I met my neighbors and they're awesome!

Oh my goodness, I am exhausted! I've spent the last four and a half hours with my awesome HOA friends canvassing the neighborhoods near me and getting the word out about the Pallet Shelter Pilot Project. We spoke with countless residents and handed out and posted nearly 140 flyers. When I say neighbors, we were out and walking around the neighborhoods within a mile of the church along 83rd Ave (that's 5280 feet and considerably more than the 600 feet the church felt was sufficient). This is something that NSCO and Generations CC should have been doing. If they had they would have known that our community has some serious concerns about this project and NCSP and GCC would have had an opportunity to address those concerns head on. They also would have learned that we have some pretty incredible people living nearby who would like to be part of the solution and have some great ideas and experiences. Every person we spoke to was shocked and said it was the first time they were hearing of this project proposal. No one has reached out to them.

So what did I learn? Besides the fact that I have a lot of new neighbors I've never met due to COVID and getting some really great lawncare tips, I haven't met a single neighbor who supports this project proposal. I also learned that they don't believe that a pallet shelter will help. One of my neighbors has a relation that works for the manufacturer of the shelters and that neighbor agreed with our assessment that Generations Community Church is not an idea site for a pallet shelters. This neighbor would like to work with NSCO and Generations to help find a different location. Another of my neighbors works with a nonprofit called Esther's Place that has a 95% success rate helping people get cars, jobs, and homes and transition out of homelessness. How do they do it? Well it doesn't involve pallet shelters. I'm planning to reach out to them to learn more.

Many of my neighbors actually relocated to this area from Everett in an effort to get away from the issues they dealt with in the city. They're seeking safety for their children and a community environment. They've been disappointed that COVID forced the cancellation of things like Trunk or Treat and the Easter Egg Hunt that GCC has done in the past. They've had experiences with break-ins to their cars and drug needles in their parks and yards. One of my neighbors told me she walks her dogs through the parking lot of Generations Community Church. She shared that as an Asian woman walking through the church parking lot made her feel more safe and secure in light of recent Asian American hate crimes. She's concerned for what the introduction of the pallet shelter will mean for her and her daughter if they can no longer access this safe space.

But the most important thing I learned? Our community doesn't want to be part of the problem. They want to be part of the solution. Everyone we asked said they'd love to be part of a meeting with NSCO and GCC to talk about solutions. I'm asking North Snohomish County Outreach and Generations Community Church to live up to their names and reach out to their community.