Bishop’s Homeless Taskforce Safe Parking Initiative
The Taskforce encourages parishioners to consider the steps needed to offer a safe parking area for people and families who have a car but find themselves without shelter. These folks are vulnerable, being just a few unfortunate circumstances away from living in a tent. They are mostly invisible to the agencies that provide services. Many are working. Many don’t see themselves as truly homeless. They consider their circumstances to be temporary and seek to avoid detection, with families fearing if they are found they may lose custody of their children.
The Seattle City Council admits that the majority of services are aimed toward people completely without shelter, estimating pre-Pandemic that vehicle residents accounted for 40% of the unsheltered homeless population. Actual numbers are scarce because this population is difficult to count. A 2021 Seattle Times story estimates there are 2,800 in King County, up from 2,100 in 2019.
The Bishop’s Homeless Taskforce is seeking to educate the parishioners of our Diocese (throughout Western Washington) about work they can do within their parish, or by working with other local churches, to provide small, manageable and effective safe car parking locations.
What Vehicle Residents Look Like
A resident at the Lake Washington United Methodist Church Safe Parking Lot in Bellevue was interviewed last year by CBS: “You do what you need to get through a given day. You get rest when you can,” he said. “You just keep going through the process of trying to get into better circumstances.”
He had lived there in a van with his wife and two children for nine months. He began his day in darkness, making a two-hour commute by scooter and bus to his job at the post office. He makes more than $16 an hour, which is often too much money to qualify for public housing assistance.
When people lose their apartment and run out of options with friends and relatives, they may resort to living in their car. It can be due to eviction, or divorce, domestic violence, or some other unfortunate circumstance. This is the time when someone is best able to transition successfully to a secure home, but hey have to be in the queue for services and it can take time. Having a secure location to park and spend the night can make all the difference for them, to reduce the anxiety of their vulnerable situation and give them the best chance at getting back into a home.
How We Are Helping
As the Bishop’s Homeless Taskforce moves forward, talking with people in our Episcopal Diocese, we will help educate and coordinate with you to consider options and evaluate whether your properties and volunteer structure is suited for a Safe Parking location or other services. Here are some resources to get started:
The organizers of the Lake Washington United Methodist Church Safe Parking Lot and other local leaders have published this comprehensive overview of what it will take to start and manage a Safe Parking location: LWUMC Safe Lot Brochure. They are available to help answer questions and coordinate with us on our efforts.
We also have resources available with members of the Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness, who are doing assessments and setting up safe parking areas there. See a list of their parameters, successes and published resources here.
We are seeking to provide similar services to our Diocesan churches in other counties, as well as encourage advocacy at local and government levels.
Call To Action!
Use the Contact Us page to reach out to us! By doing so you can also get a login to the internal web pages on this site, where you can access our archive of research and documents, track our projects and review the work that others are engaged in.
We are so looking forward to meeting you and working on sheltering solutions with you! There are plenty of ways to contribute in your local area or with us on the Taskforce. As Martin Luther King, Jr stated so powerfully, “The time is always right to do what is right”. Wherever you find yourself at this time, your voice and your actions can and will make a difference.