by Staff Writer.
On November 5, 2023, Oasis Church held a meeting to inform neighbors that it would be opening up a temporary, “high barrier,”no weapons/drugs/alcohol “sanctioned” homeless encampment for 90 days on its property. Potential campers would have background checks to be sure the neighborhood residents were safe. Dozens of neighbors came to express their concerns, but their words fell on deaf ears. Promises were made that this could be a good thing for the community.
On November 16th, neighbors met for an inaugural “Block Watch” meeting. Approximately 15 residents connected and agreed to keep an eye on their streets. Since that time, neighbors have been appalled at the increase of drug use in their neighborhood. People are afraid to be on the streets. One of the neighbors told me that when she went to collect signatures for a petition against the encampment, her neighbors would stop her for great lengths of time to express their fears about what they had been witnessing over the past 4 weeks.
Last week, since only six campers passed the high barrier standards, Pastor Mark Miller sent out a notice that he was considering lowering the intake standards so that more campers could find shelter there. We are not sure if the standards have been officially lowered, but there are certainly more tents now at the Oasis campsite.
Again, according to one of the neighbors, Pastor Mark says he wants to build trust with the community, but how is this going to happen without outreach and true understanding of the community’s concerns?
If barriers had to be lowered at the Oasis site after 30 days to allow access for “Burien campers” – what does this mean for the newly approved Tiny House Village future standards?
