meant to serve are not competent to pursue it and this is a fact. Even I have had issues with the mostly digital process. One must have access to reliable and strong internet, email and phone services and the ability to check and respond promptly to any leads. Oh, and a physical mailing address. The offers of a spot on a waiting list go via USPS.There are ways to get snail mail without a dwelling, such as to a case manager, but it’s the same issue - most of the ones who choose to be homeless are not up to the task, nor are they set up with a case manager which is another hurdle in itself.
I disagree with you, Paul, about the benevolence of the bureaucracy. They may be “non profit” but that doesn’t absolve them. By offering these crutches they are actually robbing these people of the opportunity to better themselves by themselves. And if they never get the chance to experience the dignity of self sufficiency then this cycle with perpetuate itself.
A fishing rod does no good if the water is toxic, the fish are toxic or dead, the lake is private property you're not allowed to fish in.
We keep hearing contradictory things about the unhoused. On the one hand, rents are too high, on the other hand, these are losers that couldn't pay $50/month every month on time, and keep their place clean.
there is no one-size-fits all solution. For some, a small monthly sub sidy might be all they need For others, an inexpensive place to pitch a tent, have a bathroom/shower/laundry room, like the old-fashioned state parks might be enough. Unsanitary, loud or obnoxious behaviour would not be tolerated. Maybe they can't come up with $1000/mo for rent, but they could comeo ujp with $250/month or so - enough to pay for the maintenance and garbage pickup.
Not everyone who is unhoused is a f**ked up junkie. Some are just broke, and poor peoples' housing is what they could use. We've outlawed poor peoples' housing. Even barracks, where you have a locker and your assigned bed, and assigned tasks might be good enough, and could be self-paying.
We need more options that are affordable for marginally employed people who are not crazy junkies, just poor.
If we keep up the charade that everyone has to live like a middle-class person, with their own toilet, their own sink or two, their own kitchen, or else they are on the streets, it's going to get a lot worse.
I remember the days of SRO's - Single room occupancies - an 8 x 10 room with a bed, a window, a table and chair, and a toilet down the hall. Until recently that was the norm for middle-class hotels in Europe. That's not unreasonable. What's unreasonable is zoning those kinds of housing out of existence.
The reason we insufficient subsidized housing despite spending billions is because the requirements are unreasonable. That is something politicians could change.
I wrote a long reply and it may have been sucked into the ether as it isn’t here now.
Basically, I applied this past year to at least 39 subsidized housing units and am on about 3 waiting lists what could likely be 2 years long at least.
I am number 100 on the tiny homes village who rejected me for immediate housing because I was not “hardcore homeless”.
So I got a job and spend half my income on a shared condo in hardcore suburbia where, if the car I also had to get breaks down, it will take 2 hours on the bus to get to work. In the car it is a 6 minute freeway drive from the freeway which is a few blocks from the condo. All of us have either autism or another disability but I am the only one who gets disability benefits; the others work full time with perhaps the most disabled having NEVER been on disability. These young guys inspire me.
Trading one set of worries for another I still manage to find joy, meaning and gratitude for this life I have been born into.
Finding and appreciating the beauty, even in my struggles, is what keeps me going.
Since I wrote this I have followed my own advice and become less dependent on various “services”. I now feel and function like the majority in this country and I never want to go back to the other.
Thank you for being a voice and documenting what is happening. A huge part of what we are seeing as a community are people who refuse housing because they do not want to follow the rules/laws of society. As we can see daily, mental health and drugs are the driving factors. The open drug use is not “people standing around outside”. The mountains of trash impact everyone. The stealing has become outrageous and dangerous, affecting those of us living responsibly. What is happening in your neighborhood and all over Oly-Lacey-Tum is not OK. It is not compassionate. It is harming everyone in one way or another. Let’s help the people who really do desire housing and need help to get there. For the rest, they must be held accountable which most likely means money spent on mandatory mental health and drug treatment or sit in jail. The current response to this crisis is clearly not working. Your neighborhood (and many others) deserve good neighbors and to live life without being in a state of flight or fight 24/7.
Regarding the huge fire in the Jungle yesterday: I keep thinking about the Jonathan Choe interview at the Hobby Lobby encampment, and the fire inside the tent with addicts nodding off beside it. It's a level of crazy that hits me in the gut like a sucker punch. This is what our lawmakers encourage: homeless addicts in drugged stupors building fires inside tents near residential areas. Olympia is now full-on Dystopia.
"A solution for the bigger picture involves privatized urban camping. I have watched our local government fail for FOUR YEARS to stand up a basic camp site for RVs. Time to turn to the private sector which could provide a quality product at a reasonable cost."
A hard NO to privatized urban camping. Homeless are relocating to WA—in droves—from less tolerant states owing to the welcoming sanctuary arms of WA Homeless Industrial Complex, Inc. The homeless encroachment will only get worse the more we build and provide for them. When I moved to Oly 15 years ago, I didn't sign on to link arms with homeless addicts. Also didn't sign on to dwelling in a city with a castrated police department. Didn't sign on for breathing burning garbage fumes.
The homeless crisis was created by politicians and bureaucrats, who clearly have zero respect for taxpayers. Jay Burney to taxpayer: "Suck it up, dumbasses. Deal with it."
I'm unapologetically NIMBY. Anyone who tolerates this insanity in their back yard is either an anarchist who digs the chaos or someone with more loose screws than Ace Hardware. The homeless with backpacks, who ride their stolen bikes through my neighborhood are not my neighbors—no matter how loudly the bilious bitches on Oly-Lacey-Tumwater Nextdoor proclaim they are.
I could support a plan similar to what Bill Walton proposed. Mandatory relocation to a rural designation. https://thespun.com/more/top-stories/look-bill-waltons-suggestion-for-homeless-people-going-viral
Yeah, I could support Bill Walton's plan "if" I thought the jerks running the shitshow might implement such a thing. I know better.
I may have already written before to tell you how much I appreciate what you are doing by calling out all this scandalousness. Now, with this latest exposes I decided to say it again - keep it up!
I just moved away from a place in a different state than you where the same activity was just across the street. One time they even fashioned and detonated a home made bomb. The fighting, screaming, music, trash - all excessive and out of control. Oh, and let’s not forget the criminal activities including drugs and theft. Fencing too. I had my packages porch pirated several times before I finally got out of there. When I began hinting of exposing these activities and even contacted the police their retaliation was swift. They began breaking into my place when I was gone. They hacked my computer and phone making it difficult to call for help if necessary. I worked around that one by getting a burner phone and not activating it but using it only for 911.
Therefore, I know from whence you speak. I didn’t allow myself to be victimized and obviously neither do you. I appreciate your efforts.
Thank you for the kind words. I refuse to be a victim, thank you for noticing that. I have security measures in place and I hope by being very public that is also a deterrent.
I think the being public is a deterrent. Also, most of these troublemakers are too out of it to plot some complex revenge. In my case their tactics were pretty crude, though they did have access to some sophisticated hacking/ identity theft tools. My identity has been stolen so many times even that doesn’t phase me anymore. If I had better credit …Just kidding, not really. I do think you are a trailblazer!
Candace your a FAT LYING CUNT all the pics and video are not what you say the are just like when you thought a couple was tagging TBE dumpster in front of your house so you called the cops but when the cops got there and saw no tagging like yoh accused incident people of doing like you always do assuming a d judging what makes you so inclined be do that
I am back after a year because I was in a residential program for women experiencing various challenges, including homelessness. We were not allowed electronics, including cell phones, though we could use the facility computers for job and housing searches. I graduated that program while saving enough money to get a car and a job. I started ticket to work with the DOR. I enrolled in school to become a paralegal and have received my first scholarship ( thank you, DAR). An agency helped me with my move in deposit and furnishings. During the year I lived in that program I searched for rooms for rent while applying to over 30 waiting lists for subsidized housing. Of these, only a handful put me on a waiting list which will likely take years to even consider me. I’m not sure I want to live in these places. I like one called Eskaton but I’m not old enough. Yet. I may be by the time any of the others come through.
My point is, even for “regular” people finding housing can be a challenge, especially with all the scams out there. I experienced more than a few of these attempts , one who was posing as the owner of a vacant house which had been sold for 2 million a year ago ( thanks Zillo).
I mention all this so you will not be so quick to judge me and label me “privileged “ when I say what I am about to say: I am so disturbed by the sight of hardcore homelessness, I did what many before me have done: I moved to deep suburbia. There are no visible homeless here. None.I feel safer. Cleaner. More peaceful. I’m not sorry. I feel for their plight but I want no part of witnessing it. I know this sounds harsh, but there is nothing I can do. It may be that the US is becoming like Calcutta or other third world places and I can step over the bodies without letting it upset me. Perhaps offer some food if I have it. The other day I bought a chicken for the family begging in the parking lot of my work. They rejected it. Not because they were vegetarian either. I don’t like factory farmed chicken so I gave it to a roommate.
I haven’t checked comments on this forum for a year because I have had my own issues with housing, through which I have placed myself on various waiting lists for affordable housing and may actually get an apartment of my own at 30% of my income - it may take years. Yes, years. This system is broken, but with patience and perseverance, can be navigated successfully. While I wait I got a room in a 3 bedroom with two coworkers which will cost roughly half my income. True, not all housing challenged folks are messed up, but even a very stable person needs the aforementioned patience and perseverance. An extra job helps, too.
There are still SRO s in my state and I applied to one tiny home village, but was rejected in favor of someone who was “more hardcore homeless”. It’s like they want to make us as down and out as possible before offering assistance. So, though I’ve applied to at least 30 low income buildings, I’m really not sure I want to live there. The clientele frightens me and now that I’m working more my income, though still comparatively low, is too high to qualify for many programs, such as free health insurance. I don’t utilize the Western medical system anyway, so I’m about to drop the the insurance I have now which costs $200 a month, money which, for me, is better spent on other things.
Also most the video you posted saying they are smoking fetty is bull shit lie they are smoking weed which is legal
Not weed. I smoke weed. Don't need foil and a torch. Plus I would smell it. They use a straw and light the foil for a long time. Often you will see them scoping the streets before they take a hit or they will hide under a blanket. Sometimes they pass out after using. Fetty all the way.
Or speed.
What gives you the right to be so fucking judgmental on people????? A good portion of the pictures you have taken an posted are not even what you say they are I'm sure you assume what you want but just know your a lier and a judgmental person..... Most the people you have posted about are kind caring loving beautiful people who are not able to afford a place on their own so stop being a judgmental bitch
Anybody has the right to say whatever they like in this country. Everyone who forms an opinion about anything is necessarily “being judgemental”. You are doing the same when you call someone “judgemental”. Anger and profanity help nobody and this is my judgement.
Candace - as you well should know, theses sad and challenging issues pre dare the existence of Unity Commons. For years you had a major encampment in your neighborhood and there are others nearby. If Unity Commons wasn’t there, you likely would have 100s more people on the streets around you. Yes this is a sad communal crisis, but please don’t blame the hearty nonprofits trying to better it.
AKSHULLY, as I state above we had major camps in 2017-8 and we got rid of them, since then we have had zero tolerance for camping on Pattison Street with fairly good results. Things were relatively calm in the period before Unity Commons opened. Even when they had the temporary shelter I had zero complaints. Since they opened, we have had the problems I have vividly illustrated. Interfaith Works and LIHI have a responsibility to be good neighbors and they have failed. Would you want to live with this in your literal front yard? They are making it harder for future projects. Had they been good neighbors I would have reported that. I am not going to lie to protect them.
Candice your a lying bitch you say your scared of the people who live in the shelter and apartments well you have no right to post videos of anyone with out permission keep up the lies and the posting with out permission and the ones your posting about will take your ass to court you have no idea what we are going through or why we there mind your own business
It's absolutely legal to film in public spaces. Your threat has been archived. It demonstrates what you are willing to do to stop my reporting. Stop treating Pattison Street as a park and there won't be any problems. Take it somewhere else.
I know I am afraid of these dangerous people, and with good reason. And it is legal to film in public places, with a few exceptions, of which this instance was not.
@Paul absolutely not true. There is a big distinction between unhoused individuals and individuals who refuse housing. The people you see here choose to stay outside because of drugs. Sprinkling housing on them won't fix the issue. Unfortunately many people (including the lawmakers) are blind to this fact.
I agree that the people who choose to refuse housing are usually practicing addict and/or severely mentally ill. Many are too ill to successfully pursue and get into the housing being offered. I know because for the last year I’ve been applying to the housing “sprinkled” around. It is a fairly complex procedure which requires much stamina, vigilance, and perseverance. The population that this is meant to serve are not competent to pursue it and this is a fact. Even I have had issues with the mostly digital process. One must have access to reliable and strong internet, email and phone services and the ability to check and respond promptly to any leads. Oh, and a physical mailing address. The offers of a spot on a waiting list go via USPS.There are ways to get snail mail without a dwelling, such as to a case manager, but it’s the same issue - most of the ones who choose to be homeless are not up to the task, nor are they set up with a case manager which is another hurdle in itself.
I hate to say it, but there is no longer survival of the fittest and if there were this issue would be non existent.
I disagree with you, Paul, about the benevolence of the bureaucracy. They may be “non profit” but that doesn’t absolve them. By offering these crutches they are actually robbing these people of the opportunity to better themselves by themselves. And if they never get the chance to experience the dignity of self sufficiency then this cycle with perpetuate itself.
Ever heard the saying “give the guy a fishing rod”?
A fishing rod does no good if the water is toxic, the fish are toxic or dead, the lake is private property you're not allowed to fish in.
We keep hearing contradictory things about the unhoused. On the one hand, rents are too high, on the other hand, these are losers that couldn't pay $50/month every month on time, and keep their place clean.
there is no one-size-fits all solution. For some, a small monthly sub sidy might be all they need For others, an inexpensive place to pitch a tent, have a bathroom/shower/laundry room, like the old-fashioned state parks might be enough. Unsanitary, loud or obnoxious behaviour would not be tolerated. Maybe they can't come up with $1000/mo for rent, but they could comeo ujp with $250/month or so - enough to pay for the maintenance and garbage pickup.
Not everyone who is unhoused is a f**ked up junkie. Some are just broke, and poor peoples' housing is what they could use. We've outlawed poor peoples' housing. Even barracks, where you have a locker and your assigned bed, and assigned tasks might be good enough, and could be self-paying.
We need more options that are affordable for marginally employed people who are not crazy junkies, just poor.
If we keep up the charade that everyone has to live like a middle-class person, with their own toilet, their own sink or two, their own kitchen, or else they are on the streets, it's going to get a lot worse.
I remember the days of SRO's - Single room occupancies - an 8 x 10 room with a bed, a window, a table and chair, and a toilet down the hall. Until recently that was the norm for middle-class hotels in Europe. That's not unreasonable. What's unreasonable is zoning those kinds of housing out of existence.
The reason we insufficient subsidized housing despite spending billions is because the requirements are unreasonable. That is something politicians could change.
I wrote a long reply and it may have been sucked into the ether as it isn’t here now.
Basically, I applied this past year to at least 39 subsidized housing units and am on about 3 waiting lists what could likely be 2 years long at least.
I am number 100 on the tiny homes village who rejected me for immediate housing because I was not “hardcore homeless”.
So I got a job and spend half my income on a shared condo in hardcore suburbia where, if the car I also had to get breaks down, it will take 2 hours on the bus to get to work. In the car it is a 6 minute freeway drive from the freeway which is a few blocks from the condo. All of us have either autism or another disability but I am the only one who gets disability benefits; the others work full time with perhaps the most disabled having NEVER been on disability. These young guys inspire me.
Trading one set of worries for another I still manage to find joy, meaning and gratitude for this life I have been born into.
Finding and appreciating the beauty, even in my struggles, is what keeps me going.
Since I wrote this I have followed my own advice and become less dependent on various “services”. I now feel and function like the majority in this country and I never want to go back to the other.