Many major American cities struggle with homelessness, and with no single clear or obvious solution, it's unlikely the problem will be solved anytime soon.
asserted
problem → struggle → solution
"Washington state is experiencing the fifth-highest per-capita rate of unsheltered homelessness in the nation," the Washington Department of Ecology warned in 2020.
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Department → experience → 2020
"On any given night, 10,000 Washington residents are living outside or in places unfit for human habitation."
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residents → give → habitation
And while the encampments can pose a danger to nearby residents, their presence "also impacts the environment.
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presence → pose → environment
Illegal disposal of garbage and human waste can contaminate the environment, spread disease, and attract vermin."
So when a Seattle resident took it upon herself to clean up public spaces in her city, why did the state feel the need to stand in her way?
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state → contaminate → way
Like most of us, Andrea Suarez found herself with a lot of free time during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Suarez → find → pandemic
But when she took walks near her home in downtown Seattle, she didn't like what she saw: used needles, garbage, and homeless people experiencing drug addiction and untreated mental illness.
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she → take → addiction
"Tourism was no longer camouflaging the crisis in our city," she tells Reason.
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she → camouflage → Reason
Writing for The Seattle Times in 2021, Sara Jean Green noted that the city's once-vibrant downtown was now marked by "open-air drug use, lawlessness and filth."
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downtown → write → use
When her complaints to local officials went nowhere, Suarez took matters into her own hands: "I went to Home Depot and I bought pinchers and vests and garbage bags and a little red wagon," she says.
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she → go → pinchers
With all the new equipment, she went out and picked up trash in Denny Park—which KOMO, Seattle's ABC affiliate, said at the time was "riddled with crime, drugs and homelessness."
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KOMO → go → crime
Suarez would ultimately put $25,000 into starting We Heart Seattle, a nonprofit dedicated to cleaning up the city's public spaces and assisting the homeless.
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Suarez → put → homeless
She announced upcoming cleanups on the group's Facebook page and asked for volunteers.
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She → announce → volunteers
Over time, the operation grew, and she now manages more than 1,000 volunteers.
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she → grow → volunteers
We Heart Seattle takes no public money, relying solely on private donations.
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Seattle → take → donations
The organization brags that it has picked up more than 2 million pounds of trash from public spaces and helped 365 people off the street in just the six years in operation.
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it → brag → operation
But in July, Suarez received a "notice of alleged safety or health hazards" from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
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Suarez → receive → Safety
The notice alleged "improper handling and collection of hypodermic needles and fentanyl paraphernalia."
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notice → allege → needles
In an accompanying letter, the department indicated that We Heart Seattle would be subject to a "review as part of the inspection process."
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Seattle → accompany → process
The review apparently resulted from an anonymous civilian complaint, alleging that the people doing cleanup were not handling sensitive and dangerous items correctly.
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people → result → items
(Reason asked for a copy of the complaint last month; L&I's Public Records Unit responded on August 26 that "due to high volume of requests," it may take until October to comply.)
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it → ask → October
The letter required Suarez to submit a number of documents within 48 hours, such as copies of the organization's safety training materials, employee training completion logs, and any "safety related employee disciplinary records" from the past six months.
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letter → require → months
But according to We Heart Seattle's IRS filing, Suarez is its only employee.
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Suarez → accord → filing
All the work at cleanup sites is conducted by volunteers, overseen by Suarez and a couple of site supervisors.
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work → conduct → supervisors
Still, "we have certification for hazmat and bloodborne pathogen training," she notes.
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she → have → training
On its website, We Heart Seattle provides extensive information about what volunteers can expect at a cleanup, including safety information and waivers.
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volunteers → provide → information
It also notes that "gloves, grabbers, rakes and garbage bags" will be provided.
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gloves → note → ?
"From day one," Suarez says, "we've always used the red sharps containers," as well as the county needle exchange's recommendation for the proper collection and disposal.
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we → say → collection
The problem was all the other requirements, she says, that felt like overkill.
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that → say → overkill
Indeed, when someone is willing to shoulder the burden of clearing out so much trash from public spaces, why make it that much harder for them to do so?
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them → shoulder → spaces
It seems part of the problem is that the state doesn't quite know how to classify We Heart Seattle, a nonprofit that is technically just a one-person operation.
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that → seem → Seattle
Suarez says that's intentional: "I don't want to scale.
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I → say → ?
I don't want infrastructure.
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I → want → infrastructure
I'm private funded, so I can't just start bringing on people without the guarantee of revenue."
Now, Suarez must contend with a state inspection, which an L&I spokesperson told Reason "can take up to 180 days" to complete.
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spokesperson → fund → days
In the meantime, Suarez has the threat of financial penalties hanging over her head, as violations could result in fines, or worse.
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violations → have → fines
"The whole purpose of nonprofits is to supplement the work of the government," she says.
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she → supplement → government
But the L&I investigation "puts you in a position to not want to do the work or be fearful of doing the work, that you could be fined or shut down.
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you → put → work
How does Washington state thank @weheartseattle for picking up over 2 million pounds of trash?
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state → thank → trash
Reason's @BessByers shares more.
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@BessByers → share → more
The Aporia
