Is Tacoma's 'Safe Lot' working?
Is Tacoma's 'Safe Lot' working?
A safe parking site recently opened at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, but people who live nearby are questioning whether this solution is enough.
TACOMA, Wash. - A safe parking site recently opened at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. The shelter offers spots for 20 vehicles, helping as many as 40 people with hygiene services available in one of the church campus buildings.
But people who live nearby are questioning whether this solution is enough.
Residents say they went to community meetings and were promised this wouldn’t happen cars filling their streets instead of the lot.
FOX 13 spoke with Emma Roberts, one of the several dozen parking along Delin Street. She says it’s not because they want to but because they were swept off other encampment areas and have nowhere else to go.
"It’s been a long road, when you go from being a nurse and a dietitian to this, it’s hard," Roberts said as she swept the parking space she's been calling home for a little over a week.
A concern for Ignacio Ramirez, whose lived in the area for about four years. He says he’s kicked unhoused, possibly drug using, people off his property after breaking in trying to sleep on his deck.
He’s also seen an increase in cars parking along his street; issues he says increased once the ‘Safe Lot’ opened at the Catholic Church.
"I don’t blame them we’re in their front yard but we have to have some place to go, and they're not offering us any place they didn't have any resources when they told us we had to leave." Roberts said.
On the other hand, Megan Little has called this community her home for the last five years – she supports the ‘Safe Lot’ - a secure space for as many as 40 unsheltered folks to park their cars and feel safe.
She says it’s just a drop in the bucket when talking about the homelessness issue.
So far, 14 out of the 20 spots are taken – a total of 14 people who’ve passed background checks and other requirements are getting help.
People like Roberts outside the gate say they’re on their own.
"I have not been offered help; I have been looking for help for seven years," Robert said.
Tacoma Homeless Strategy Services and Services Manager Caleb Carbone says the have heard of the growing frustrations from residents – as more cars are filling the streets – they say Tacoma Police and the HEAL Team are tagging cars and offering services.
"We expect to be having those individuals that are there some of them have been asked to move by as early as Tuesday," Carbone said.
"This is what it's been like, the entire time I've lived here so don't come here expecting something different than it is; that's literally gentrifying neighborhood, if you're coming in and trying to change it," Little said.
Little says some of the unhoused folks have been living there longer than she has.
The weather has been cold and wet Roberts says they want to get out of these conditions and into a better situation but are waiting for help.
We reached out to catholic community services and are waiting to hear back.
Still, Carbone says the safe lot is working.
"Right now we are through this marathon and understanding this safe parking location and so up to these three weeks, we would say that we feel that at least those 14 individuals that are currently in there are in a much safer location then they probably weren't before, and that would be a success," Carbone said.