Today, Tuesday morning, the city of Seattle plans to raid a local community and break up a chosen family, dismantle a house they have built, and destroy a beautiful community garden. The Stranger published an article today about an encampment just off Aurora where residents have built a community and support structure as well as an actual physical structure to live in. Last Friday, the city posted notices that a sweep would happen Tuesday. The Mayor’s office claims to offer shelter to encampment residents before a sweep, but not all residents of the Aurora encampment have an offer for shelter. And one of the residents that actually DID receive an offer of shelter was offered one in White Center, more than 15 miles away and over an hour and a half away by public transit. These so-called “offers of shelter” rip apart communities and place them miles and miles away from any services or doctors they’ve connected to in their current space.
Sweeps destroy communities and do NOT do anything to alleviate the homelessness crisis. Today’s daily action, from Stop the Sweeps Seattle, is to call the Mayor’s office and City Council and urge them to cancel the sweep of the Aurora encampment.
Action
Mayor Bruce Harrell: 206-684-4000
Write a comment: http://web6.seattle.gov/mo/correspondence/contact-mayor
Full City Council: [email protected]
Find your City Councilmembers: https://www.seattle.gov/council/meet-the-council/find-your-district-and-councilmembers
Script
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I live in District [NUMBER]. I read the report in the Stranger article about the city’s planned sweep of the Aurora encampment today. I urge you to put a stop to this sweep immediately. The Aurora encampment is a beautiful community of people who deserve the city’s services and support, not a violent eviction. The so-called offers of shelter will split apart this community and place them far away from the support network and services they’ve worked so hard to build and connect to. Sweeps are ALWAYS cruel, immoral, and ineffective. I am pleading with you to please listen to the unhoused community and STOP THE SWEEPS NOW.
Background
The Stranger: What will they do with his garden https://www.thestranger.com/news/2022/08/22/78155342/what-will-they-do-with-his-garden
Stop the Sweeps Seattle https://www.instagram.com/p/Chk_jERvV0z/
