A free warm meal on Thanksgiving and hope for housing at People’s Park encampment

Around noon Thursday, Mandie Mendez stood outside her tent at People’s Park in Tacoma when a woman she didn’t know pulled up in a car.

“We have extra hot meals,” said the woman, among several volunteers who handed out free Thanksgiving lunches for those experiencing homelessness. “Can we just drop off whoever wants some water bottles and some meals?”

“Give me whatever,” Mendez said.

For almost a month, the 36-year-old Mendez has lived on the edge of the park, alongside dozens of others in tents. She said she and her husband tumbled into homelessness when a relative they were staying with in a Tacoma suburb told them to leave. Mendez bought a tent with her first paycheck from FedEx, where she’s worked as a package handler in Kent for a month.

Thursday’s event, the first of its kind, came at a turbulent time for those living in tents at People’s Park.

In October, Tacoma City Council approved changes to the park code that prohibit tents and other walled structures. But the city delayed enforcement of the code until next month after a public outcry over the lack of available shelter space. Council members also heard from some who support the park code changes, saying there are signs of drug use at the park.

The city has agreed to pay $388,000 to open a temporary emergency shelter about a block from People’s Park. The estimate is it will house 35 people in 22 micro units at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Eighth Street.

The shelter will serve those from People’s Park, but Hilltop business owner David Combs said it’s a “drop in the bucket” because he estimates about 75 to 100 are living in the tents. Some have jobs. There are both young adults and the elderly. The most common trait is they are are “people of color,” said Combs, who ran unsuccessfully earlier this month for city council’s District 3 seat.

Combs was among the organizers of the event, dubbed “FriendsGiving in the Park.” He said the employees of the Red Elm Cafe wanted to help those who are living at the park and they contacted area churches, who referred them to Combs and his brother.

“It’s the community who came together to make this happen,” Combs said. “It’s really coming through for those who are the most vulnerable and the most at-risk.”

Tacoma resident Marjorie McCraney, 63, was among the volunteers who helped with Thursday’s event. She also spoke about the larger forces at work in a park along a street named after the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“You can’t fix a problem unless you address a problem. Why are these people out here? Instead of putting a Band-aid on it, fix the why. Most of it is the housing. Between the credit checks, the housing laws and past evictions, that’s what keeps them here. My kids live with me. They’re not homeless, but I consider them homeless because they can’t get affordable homes,” she said.

Anthony Floyd, 57, handed out meals donated by a fast-food chain that included chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a biscuit.

“It’s a blessing to give to other people, especially people who are in need,” said Floyd, who is a patient access representative at Kaiser Permanente in Tacoma.

The event was not immune from life’s grim realities, which ensnare those who live in nice houses and those who experience homelessness but it’s more visible for the unhoused. As park residents ate lunch, a man and woman standing near a tent — far from where the food was handed out — got into an argument. The man punched the woman in the head. Those nearby succeeded in stopping the altercation, saying there were children nearby and people should not fight on Thanksgiving.

Mendez said she has hated living in a tent along the edge of People’s Park.

“You can’t take a shower. You can’t cook your meals. You can’t clean your own house. Basically, when you’re on the street you live in filth, dirt and nastiness,” she said.

She said she appreciated the free meals the organizers and volunteers provided for those in the encampment, saying it was “refreshing that people care.”

Mendez said a housing outreach program is helping her find an apartment and she’s hopeful about leaving the park soon.

“I won’t be on the streets no more,” she said.

This story was originally published November 28, 2019 at 4:31 PM.