Tag: Tacoma WA
They are keeping me hostage.’ Homeless, Tacoma advocacy group occupy Fife motel
Original article written December 28, 2020
Homeless advocacy group is occupying a Fife motel without pay, and city police are looking to cooperate with them to find shelter.
Tacoma Housing Now booked 16 rooms at the Fife Travelodge Motel at 3518 Pacific Hwy. E on Thursday, motel manager Shawn Randhawa said. After paying for the initial night, the occupants have refused to pay or leave for four days.
I’m just devastated,” he told The News Tribune. “Because of the protest, I have nothing else. I was barely getting through this pandemic, and now this. This Christmas, the Grinch came.”
Fife Police Chief Pete Fisher said the group is trespassing. Rather than use force to remove the people, he wants to work with the organization.
We’re trying to see if we can work out a resolution without having to take law enforcement action,” Fisher said. “We’re talking about people with medical issues, cold weather that are homeless. So we are trying to work with our neighboring agencies to see what we can do in the form of relief, relief or temporary shelter.”
Rebecca Parson, the spokesperson for Tacoma Housing Now, said at least five people have died this year from exposure while living outside in Tacoma. She said there are positive COVID-19 cases at homeless shelters, and the group wanted a safe option for those with medical conditions.
“We wanted somewhere for people to stay warm and dry and get showers and stay as safe as possible,” Parson told The News Tribune.
There are people staying in the motel rooms and about 60 protesters standing outside the motel. Parson said two more motel rooms of unhoused people have joined in the protest, making the total 18 rooms occupied.
The Tacoma Housing Now group said they have housed 43 people at the motel. The advocacy group wants Tacoma and Pierce County to pay for the rooms.
The group insists they want the manager, Randhawa, to be paid.
“We paid for first night — Christmas Eve — and then we are sending the bill to county and city,” Parson said.
Asked about the crime of trespassing, Parson said: “The biggest crime of all is anybody dying of cold in the streets.”
Pierce County said they are looking into this but they have not been in discussions with Tacoma Housing Now.
Randhawa said he feels the group isn’t giving him a choice and he doesn’t feel supported by the police or the city. He said there was destruction of property when one of the doors was broken after he locked a motel room.
They are keeping me hostage. No one is out to help me,” he said. “It’s complete lawlessness in the city of Fife.”
If the situation does not change in a few days, Randhawa said he will abandon the property and his 15 employees will stop showing up.
“I’ll have to lock the doors. and if the city won’t kick them out, they can have it,” he said. “I’ll shut off the water and I’m not fighting with these people. I believe there should be a law.”
The organization took over Gault Middle School in November to house those experiencing homelessness, but left after Tacoma police threatened to make arrests.
Fife’s city manager Hyun Kim told The News Tribune he wants an open dialogue between all parties. He wants to help those who are experiencing homelessness, but also worries about the small business.
“I would like to bring together partners to provide wrap-around services to these people. I understand that some are sick and just a hotel room is not an end-all-be-all,” he said. “Occupying a private motel and potentially put them out of business is untenable. I fear for those who might lose their job.”
He does not have a time table of when or if law enforcement would be used.
Pierce County council member Pam Roach, who represents Fife, said that this situation is a result of the need for housing for the homeless and a disregard for people’s businesses.
“It goes right back to the fact that we need to find space for people especially when it’s cold,” she told The News Tribune. “If the government isn’t doing its job, citizens pay for it — just like this business owner.”
Read more here: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article248131550.html#storylink=cpy
Tacoma nurse brought COVID-19 home. Now her husband is on a ventilator, fighting for his life
Tammy Edwards remembers closing her front door and falling to her knees.
Moments earlier, the nurse at Tacoma General Hospital had watched her husband of nearly 10 years, Brian Edwards, strapped to an oxygen tank and taken away in an ambulance.
She knew he was stricken with COVID-19, because she had brought it home from work.
She knew, because of her medical training and the overwhelming signs, he was struggling — most notably an inability to breath and dangerously low oxygen levels.
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And, amid the coronavirus precautions and limits on visitation, she knew precisely what a trip to the hospital under such circumstances could mean — that the kiss on the cheek she’d given Brian moments earlier might be the couple’s last.
Three hours later, Edwards said, her husband had been intubated — sedated and placed on a ventilator that has been helping him breath ever since.
“I said, ‘I love you. You know I can’t be with you,’” Edwards recounted Monday, eight days after Brian, 50, was rushed to the hospital where she works.
“I remember closing my door, and I just lost it. I just had a meltdown,” Edwards, 51, continued. “I didn’t know if I was ever going to see him again. It was really hard. I paced around in my house for a couple hours, crying and praying.”
That night, Edwards also took to social media, posting photos and an update on Brian’s condition to Facebook. The couple grew up in Tacoma — both graduating from Wilson High School — and have a large circle of friends and relatives. She wanted people to know how he was doing.
As a nurse, Edwards said she also wanted people to take COVID-19 seriously. Brian had no underlying health conditions, she explained, and yet he was still fighting for his life.
“I decided, you know what, there’s so much going on in the news right now — so much controversy — that I wanted to reach out to our community and show this is real,” Edwards said of the Facebook post, which has now been shared thousands of times and garnered widespread attention.
“This is not a hoax, and it’s not a conspiracy,” she added. ”This is the real deal.”
Since her husband was admitted to Tacoma General, the emotions have been overwhelming and come in waves, Edwards said.
She’s often terrified and unable to sleep for fear of missing a call from the hospital. Her husband is now in stable but critical condition, but the illness is unpredictable, and he’s “very sick and has a long road ahead of him,” Edwards said.
Edwards also longs to hear her husband’s voice again — to connect with him, even from afar. Right now, her contact with him has been limited to nightly, one-way video chats. Edwards talks to Brian for hours every evening, she explained, confident he can hear her through a phone placed next to his ear, while she watches for small signs to confirm it.
“I just talk to him until his phone dies,” Edwards said.
Then there’s the guilt — which might be the hardest part of all and underscores the incredible sacrifices being made by medical professionals during the coronavirus pandemic.
The registered nurse, who works on Tacoma General’s birthing and postpartum unit, said she became ill earlier this month and tested positive for COVID-19 on April 10. Previously, Edwards was notified of exposure on her unit, she explained.
Brian, meanwhile, developed symptoms the day before her test results came back.
Today, Edwards is still recovering, and has yet to return to work.
The toll COVID-19 has taken on her husband is much greater, she said.
“When he first went in (to the hospital), I figured that he was likely not going to make it. That was awful,” Edwards said, recounting Brian’s persistently worsening cough, gasps for air and exhaustion-induced delirium.
“When he left that day, on Sunday, I buckled and I had to sit down. All I thought about is, ‘This is your fault. It’s your fault,’” Edwards said. “I’m devastated by it. I’m heartbroken. I know I likely caused this, even though we were taking precautions.”
The “only thing that really keeps me strong,” Edwards said, is how Brian supported her career, even after he became ill with COVID-19.
That doesn’t stop Edwards from apologizing to him every night over the phone, she said.
“He knows I’m a nurse, and we know the risk. We talked about it, and he’s not upset with me. But I still tell him I’m sorry,” Edwards said.
”I apologize to him, because I brought it home and he got sick. I have a lot of guilt about that.”
Read more here: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/matt-driscoll/article242275096.html#storylink=cpy
COVID-19 testing begins Saturday at Tacoma Dome for at-risk population, healthcare workers
PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — People at higher risk at COVID-19, health care workers and community members on the frontlines of the crisis can be tested for the virus starting Saturday morning at the Tacoma Dome.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is holding five-day drive-thru testing starting Saturday morning.
In addition to healthcare workers, the department said people working in “critical infrastructure” will be eligible for COVID-19 tests, including grocery store workers, people in homeless shelters, restaurant workers, gas station clerks and public utilities employees.
“Healthcare workers, first responders and people who provide critical infrastructure are on the frontlines of helping residents in need during this public health emergency,” said Jessica Gehle, incident commander for the Health Department’s COVID-19 response. “It’s vital we prioritize this testing for them to ensure they are able to protect the health of our communities.”
Health officials said people over 60, people with underlying health conditions and pregnant woman can be tested at the Tacoma Dome. Testing is intended for people who have symptoms—fever, cough and shortness of breath.
“We want to continue to ensure we do what we can to slow the disease spread in our community,” Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier said. “We are pleased to work with the City of Tacoma, the Health Department, and our state and federal partners to make more testing available for our residents.”
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, which is operating the site, requires people to complete an online survey to find out if they’re eligible for testing and to register.
Qualifying people will receive a testing identifier number to present at the site. All people must arrive in a vehicle and provide a valid government-issued photo identification. The test is completed using a nasal swab while participants remain in their vehicles. People who arrive without proper testing identification will not get tested.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided 8,000 test kits to Washington state earlier this week. A limited number of COVID-19 tests will be available for the five-day event
The health department said more options for COVID-19 testing continue to become available.
How you can help those impacted by COVID-19 with Eloise’s Cooking Pot
The following is a message from Eloise’s cooking pot food bank they’re in desperate need of volunteers food and supplies and financial donations. All this unnecessary hoarding of cleaning supplies diapers toiletries etc. you have affected a lot of people that needed these things.
To Find Your Food Bank Where You Live Click The Link ????https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank
Eloise
A Message From Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank Tacoma WA
We’re thankful to have so many people reaching out to us to ask how they can help us provide food for those in need in the midst of the current COVID-19 outbreak. Here is how you can help.
- Sign up to volunteer at the food bank. We need volunteers each day at the food bank. We are taking measures to ensure the safety of all of our volunteers, staff, and clients in the midst of this outbreak including rigorous sanitation, small work-groups, and the implementation of a “curbside” service model that limits contact for the safety of all. Please sign up at themadf.org/volunteer.
We are also looking for volunteers with the following expertise:
- C.D.L Drivers who can drive a truck with a manual transmission
- Logistic Specialist: someone who can help us organize our system
- Cleaning Service: someone who can help us keep the food bank clean each day so that everyone stays healthy.
- Data Specialist: who can help us input data from our clients.
- Procurement: someone who can help us find and acquire the items we need for our clients.
2. Sign up to volunteer as a driver. You can go to our web page and sign up to deliver food to families in need. We are delivering to the most vulnerable people right now, while working out the logistics in real-time. If you sign up on our website, someone will give you a call next week.
Note: if you choose to shop and pick up for people making requests on our social media, you are engaging in a private delivery between you and the recipient. Please exercise wisdom and stay safe. Do not enter anyone’s home and use the buddy system please. Drop the food off at the door. We highly recommend that you choose to deliver for families in your neighborhood that you know. We want to keep everyone safe.
3. Donate supplies to the food bank. We are currently in need of the following supplies to keep the food bank up and running through this crisis:
- Unused boxes, grocery bags, and lunch bags.
- Baby formula, baby food, and diapers (sizes 1,2 & 3)
- Silverware packets, small hygiene products, toilet paper, and paper towels for our homeless clients
- Backpacks for our homeless clients to put food in.
- Orange safety cones and safety vests.
- Cases of water
- Anti-bacterial rubber gloves
4. Make a cash donation. We have a big increase in the need for gas, diary foods, fresh fruits/veggies and daily operation expenses. You can donate through this page or on our website at themadf.org/donate.
Thanks again everyone for helping us make a difference in the lives of others.
Please help us get the word out and share this message.
5th Tacoma school sees positive COVID-19 test; district notifies those in close contact
Note: The News Tribune and McClatchy news sites have lifted the paywall on our websites for this developing story, providing critical information to readers. To support vital reporting such as this, please consider a digital subscription.
An individual at Sherman Elementary School in Tacoma has tested presumed positive for COVID-19.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department alerted Tacoma Public Schools to the test result on Saturday.
All individuals who had close contact with the person have received a phone call from district nurses, according to the district.
“We know that news of a case at a school is concerning,” the district said on its website. “If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath), we encourage you to contact your health care provider. We will continue to personally notify families when there is a close contact.”
Sherman Elementary School is located at 4415 N. 38th St.
The latest case increases the number of TPS schools with positive COVID-19 cases to five.
Individuals at four elementary schools (Mary Lyon, Sheridan, Lowell and Sherman) and one high school (Wilson) have tested presumed positive.
All TPS schools closed Monday after an executive order from Gov. Jay Inslee to close all schools to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Students are expected to return on April 27.
Read more here: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article241237651.html#storylink=cpy