Tent Residents Iffy About New Shelter

Hello, neighbor!

For the past two weeks, I’ve been collecting feedback about the new Temporary Overnight Shelter from various groups, including partnering nonprofits, volunteers, and most importantly, the people who use it. There are big hopes for this shelter, especially with the impending closing of the encampment.

Most importantly, though, the overnight shelter should be designed so that the people it’s intended to serve will actually use it. There might need to be some work on that front.

Also, feel free to read this whole newsletter here.

TL;DR

👋 The new shelter is open, and Cornerstones urges tent residents to sleep there
🤨 Many folks still prefer their tents instead of the shelter, and they explained why
🛌 Reston Strong proposes covered beds to offer more privacy in the overnight shelter
💻 I’ve revamped the website, and all these newsletters will be posted there
🚚 We collected and disposed of 1.2 TONS of trash in one day
⛪ Capital Church showed up with an amazing spread of meals, clothes, and other items!

First Look at the Overnight Shelter

On July 29 at 5pm, the Temporary Overnight Shelter opened its doors to residents of the encampment (AKA the Hill). Cornerstones employees and I went tent to tent, encouraging everyone to come down for dinner and maybe spend the night. Cornerstones had the foresight to offer cheesecake, which definitely attracted a wider crowd!

All told, around ten people came for dinner, and less than half of those stayed the night. It was a humble start, but Cornerstones is hopeful that more people will come. Pictured above is one of the shelter’s new cots, which have a covering to provide more privacy than a mat on the floor.

Asking Friends at the Encampment for Their Thoughts about the Overnight Shelter

When asked to come to the new shelter, many tent residents said they preferred their tent (while others enjoyed the shelter). Of course, if the encampment is cleared, then many more people will probably use the overnight shelter. However, many probably won’t, instead opting to camp in another wooded area.

Since the county is dedicating this space specifically for the Hill residents, then it might as well be something they’ll actually use. I’ve included some quotes from my friends at the Hill for their honest feedback about the overnight shelter.

From those who will stay in their tents:

It’s hard to sleep because people are talking.

I’m appreciative there’s another option [besides a tent], but I’ll miss my tent and being independent. I’ll stay at the shelter if I have to.

A tent has privacy. I’ll move out once I have my own place. I appreciate the shelter is there, though, for those who use it.

There’s too many rude people.

I wouldn’t invite these people [other tent residents] into my home. I don’t wanna sleep a few feet away from them.

It feels condescending. Everyone’s watching you the whole time when you sleep.

From those who will use the shelter:

I liked it. I’ll probably stay in my tent during the day.

I liked how the cot felt.

They fixed the problems from before, and it’s better now.

Fully Covered Beds for the Overnight Shelter?

Reston Strong (a local nonprofit that advocates for the Hill) also has concerns about the new shelter. They don’t think these cots at the shelter offer any privacy or comfort at all. Instead, they’re proposing the shelter offers covered beds, pictured above.

Reston Strong is talking with Cornerstones about potentially adding these beds. I believe this would bring more people inside, since they’re more comfortable and more private. However, I know some folks simply don’t want to sleep in a room full of other people.

I always had hoped that the county would find another area for tents to be set up, but that’s difficult to achieve in a place like Reston, where there’s an unfortunate amount of NIMBYs.

New Website Updates!

I have updated the website (which might be obvious to anyone reading on the new site right now). All the newsletters will be there, and you can reference any of them from the News page.

For any nerds out there, I made this site with Hugo, and you can view the source code here. Open source all the way!

I Should Have Been Checking These Dumpster Receipts…

I did another trash run yesterday, and we sorted through three weeks’ worth of trash. This includes normal household trash as well as tents, mattresses, and folding furniture which were destroyed due to the elements.

When I got the receipt from the dump, I noticed that we threw out 1.2 tons of trash! I did some quick math and realized that since I’ve started doing this, we’ve probably thrown out roughly 20 tons of trash from the Hill. I’ll definitely be holding on to those receipts from now on.

Capital Church Went ALL OUT

Odie Taribo is incredibly passionate about helping out at the Hill. He brought his pastor, Rohan Anderson, and lots of members of Capital Church to the Hill a couple weeks ago. They provided sandwiches, drinks, clothes, and hygiene items for everyone! It was a real blessing.

Pretty soon, the county will force the tent residents to leave the encampment. Some folks will come to the temporary overnight shelter, and others will not. I hope that all of them can stay safe, with a dignified quality of life.

Thanks,
Matthew