There have been calls for change at the “Jungle” ever since a shooting left two people dead and three wounded at the city’s largest illegal homeless camp in January.
On Friday, a Seattle Times report gave a grim look into the challenges behind cleaning up the notorious homeless camp known as The Jungle.
The report covered how people sleep in shifts to avoid not just bursts of violence and robberies, but also “eyeball eating rats.”
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The report covered how people sleep in shift to avoid not just burst of violence and robberies – but also “eye-ball eating rats.”
" … All that stands between many campers and rats, needles and human waste is a tent wall. Sometimes that thin protection isn't available," <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/inside-the-grim-world-of-the-jungle-the-caves-sleeping-in-shifts-and-eyeball-eating-rats/">reporters Bob Young and Vernal Coleman wrote.</a>
"[Union Gospel Mission] workers reported meeting a man who had overdosed on heroin and was found by his wife lying outside his tent, a rat gnawing at his face. The man lost part of his eyelid and eye, but was not interested in relocation assistance, according to UGM."At its peak this spring, the Jungle was home to approximately 400 homeless people camped out in the greenbelt under I-5, on the side of Beacon Hill near I-90.
On Thursday KIRO Radio reported that a consultant is pushing to look at things from other perspectives in cleaning up the camp.
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At its peak this spring, The Jungle was home to approximately 400 homeless people camped out in the greenbelt under I-5, on the side of Beacon Hill near I-90.
On Thursday KIRO Radio reported that a consultant is pushing to look at things from other perspectives in cleaning up the camp.
The consultant signed in mid-May.
“We’re at the information gathering stage. That’s kind of our typical designer, in the design world, what we do,” Peg Staeheli said. “Bring a lot of information in and try to keep a really open approach to all of our work. So looking around, talking to people, observation. Looking at data, kind of looking at some technical information.”
That means poring over detailed geographical and aerial maps of the area, figuring out where the city property merges with state and county rights-of-way. The team will also examine where utilities like water, sewer and storm drains are located.
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According to the contract, the crew will have three planned visits to The Jungle, and will talk with stakeholders like the City Council, businesses and Union Gospel Mission volunteers who have been working tirelessly on outreach efforts at homeless camps.
Cox Media Group
