Mindy Chambers

Today is Giving Tuesday! This worldwide opportunity to support those who support others comes at a time of pandemic-driven woes for many of us unused to hardship.  This hardship is nothing new to our neighbors who are unhoused and living outdoors in the wind, cold, and rain. What is new is the growing number of people in these circumstances. (Photo credit: Mindy Chambers) What you can do today, if you are able, is celebrate The Tribune’s alliance with Partners in Prevention Education by making a donation of warm socks. It’s so easy. Our winter donation drive continues and our focus…

In its sixth year of operation, "Ho-Ho-Hobos creates jobs on the streets and connections in our community during the darkest days of the year." So far, it’s been a great season for Ho-Ho-Hobos. “Ho-ho-hobos off to a blazing start, making 96 fresh, handcrafted wreaths in our first 4 days! Wow!,” read a post to its Facebook page on November 22. By early afternoon Sunday, that number had risen to just shy of 150 and the wreaths were selling as fast as folks could make them. Moving around downtown, the Hobos employ homeless folks to make and sell the decorative greenery,…

“So I'm gonna make just phenomenal multidimensional truthful inclusive tolerant diverse eclectic spiritual meditative historical environmental black indigenous feminist neurodivergent queer disabled powerful meditative art anyway without punctuation but with percussion and vocals.” ©Lene`e Reid Among her many talents, Lene`e Reid, is an award-winning poet. She’ll be sharing her work with you on our pages in the months to come.  Recently, she applied to be the City of Olympia’s poet laureate, but the city put the program on hold when hers was the only application received.  “(I was) the only one in town who even cared to raise others' voices…

A new, 38-bed shelter for highly vulnerable people experiencing homelessness is beginning to take shape on Olympia’s eastern edge. The shelter, at 3444 Martin Way, is scheduled to open by early February 2021, says Interfaith Works Executive Director Meg Martin. The 5,250-square-foot “Sprung Structure” is a heavy-duty modular building similar to those used in a number of American and Canadian cities to shelter unhoused people.  Meg Martin, Executive Director, Interfaith Works Martin praised the Interfaith Works Board and funding partners. “At a time when the COVID-19 crisis has made all of our lives harder, this community has come together with…

The City of Olympia has identified its firing range parking lot at Carpenter Road and Martin Way as a possible short-term, safe parking location for people currently living in their vehicles. The effort got a boost Tuesday when Thurston County Commissioners, in a 2-1 vote, approved $530,000 in one-time funding to help set up the safe parking site. The money comes from state fees people pay when recording documents with the county; a state emergency housing grant; and federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act money. The city requested the funding from the county late last week. Primarily,…