For over 30 years, the social support organizations SHARE/WHEEL have collaborated to quarter homeless people in a style unlike that of most city-run shelters. Based in Seattle, Washington, their most impactful program is the Tent City, which provides a safe and secure space for individuals and families seeking accommodations. Having organized four "cities" through it's history, an S/W encampment is typically rewarded a one-year lease by universities and churches. An example being the University of Washington, which own an empty plot of land near their off-campus apartments. Tent City 3 typically rotates back there every two years.
As the name implies, the most noteworthy element of Tent City 3 is the structure of responsibility and self-governance. The campers hold weekly camp meetings where every task is planned and delegated ahead of time. With an effort to sustain not only themselves but their fellow campers, picking up responsibilities is a requirement to living in Tent City 3. Social workers cannot account for everyone equally given the large number of inhabitants. Unlike standard city-run shelters, individuals are expected to take care of themselves. As for the daily functions of Tent City 3, “[the] necessary duties included, but were not limited to security, tent maintenance, donations coordination and kitchen operations. Of these, only security was required of all residents. All other duties were chosen by nomination and vote” (Sparks 94). As for the style of their weekly meetings, campers take a page from the democratic handbook; motions are passed with a simple majority vote. They have a “voice and a vote” (Sparks 91). Perhaps the greatest advantage of the encampment's small population is that each person can have their voice heard. They have the chance to debate changes to the rules and the rules themselves. The camp coordinator is the only individual of Tent City 3 on the payroll. While this position excluded him from having a vote in the meetings, he manages the bills, attends the weekly meetings, and acts as the camp scribe.
To juxtapose Tent City 3, it is worth examining another shelter system which emerged recently. Brandon Andrew Robinson detailed the structure of a homeless shelter for LGBTQ teenagers and young adults in his book Coming Out to the Streets. The program offered residents with therapists and nurse practitioners at no-cost. Although the shelter could afford such social services with it's small group, participants could only keep their spot by remaining drug free and completely sober. Missing curfew was enough to suspend a person from the shelter. Minors had to leave the shelter at 8:30 a.m. and return by 4:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Robinson detailed the experiences of Camila and Zoe, both of whom were kicked out the shelter for 30 days due rule breaking. As one would expect, Camila went back to the streets and waited a month to apply for re-entry. After failing the mandatory drug test, her application was tossed out and she was forbidden from accessing the shelter. Another rule worth noting: for individuals under 18-years of age who were not enrolled in high school, they had to attend GED classes or work in a formal business, outside of the shelter. The structure of LGBTQ shelters are drawn up by their initial source of funding. Robinson coins the term "homonormativity" to describe the program's implied values and expectations. Residents are expected to become “good gays” and “productive members of middle-class, capitalistic society and who uphold notions of personal responsibility” (Robinson 3). There is also the issue of ID cards, which some residents scoffed as a form of gender surveillance.
Tent City 3 is certainly much more effective at sustaining a healthy social system than the shelter described by Robinson. While the LBGTQ shelter provides a variety of no-cost social services, individuals are under a near-constant surveillance for any rule breaking. This micromanagement is quite unlike the honor system of Tent City 3, where the consequences of breaking community trust are less severe.
References
Robinson, Brandon Andrew. ND. “Respite, Resources, Rules, and Regulations.” In Coming Out to The Streets: Gender, Sexuality, and LGBTQ Youth Homelessness. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Sparks, Tony. 2017. “Citizens Without Property: Informality and Political Agency in a Seattle Washington Homeless Encampment.” In Environment and Planning A 49(1): 86-103.