Growing Homeless Camp Scaring off Seattle Church Parishioners
Christian theology suggests that followers welcome the stranger and feed the hungry. But parishioners at one Seattle church are finding these principles uncomfortable to follow. In Seattle, a growing homeless population is beginning to scare regulars at a local church. Some say they are afraid to attend services because of a growing homeless encampment that has sprung up near the building. Read on to learn more about what’s going on and what nearby residents are saying about it.
KOMO News
Penny Peppes, president of Our Lady’s Greek Orthodox Church, told KOMO that the city has not responded to numerous complaints about the camp. “We want them to get help, we want them off the streets. We don’t have the infrastructure as a small church to do that on our own. We need help.”
Peppes told KOMO News. “Our parishioners who come from all over are very concerned about their safety. They’re afraid to come. It’s beyond frustrating because it’s affecting our ability to come to church to worship.”
Shutterstock
“The tents themselves started with one tent about three weeks ago and then quickly, quickly escalated,” Peppes said. Some campers are sending Amazon packages directly to the church. “One of the homeless people knocked on our door and asked, ‘Did you get my package?'” Peppes said. “So they’re using our church as their mailing address.”
KOMO News
A person at the camp, who was identified as Oberson, told KOMO News that it is not causing problems at the church. “There are a lot of stories of illegal activity happening with camps that, but it’s not us,” Oberson said. “I’ve done my part as a homeless person to exercise the resources available to get off the street and into housing. The ball is in their court.” ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb
KOMO News
“The church already provides food for two shelters,” said one commenter on the KOMO website. “Like anyone else, they have to choose how to help. However, their main function is to welcome everyone to their church services and that is being subverted by the camps. Homelessness is a problem and the church is doing what it prefers to do. .”
“Until we stop pretending this isn’t a drug problem and just a housing problem, this city is going to sink deeper and deeper into zombie land,” said another. “There is nothing compassionate about ignoring serious addiction and watching our fellow citizens destroy themselves and everyone around them.”
KOMO News
“The need for accommodation and outreach is greater than current capacity, which means we need more affordable housing units for people to go to and our outreach teams are very busy working with people across the region. We speak weekly with outreach teams and the City of Seattle follows up on citizen reports.”
