BECOME A HOST OF OUR TEMPORARY VILLAGE AS WE SEEK A PERMANENT HOME!

 

Join others in the Faith Community in supporting a proven part of the solution to the poverty of homelessness as we work to care for ourselves.

 

 Camp Quixote

• Formed on February 1, 2007, to provide safe shelter for up to 30 people, in Olympia, Washington
• Camp Quixote is a member-run, democratic community that operates with the support of a broad-based advisory committee.
• The tent camp has been hosted by the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation, The United Churches of Olympia, St. John's Episcopal, and the First United Methodist Church.
• Camp Quixote will need a new host about every 90 days until a permanent site for “Quixote Village” is found.


What does “hosting” involve for a church or other religious community?

Subject to their available outdoor space, “Hosts” provide a residential tent area for up to 40 persons, and in addition space for food and security tents. 

Sanitary toilets, owned by the Camp, must be accommodated, unless the Host chooses to make its indoor facilities available. 

Hosts, with the participation of the Camp’s residents, provide 24/7 security for the protection of  the Camp and to accommodate the safety concerns of the neighbors.

 

What hosting costs might be involved and in what amounts?

 

Host expenses have included servicing of the outdoor toilets, currently at the rate of $ 235 per 28-day billing. Hosts have provided bus passes, either monthly passes ($25 per person) or in such other amounts as the Host may decide. In this regard, the Camp’s residents are taking on an increased responsibility for their personal transportation costs. The hosts have also provided cell phone service limited to the use of those staffing the host (security) table for emergency and other communication purposes.  In the past, hosts have also provided propane heating on the Camp’s site during the cold months. 

Previous hosts have occasionally borne some capital costs, notably for fencing  around the camp as required by ordinance. This material is  the property of the camp, which has recently been incorporated as a non-profit corporation. and  travels with the camp as it moves to a different location.

Host churches have borne the costs of supplying water and limited electrical service to the camp.

Except for the occasional donation of meals or snacks by the hosts or other contributors, hosts have not provided food service. They may allow residents of the camp to cook on the premises, subject to the health and safety conditions of the ordinance, which prohibit “open Fires” and require satisfactory disposal of “gray water” generated by cooking and cleaning.

The historical experience of past hosts suggests that the costs of hosting the camp for a 90-day period may be found in the range of $ 3,500 – $ 5,000, the variation generally depending on what the host agency is willing to provide in the way of certain individual necessities (e.g., tents, blankets, tarps) or amenities such as prepared meals, etc.

Previous hosts have found that voluntary contributions from members (special offerings) and unexpected and surprisingly generous donations from other members of the Olympia community have been sufficient to defray the costs listed above and have even allowed a portion of the surplus to be passed along to the next host.

  

Is there a prospect for support from others for a host church?

 

A.     Yes. Experience has shown that members of other churches, notably from previous host churches and members of the larger Olympiacommunity, have volunteered their time to take a three-hour shift at the host’s security table. 

In addition, efforts are well underway to provide additional assistance through a support organization which will enlist the participation of other faith communities, other community organizations and individuals in sustaining a tent city for as long as such a resource is needed for some part of the homeless population.

This support organization, known as “Panza” (after Don Quixote’s follower) is likely to follow the model of a similar supporting resource at work in alliance with tent cities in the Seattle/King county area.                    

 

For more information on hosting, contact the Panza Committee [Page under construction].