Puyallup church wants to start overnight parking program for homeless families
A Puyallup church wants to open its parking lot as a safe place for homeless families to shelter.
Puyallup United Methodist Church lead pastor Cara Scriven sent a letter to the City of Puyallup on Oct. 20 to apply for a permit to allow up to eight cars to park in the church lot.
The city responded in a public notice, alerting residents to the request.
The church rescinded its letter a six days later due to internal concerns, but leaders still want to start a safe parking lot program, Scriven said.
Once the public became aware of the potential homeless program, the pastor received several complaints from neighbors, Puyallup residents and a few members. The church on West Pioneer has a preschool, and staff were concerned about safety.
“We discovered that we needed more time to work on this while honoring our commitment to the preschool,” Scriven said.
United Methodist Church wants to create a space for Puyallup School District families living out of cars to spend the night. There would be accountability factors, Scriven said. She plans to partner with Puyallup’s families homeless service provider Helping Hand House to connect families to resources.
Eight families is a caseload the church could reasonably manage, Scriven said.
“I believe that one way to end homelessness is to help break the cycle, to help children find housing to not end up homeless,” she said. “We have to look at what we can handle, a number where we can make a large impact and manage.”
The pastor hopes to start the safe parking program in the spring.
“We have a lot of work we have to do,” Scriven said. “With COVID-19, there is an eviction moratorium, but when that ends there will be more families who are homeless. Our hope is that our program would be ready to help those families after losing their homes.”
A church is legally allowed by the state to create a “temporary homeless encampment” but must abide by city laws.
City code dictates that a church can hold one “temporary encampment” a year for up to 90 days and serve a maximum of 40 people. Before a permit can be issued, the church must hold a community meeting and notify property owners within 1,000 feet of the proposed site.
There are requirements that have to be met like a fencing to screen the “encampment” from neighboring properties, an operations and security plan, background checks, and a code of conduct prohibiting alcohol, weapons, illegal drugs, loitering and littering in the surrounding neighborhood, and trespassing on private property.
City staff and the City Council also must discuss the proposal before a church can create the “encampment.”
Scriven pushed back on the words “encampment,” “tent city,” and “shelter” that others have used to describe the program.
The congregation with 300 active members has always been passionate about serving those experiencing homelessness.
In the past, Puyallup UMC partnered with Freezing Nights, a church volunteer program to house the homeless during winter months, and New Hope Resource Center and the Armory to provide volunteer help, donations and meals, Scriven said.
For the last 18 months, the congregation has discussed the program for families experiencing homelessness.
“We have communicated with the congregation and the neighborhood about this, and it takes a lot of careful planning and deliberate work,” Scriven said.
Asked if the city would partner with the church for this program, spokesperson Brenda Fritsvold said, “The church withdrew their notice and canceled the meeting that was scheduled to discuss their proposal.”
Scriven said she is hopeful that Puyallup would be a supportive partner.
