Road from desperation to dignity
Pastor's Perspective From the Olympian December 20, 2008
Arthur Vaeni
The critics of Camp Quixote, Thurston County’s tent city, are right. Simply providing a place for our homeless citizens to pitch tents is an inadequate response to their housing needs. Yes, the critics are correct about this deficiency of tent cities, but they are also wrong.
They are wrong because Camp Quixote not only provides a safe place for the homeless to live, which is important itself, but it, also, enables them to create community. While it receives outside support, the camp is self-governing and largely self-caretaking.
The residents create and enforce the camp’s rules with each other even as they care for one another. Of course, it’s a community of human beings, so there are personality conflicts and all the difficulties that infuse any of our efforts to live together. Nonetheless, the residents’ experience provides a notable example of how the human spirit, even under demanding conditions, seeks to foster dignity and graciousness.
So, the critics are wrong. While Camp Quixote may provide poor housing for the residents’ bodies, it renders a rich home for their spirits. It’s a home that counteracts the dehumanizing effects of homelessness through the development of truly caring relationships among residents as well as with their supporters.
Still, the critics are correct. On a raw Northwestern night even the warmest inner glow cannot adequately warm the body when its only shelter is the thin shell of a tent. Every person deserves better housing than a tent. Even temporary housing should be better than a tent. Therefore, here’s a proposal from Camp Quixote residents and their supporters.
Let’s together find a permanent site for the camp where nonstandard –that means much cheaper but still adequate- housing could be built in order to provide warmth to both body and spirit. Imagine small, environmentally-friendly dwellings encircling a communal structure where meals are prepared and shared, meetings are conducted, computers and a library are situated and perhaps, an occasional dance is held.
Yes, we are proposing a different way to deal with homelessness. It’s one we believe will prove cheaper and greener than most other ways, and it’s one that enables the homeless to help themselves through the experience of living in community. We’re looking for a permanent site somewhere in Lacey, Tumwater, Olympia or Thurston County.
Of course, this won’t be easy. Although Camp Quixote has won numerous converts in our community, there remains a strong bias against the homeless. Moreover, whenever something different is proposed, it’s easier for many to see why it won’t work rather than how it could succeed. Yet, the fact we have a tent city, and so many homeless citizens living in even less suitable conditions, indicates our country’s and community’s current efforts to address homelessness are not working well enough.
This season of hope’s rebirth is an opportune time to invest in endeavors that seek fulfillment of our hope for justice and the well-being of all people. This year, especially, when life feels uncertain for all of us, we need to place greater trust in the creativity of the human spirit. We need the faith to try something different. We need a permanent site for Camp Quixote, and then, additional Camp Quixotes in order to transform desperation into dignity for more people.
Meanwhile, Camp Quixote continues its journey. Presently, it’s situated at St. John’s Episcopal Church. On December 27, it moves to First Christian Church where it will be co-hosted by Temple Beth Hatfiloh. More religious communities as well as others are needed to accompany and support Camp Quixote in its quest. To help, contact Selena Kilmoyer, k.selena@gmail.com or 360-951-0326.