Latest News
APRIL 2, 2022 UPDATE: It’s a good day for SHARE/WHEEL and Tent City3! We’re on the move from Phinney Ridge Lutheran (7500 Greenwood Ave N) to City land at 1132 N 128th—with an agreement, until June 4th! MOVE HELP is needed at BOTH sites—if you can pitch in, just stop by either site any time today and talk to the MoveMasters. Wear gloves and work boots – it’s going to be a long day.
At the new site we have room to grow. We really need TENTS and could also use pallets, plywood and blankets/sleeping bags. For more info, stop by the camp, or contact us at tc3@sharewheel.org or call (206) 956-0334.
DONATION DROP-OFF FOR SHARE: Thanks for your support! At this time, we REALLY are having a hard time sourcing TOILET PAPER sufficient to meet our shelter network's needs. If you're able to help, please prearrange a specific time with someone at the SHARE office by phone (206) 448-7889 or by email at shelters@sharewheel.org in order to make donations of toilet paper, other supplies, and ready-to-go food. Thanks so much!!
TENT CITY3 IS MOVING TO UW ON 12/19/20!
Tent City 3 is moving TOMORROW (Saturday 12/19) and excited to go to the University of Washington! We look forward to mutually educational activities with students and professors! We welcome volunteers at both the old and new sites on move day tomorrow (all day from 8 A.M. until about sunset). To help move, show up at Trinity United Methodist at 8500 14th Ave NW or at 3735 Brooklyn Ave NE (new site) near Harrison Hydraulics building at UW. Breakfast would be fantastic! To donate a meal or ask questions, please call the SHARE/WHEEL office at (206) 448-7889. Thank you!
SHARE THANKSGIVING UPDATE NOVEMBER 2020:
We're thankful to our steadfast Shelter Board partners for putting together this Giving Tuesday GoFundMe to support our work. We have a lot to be grateful for. Having shelter that we can run ourselves is healing and empowering. Twenty-four-hour access to our indoor shelters has helped us stay healthy during the pandemic. Tent City3 is looking forward to our December 19th move to UW campus. We're grateful to the UW and the Tent City Collective for this tremendous opportunity to stay together and safe, and to grow. We couldn't do it without your support--thank you! Shelter Board Gofundme, Click Here
SHARE UPDATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2020: ***HELP TENT CITY3 MOVE*** Tent City3 is on the move this Tuesday, September 15th, from St Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral (1245--10th Avenue East) to Trinity United Methodist (8500--14th Ave NW). Move help is needed! To volunteer, come to St Mark's any time after 8 AM Tuesday (wearing mask and gloves, please). The camp's #1 need is 30 sheets of 4’ X 8’ plywood (used between tent floors & pallets). To check on other needs call TC3 (206-399-0412) or SHARE office (206-448-7889). THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
SHARE UPDATE AUGUST 11, 2020: Our nine SHARE/WHEEL Shelters, ranging in size from 10 to 31 participants, are all currently operating 24 hours. This allows us all to stay safe and together in a time of the global pandemic. Thanks to our innovative self-managed model, we have socially distanced spaces in our shelters. The 24-hour shelter model has helped us beyond keeping us safe during the pandemic. We've realized that we have better agency over our lives and improved health because of having a reliable place to be. Every SHARE shelter and Tent City has public health staff conducting proactive testing for the Coronavirus on a monthly basis. We are happy to report that we've had a 100% negative test rate so far!
Our shelters are mostly located in churches, which are currently being underused because of the pandemic. We realize that this cannot last forever. We will have to find other sites if we are to keep our shelters operating 24 hours. If you have any knowledge or ideas of such sites, please let us know.
Our shelters and Tent Cities have openings, so if you know somebody in need of shelter, send them down to one of our screenings! Screening information and Tent City locations are available in the sidebar (under Need Shelter?) to the left.
SHARE STATEMENT MAY 9, 2020: At the SHARE Power Lunch/Board of Directors Meeting on May 9, 2020, the following SHARE Public Statement was overwhelmingly approved:
SHARE will not be going back to the status quo. The status quo has failed homeless people in Seattle and continues to do so, as evidenced by those being swept offered nowhere to go except being warehoused in mass shelters.
Going forward, all shelters should be safe and socially distanced. SHARE’s efforts to keep our shelters 24/7 should be supported and funded.
Our alternative to going back is resistance:
1) We will be resisting a return to the way things were by taking action at times and places of our choosing. Examples may be opening vacant buildings for shelter, using empty land for Tent Cities and Tiny Houses, and standing with people refusing to be swept. Our actions will be non-violent and we will be sober when together.
2) We insist on speaking for ourselves. Solutions to homelessness start with listening to homeless people, and acting on what we say is needed. For decades the homeless services industry and their leaders have failed to effectively speak truth to power. Over and over, from Rent Control, to the 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, to All Home, to One Table, to Pathways Home, to Tent Cities, to Tiny Houses, to Public Bathrooms and Hygiene, to HMIS and Safe Harbors, to Moratoriums on Winter Evictions, to Coordinated Entry, to the Head Tax, to the Amazon Tax, to encampment sweeps, too many have been silent, ineffective or complicit.
The homeless service industry and their leaders do not speak for us. We can speak for ourselves. We should be at the table, and we should be listened to and respected.
May Update: Our annual SHARE Auction has been cancelled this year due to the pandemic. To support our Tent Cities, which receive no government grants (although they should!), our Shelter Board Partners have set up a new GoFundMe Campaign to support SHARE/WHEEL's Tent Cities, which continue their community-building, life-saving work, without government support. Your help is needed! https://www.gofundme.com/tent-cities
April 15th Update: Our nine SHARE/WHEEL Shelters, ranging in size from 10 to 35 participants, are all currently operating 24 hours. This allows us all to stay safe and together in a time of global crisis. We’re still very much in need of non-perishable/canned food, or hot meals that can be scheduled to shelter locations by neighborhood—Ballard, North Seattle, Wallingford/U District, and South End. For reasons of safety and coordination, we’re not able to publish shelter addresses. If you’re able to provide a meal to a shelter, please reach out to us by email meals4shelters@sharewheel.org, or office phone (206) 448-7889 and we can pair you with a specific location, and a specific day and time.
We’ve created a meal calendar by neighborhood on our website--see Meals 4 Shelter to your left; it's also linked here:
http://www.sharewheel.org/Home/meals-4-shelters
We also can accept donations of non-perishable/canned food and ready-to-go individually wrapped snacks at the Aloha Inn--1911 Aurora--between NOON and 2 pm EVERY day. Just ask for the "SHARE Staff on duty" and we will gratefully take the donation and make sure it gets out to a Shelter.
Thank you!
April 3rd Update: If you need shelter, please know that our SHARE/WHEEL Shelters ARE still doing Screenings and we do have a few openings. Please click on the "Need Shelter" button to the left to see our Screening Schedule. Tent City3 and Tent City4 also have openings.
All nine SHARE/WHEEL Indoor Shelters have converted to 24-hour "Shelter in Place" operations with strong health and safety protocols. We're extremely grateful to our hosts and supporters. Our needs list in the March 26th Update (below) is current. Please reach out if you're able to help!
March 26th Update: We're holding together in this time of crisis and are grateful for your support! Our nine SHARE/WHEEL Self-Managed Shelters need your help as most of our locations have expanded to 24-hour shelter-in-place operations or will expand soon!!!
Needs list:
• Toilet Paper and Paper Towels
• Hand Sanitizer
• Non-perishable food and canned goods
• Meal drop-off at our shelters! Email meals4shelters@sharewheel.org for info
• Fresh fruit (apples, oranges, and bananas are good)
• Trash bags—clear 40-gallon bags and black 33-gallon bags
• Paper Plates, Paper Cups, Utensils, Napkins
• Disinfecting wipes and small rags and towels for cleaning
• Blankets
• Water (bottled)
• Face Masks & Gloves
How to help:
• Drop off items between NOON at 2 PM ANY day at the Aloha Inn, 1911 Aurora. Please ask for “The SHARE Staffperson on Duty”
• Call our Office (206) 448-7889 or email shelters@sharewheel.org--we can match you with a Shelter in YOUR neighborhood. We have shelters in Ballard, North Seattle (Woodland Park/Phinney Neighborhood), the U District, the South End, and Wallingford.
• If it’s a meal-specific query, email meals4shelters@sharewheel.org
Thank you Very Much!
March 6th Update:
SHARE/WHEEL's Tent City3 is moving TOMORROW (Saturday, March 7th) from Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church (7500 Phinney Avenue North) to 12914 Martin Luther King Jr Way South in Skyway. Move help is REALLY needed! If you're able to help, show up anytime after 8 AM at the Phinney site, or from 10 AM on in Skyway. Thanks so much for your solidarity and support!
March 4th Update:
SHARE/WHEEL is a small cash-strapped, democratic & grassroots organizing effort of homeless people that facilitates the largest network of shelters in our region, with 11 indoor shelters and two tent cities. Extra help is needed to support our community during the COVID-19/Coronavirus crisis. Because of the reimbursable nature of SHARE/WHEEL's government contracts, our organization has to go out on a large margin before shelter expenses are reimbursed by the government. Plus, SHARE/WHEEL lost critical funding last year after FEMA denied an emergency shelter grant to all of King County because of the high median income here.
There are three ways to help:
**Extra shelter hygiene supplies are needed, and donations to SHARE/WHEEL now are critical to meet the need. Use the Pay Pal button here on our website if you're able to help!
**SHARE/WHEEL operates its shelter network on a fleet of donated, often rickety vehicles. ALL of these vehicles are in need of repairs RIGHT NOW! There're two ways you can help with this transportation-related crisis: 1) IF you have mechanical skills or ideas for car/van repair donations, or 2) IF you have a vehicle (van especially) and have time/energy to volunteer to drive blankets and supplies for SHARE/WHEEL shelters and tent cities, please reach out now: (206) 448-7889 or shelters@sharewheel.org.
The City, County, State and FEMA NEED to and may soon deploy extra shelter supply, service, and funding resources. Stay tuned for additional "asks" regarding advocacy next steps to support SHARE/WHEEL and other grassroots shelter operators.
Thanks!
More specifics about our vehicle needs is here:
SHARE's Vehicle Fleet has finally "kicked the carburetor." None of our vehicles is running. We are asking for help with repairs, shop space and/or donations to purchase parts. Vehicles are important for the day to day health and safety needs of our Organization.
Here's a list of our vehicles and what we know about their condition:
2003 Chevy Express 2500 - Needs an alternator, a tuneup and general maintenance - This is the most heavily used vehicle as it is used 6 days a week to pick up blankets from our indoor Shelters/Tent City 3 in the morning so they can be laundered and then returned to the Shelters in the evening.
2001 Subaru Legacy Outback - We believe needs a power steering pump, plus standard maintenance. The alternator and battery have been pulled and tested and are both fine - This is the vehicle the Overflow Logistics Coordinator uses to do the daily work required.
2000 Subaru Legacy Outback - Clutch went out and engine compartment started to smoke - This Vehicle is used by Organizers to get out to the multiple Shelters/Tent Cities.
2005 Toyota Echo - Engine issue? Has new spark plugs - This Vehicle is also used by Organizers to get out to the multiple Shelters/Tent Cities.
1988 Dodge Ram 50 (Extended Passenger Van) - We think maybe an alternator repair is needed, based on how the lights all dimmed out before the Van finally died - This vehicle is used to get our Participants around to meetings and other group activities.
2002 Dodge Ram Wagon B3500 - Needs a new front end-brakes, calipers, shocks, headlight housing, etc.- the side sliding door is jammed shut.
We'd appreciate any help given! Our 300+ participants rely on the generosity and support of friends like you!
November 27th Update: For almost thirty years our SHARE community of homeless men and women has been working together to survive and solve homelessness. We’re proud of our efforts, and the positive difference they’ve made in Seattle/King County.
With a mixture of anticipation and trepidation we’re letting you know that this Sunday, December 1st, the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes will feature a segment on the housing crisis and homelessness in Seattle. The show starts at 7 PM. Here's a clip:
This summer Anderson Cooper’s 60 Minutes crew spent a lot of time at Tent City3 talking with SHARE folks. They seemed smart and caring. We’re hoping the stories and wisdom that came out of our SHARE tents and shelters –from the misery and pain of sleeping outside alone to the possibility of community and empowerment in SHARE – get told Sunday. We’re hoping that the basis of the crisis of homelessness--in increasing economic inequality--is recognized.
We still need your support. WHEEL Women in Black have stood for 99 homeless deaths that’ve occurred outside, in a public place, or by violence in King County already this year. Without shelter, people die. Our community, our gift of keeping people together and safe, and our speaking truth to power are more important now than ever.
Please tune in to 60 Minutes this Sunday, and please stay connected to SHARE.
Also, please consider making a contribution to help us fill an unanticipated year-end funding gap we’re facing because all of King County was denied a much-needed FEMA emergency shelter grant this year after Federal formulas deemed King County too wealthy, with too low an unemployment rate, to warrant it (!).
https://www.gofundme.com/f/close-share039s-2019-funding-gap
Thanks so much for your solidarity and support!
The women and men of SHARE/WHEEL
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SHARE (Seattle Housing and Resource Effort) is a unique, dynamic,
grassroots community of homeless people founded in 1990.
In addition to grassroots community organizing, we facilitate by-the-
people, for-the-people, clean-and-sober self-managed shelter in 10
different locations, and two Tent Cities.
We also operate a self-managed Storage Locker Program, and a
Housing for Work Program.
Our Shelters have openings!
For a complete Screening calendar click on SHARE Screening Calendar
Or, come to screen at our Special 10 AM--1 PM Sunday Screening
(with coffee and donuts):
SHARE Sunday Shelter Screenings
At The Recovery Café
Every Sunday 10 AM - 1PM
2022 Boren Ave. Seattle, WA 98121 Please ARRIVE SOBER to Screen-in
Bus Tickets for Travel
Screen-in once and keep coming back nightly
Locations all around town
Mats and Blankets Provided
Sobriety and Participation Required
Microwave and Coffee Maker in Shelters
Join a wider Community of Self-managed Support and Resources
No Time Limit on Stay
Daytime Sleeping Shelter Available
7 CO-ED, 1 Men Only, 2 Women Only
SHARE Tent Cities Screen on-site 24/7. Please click on the desired camp
to get the current location Tent City 3 Tent City 4
SHARE Storage Lockers can help if you just need a safe place to keep your belongings.
For more information click on SHARE Storage Lockers
SHARE also has job openings--we're looking for a Tent City Organizer.
For more information Click Here
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Are you a current SHARE or Nickelsville Participant and want to help keep Bunkhouse Days Program open? You can
sign up for any one of 10 positions every day. Check the Calendar for availability by clicking on Bunkhouse.