Norpoint will show if city has gumption to force fair distribution of homeless services
Two neighborhoods, separated by more than just miles.
Two temporary emergency shelters, one open for months, the other only proposed.
For Tacoma, one litmus test.
For as long as the city has been grappling with its declared homelessness emergency, city staff and elected officials have talked a big game about the need for all areas of the city to step up and play a part in the solution. The social services, shelters and affordable housing developments can’t all be located downtown or in historically under-served neighborhoods, they’ve argued, rightly identifying it as a matter of principle and equity.
That’s why comparing what has played out on the Eastside in recent months and how the city now responds to the backlash that’s brewing in Northeast Tacoma is so important.
In October, Metro Parks and the city opened a temporary warming shelter at the Eastside Community Center in a matter of days.
Now, what happens at the Center at Norpoint will reveal whether all that talk of principles, equity and sharing the responsibility was serious.
If Northeast Tacoma’s empty community center isn’t activated to serve Tacoma’s homeless during the cold weather months — like the Eastside’s was three months ago — then we’ll know the answer:
It was all just lip service.
As The News Tribune’s Allison Needles has reported, the drama at Norpoint began in late December, not long after word that the city and Metro Parks Tacoma were considering opening a temporary warming shelter at the location was shared with the Northeast Tacoma Neighborhood Council.
Located in the neck of Tacoma sandwiched by Federal Way and the Tide Flats, at 4818 Nassau Ave. NE, the Metro Parks’ facility — just like all of the agency’s community centers — was closed to the public at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, for a mix of health, safety and budgetary reasons.
The rationale for potentially using Norpoint as a shelter for the homeless through the end of March is straightforward and urgent, according to Allyson Griffith, Tacoma’s assistant director of neighborhood and community services.
Centers for Disease Control guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus have reduced the capacity Tacoma homeless shelters normally have during the winter, and people are dying outside, Griffith told The News Tribune.
There’s a need to move quickly, she said.
“We’re looking at additional winter sheltering space because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Griffith told The News Tribune, noting that the city’s ongoing search extends beyond Northeast Tacoma. “Normally, our shelter providers can expand about 160 beds or so during the winter weather season. … With social distancing, they can’t do that.”
The explanation — as compelling as it should be — doesn’t mean any of this has been easy.
In reality, it’s been quite the opposite, revealing just how hard equitably spreading social services throughout the city will actually be, as well as how different parts of Tacoma still get vastly different treatment.
After reaching out to the Northeast Tacoma Neighborhood Council last month to begin the public engagement process, Griffith and Mayor Victoria Woodards said city staff has been working in recent weeks to answer questions from residents.
None of that happened on the Eastside, they both confirmed, where the community center was quickly transformed into a homeless warming shelter, with little-to-no fanfare, and certainly no community Zoom meetings.
Meanwhile, some Northeast Tacoma residents have mounted strong opposition to the proposed warming center.
Woodards said city staff has been “bombarded” by angry emails.
Diplomatically, Griffith declined to “characterize” the tone or tenor of the messages, suggesting The News Tribune make a public records request for the more than 200 emails that have already come in.
She would say that “some of the feedback that we’ve received has been due to misperception, either about whatever the facility might be, or about the population to be served.”
So what happens from here?
The city initially believed the new temporary warming shelter could open by mid-January, but Griffith said that’s been delayed and now expects the decision to be made by staff in the coming weeks.
Woodards said she hopes Northeast Tacoma residents embrace the responsibility we all have to step up during a time of crisis.
“We have to look at every option,” Woodards said of the city’s duty to provide shelter for the homeless, and how every part of Tacoma has a role to play.
“I think it’s about having an open mind, understanding this is temporary and realizing that (people experiencing homelessness) are members of our community.”
When asked why Northeast Tacoma has already been treated so differently than the Eastside, Woodards and Griffith acknowledged the inconsistency.
In response to concerns that had moved too fast to open other homeless shelters, Griffith said, the city decided to take more time in Northeast Tacoma, describing it as part of the learning process.
“We consistently try to adjust our approach based on the feedback that we receive, which includes how we can do a better job of talking with the community,” Griffith said.
For her part, Woodards said she “understands why their would be an equity question,” but believes that working to provide social services in different areas of the city often requires a different approaches, including more outreach and education for some.
In many areas of Tacoma, serving the homeless is commonplace, Woodards noted.
But for people in other places — including Northeast Tacoma — it’s not, the mayor said.
Luckily, of course, there is one surefire way to change that.
But only if the city really wants to.
This story was originally published January 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
