The 91探花 will welcome back Tent City 3 鈥� an organized tent-city community 鈥� to its Seattle campus for 90 days during winter quarter 2023. Move-in is scheduled to begin Dec. 17, 2022.
The 91探花previously hosted Tent City 3 in winter 2017 and winter 2021 in聽parking lot W35, situated between John M. Wallace Hall and the Fishery Sciences buildings off Northeast Pacific Street. This year鈥檚 site will be parking lot E21, located just north of the Waterfront Activities Center, by Husky Stadium.
“We’re excited to welcome Tent City 3 back to campus as part of our mission of public service,鈥� said Aaron Hoard, interim director of the 91探花Office of Regional and Community Relations. 鈥淲hile not a permanent solution to homelessness, it plays an important role for its residents by providing shelter and services so they can work towards a more permanent housing solution.”
Tent City 3 will provide safe, secure temporary housing for up to 100 people, while at UW.
The renewed partnership results from engagement by the聽聽鈥� a group of 91探花students, alumni and Tent City 3 residents who have been working with faculty, academic departments and local civic leaders to bring Tent City 3 to the 91探花for a third time.
The 91探花believes that Tent City 3 remains a valued partner due to its code of conduct and strong reputation for providing a safe and secure home for its residents. Many residents are employed, and many are families with children. For these families, and all of the residents, the tent-city community helps reduce their risk of being crime victims, which is more likely to happen to people experiencing homelessness. Tent City 3 has previously been based in the University District, including across the street from the 91探花campus, a number of times in recent years.
Tent City 3鈥檚 code of conduct bans alcohol, drugs, weapons, violence and open fires. All prospective Tent City residents are checked for sex offender status; individuals on the registry cannot stay. The 91探花and Seattle Housing and Resource Effort or SHARE, which oversees Tent City 3, have created a new safety, hygiene and security plan and聽聽setting out mutual responsibilities during the hosting period.
Tent City 3 has been successfully implementing measures to maintain social distancing and sanitation standards within the encampment, officials said. In the event of a positive COVID-19 test, Public Health 鈥� Seattle & King County is responsible for contact tracing, quarantine and isolation. Tent City 3 submitted a COVID-19 prevention and mitigation plan to the UW.
The project relies on fundraisers by the Tent City Collective, as well as donations from individuals, student groups and professional organizations. The 91探花will not use tuition or taxpayer dollars for hosting.
To learn more about this partnership between the 91探花and Tent City 3, visit our FAQ or email聽regional@uw.edu. To learn more about the UW鈥檚 broader work on homelessness, visit Urban@UW鈥檚聽.
The Tent City Collective is organizing volunteers and fundraisers: Visit them on聽聽or email聽tentcity@uw.edu.