Submitted by Food not Bombs Tacoma and Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America.
As Governor Inslee and Tacoma Mayor Woodard, along with local elected officials celebrate the end of the pandemic at the “Welcome Back, Tacoma” event, we ask: Who is this crisis over for?
The pandemic is not over. Why are we celebrating while our statewide housing and houselessness crises are still ongoing? Why are we celebrating when children and vulnerable adults are still at risk from COVID?
Across the state, we see renters hanging on by a thread. The compounding rent debt leads to an all-consuming fear of being soon evicted from their homes. Here in Tacoma, we see a rise of houselessness while the City of Tacoma continues to pursue inhumane evictions of encampments. Beyond that, we see a push from city officials for a citywide camping ban without direct input from unhoused residents about what they want and need.
This week’s heat wave illustrated how woefully unprepared government officials were for an emergency. Not only did they fail to have a plan in place, but they also failed to prioritize access to adequate water and other support to the city’s most vulnerable populations leaving community members to organize around the failings of city officials, preventing deaths.
This crisis is not over for our community. We demand action, not celebration. We demand that unhoused members of our community be listened to. Their voices need to be centered as solutions and considered.
Food not Bombs Tacoma is a collective working to build solidarity in local communities. We provide meals, supplies, and basic medical care to the Tacoma community experiencing homelessness and food scarcity.
Tacoma Pierce County Democratic Socialists of America (Tacoma DSA) is a group of socialist organizers who live and work in Tacoma and Pierce County, Washington. We seek to facilitate the transition to a truly democratic and socialist society, one in which the means and resources of production are democratically and socially controlled by workers themselves.
I agree with Food not Bombs Tacoma, and Tacoma DSA on all counts. This pandemic is not over at all. It’s far from over and I don’t believe this nation is going to recover any time soon. We now deal with the Delta variant, and hospitalizations are on the increase. As a result of the quarantines, many businesses have been forced to close. Commercial shopping centers are seeing record numbers of vacancies, and increases of criminal activities, vehicle prowling and break ins, and vandalism of vacant buildings. It’s going to take a VERY long time to recover to even a semblance of ‘normalcy’.
I believe that the sheer numbers of the homeless will never be fully realized. Government authorities throw out numbers every so often, but the numbers aren’t realistic, considering what anyone would see, if they drove through any city along the I-5 corridor. In many discussions, I’ve seen people accuse the homeless of being lazy, drug addicts, and unwilling to work. I’ve spoken with many homeless people I’ve encountered, and among them are families with children, and both parents are actually employed and working full time. They simply cannot afford rent, and don’t earn enough to qualify for even a one bedroom apartment, or even a shared room in a rental house. These numbers will significantly increase once the moratorium on evictions is lifted.
I was appalled to see the article about Inslee and Tacoma’s Mayor ‘celebrating’ and acting as if everything was ‘back to normal’ again, when so many businesses have been forced to close, and so many have lost their livelihoods and means of employment.
My husband and I have been penalized under the law because we haven’t been able to afford health care insurance, under the Obamacare laws. Now we are to be required to have Long Term Care coverage, when we can’t even afford basic health care, and businesses and citizens are continuously being milked for more and more tax dollars, while our legislators and government representatives are living the high life, and celebrating.
Enough is enough. We, the people, the REAL people, the citizens, the homeless, those who live with hunger anxiety, have had enough.