By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
As noted here last week, the future of the Westside Neighbors Shelter is in flux.
After dealing with longrunning street disorder in the area, nearby residents and business owners has been holding their collective breath since the shelter’s closure in June, hoping it won’t reopen while discussing what to do if it does.
Thursday evening, they met with the leader of a nonprofit that had been providing case-management services to dozens of the people served by the shelter and/or camping in the sprawling city parkland just a few blocks east, abutting Rotary Viewpoint Park and West Seattle Stadium.
The nonprofit, Anything Helps, had circulated to both the neighbors and the city a proposal they suggested could keep the area’s street disorder in check by serving those already-known people: Use the shelter site, in the American Legion Post 160 building, as a resource center, while creating a “temporary,” city-approved tent encampment on stadium-adjacent parkland that’s set for future use as an off-leash area. (Here’s the proposal, as forwarded to us by an area resident.)
Gathered at the West Seattle VFW hall – across SW Alaska from the shelter/post – they had many questions for Anything Helps executive director Mike Mathias, after stressing that their overarching interest is safety for all involved. They first recapped where their most recent efforts stood – a letter to the mayor’s office last month had draw no reply. They also had pursued the issue of whether the shelter could be classified as a “nuisance property,” though some said that didn’t seem likely as it is reported to have city-granted permits for shelter use as granted by the Department of Construction and Inspections.
One of the first questions for Mathias was, what problem would be solved by creating a sanctioned encampment in the area? He said that would give some stability to their case-management clients, who they’d had trouble finding since the shelter closed. “We have to be able to locate our people.” How would they be kept under control, not causing problems? He said “stakeholdership” would result in a degree of “self-policing,” He reiterated that when asked about the safety of students using the nearby stadium, with school about to start again: People living at the camp will “feel a sense of community.”
He was also clear, though, that it would be “low-barrier” – drug use would be prohibited in outside areas, but not inside tents.
What would “temporary” mean? Six months. How is Anything Helps funded? It’s a Medicaid-funded health-care provider, providing supportive services specifically to unhoused people.
Mathias also was asked about his own background, described on the Anything Helps website as “lived experience with homelessness and addiction,” and he didn’t shy away from acknowledging past mistakes as well as saying he’s been in recovery since 2022.
The group also had questions for an SPD rep in attendance, Southwest Precinct second-in-command Lt. Wes Collier. He said that he had met with Westside Neighbors Shelter manager Keith Hughes two days earlier and that Hughes remains intent on opening as a cold-weather shelter when that season arrives. SPD “is not in favor of it,” he said, but didn’t see anything likely to prevent the shelter from reopening. He was also asked his thoughts about the Anything Helps proposal, and said he saw no red flags but “all these operations have inherent risks.” He mentioned some particular tools SPD has used and can use such as trespass agreements to help them deal with unwelcome visitors. He also noted that while Mathias said his organization had served 63 people in the area, SPD had noted a larger number congregating in the area, and an attendee who had been associated with both Anything Helps and shelter operations cited ~100. Lt. Collier said the precinct was ready for the prospect of the shelter reopening, planning for emphasis patrols and for partnering with the King County Sheriff’s Office regarding patroling bus shelters, which are KCSO’s jurisdiction. And he reminded attendees that since SDCI issued the permit, they would be the department with which complaints could be filed if they seemed warranted.
After a bit more discussion – including attendees recounting incidents of crime and street disorder – a vote was taken, asking who supported the Anything Helps temporary-encampment proposal.
No one raised a hand.
Asked his reaction, Mathias told the group, “We won’t move forward with it.”
His organization, however, will continue to work with people in the area. His proposal says the services aren’t why they are here:
They are here because it is home, and our outreach staff know these people well enough to say so with confidence: they come from West Seattle, White Center and Burien. This is where they grew up, where their families are, and where they know which areas are safe for them.