Women in Black silent witnessing vigils are held whenever we learn a homeless person has died outside, in a public place, or by violence in King County. After notification of a death, we stand the following Wednesday, from noon to 1 PM on the steps of Seattle City Hall (at 4th and James Streets). In 2023, at least 380 people have died outside or by violence —a heartbreaking all-time record! We’ve stood for nearly 2,000 people since we started these vigils in the year 2000. To get on our email notification list for vigils, please email wheelorg@yahoo.com
Homeless Remembrance Project, public places to honor and remember people who experienced homelessness who died in Seattle. We’ve worked with church and community leaders since 2003, and established a “Tree of Life” sculpture and gathering place at Victor Steinbrueck Park north of Pike Place Market in 2012. Our Committee has also has placed more than 300 “Leaves of Remembrance,” with names, in sidewalks all over Seattle. For more information about this project, please visit FallenLeaves.org or our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Homeless-Remembrance-Project/184372257014
WHEEL Women’s Shelters: For more than 20 years, WHEEL has facilitated and staffed our own loving, low-barrier WHEEL Shelter for Women. This shelter currently is located at Trinity Episcopal Parish (711 Cherry St.), and during the pandemic (since April 2020) has been open 24 hours a day every day. We currently have 26 spots at Trinity (reduced occupancy for COVID-safety), and are almost always full or over-full. In February 2021 we began operating another, larger (40-spot), 24-hour low-barrier women’s shelter at Seattle First Presbyterian Church (715 Spring Street), which is also full most of the time. We do the best we can to assure space for all who come to us and operate an informal referral service. But, there is a severe lack of shelter for homeless women in our region, so WHEEL also Organizes and Advocates for More Shelter and Housing for Women.
The Women’s Empowerment Center is a self-managed day organizing, arts and education center for women, currently at First Presbyterian shelter, 715 Spring Street, 10:30 am to 4:30 pm on Sundays.
The Dorothy Day Group works for more housing, food, dignity, power and community among homeless women. We sponsored two projects in the past: Sandwichmaking and distributing sandwiches at local parks, and producing and distributing our own newsletter, The Occasional Times. This group now does special projects only, but may be reborn soon!
Beloved Community: The Sisterhood of Homeless Women in Poetry is a beautifully-bound anthology of poetry by homeless and formerly homeless women collected by WHEEL over many years, published by Whit Press in 2007.
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