- Hi everybody, I'm here in Seattle
and I've been walking around with Graham
can't remember your last name.
- Press, Graham Press.
- Graham Press and he works at the University doing research
on vehicle residence.
So can you tell me a little bit about that?
- Sure, I lead the Vehicle Residency Research Program
at Seattle University.
It's the first that we know of, of research that involves
people living in vehicles.
I come at it from an anthropological prospective
doing what's called Ethnarchiology
where we try to look at the relationship between
a person and their objects.
In this case their primary identifying object,
the vehicle that they live in.
One of the reasons why we do that,
is that it's very difficult.
Often for service providers
or the continuum of care providers
that are responsible for
the federally mandated national accounts.
To document people who live in vehicles
because they either don't associate with the vehicle
when they're away from it or
when they're inside it they often don't respond.
- Right.
Right.
- So, we try to develop techniques
to better document those vehicles.
Also, collect demographics
about people living in the vehicles.
And try to get a better understanding
what services are needed to help communities
service its people.
- Maybe you're aware, maybe you're not.
Mobile homelessness with chiefs
trying to get to get me to change it, I will.
Vehicle residence, vehicle residency.
It's one of the fastest growing...
You say it's 30% here?
- Yeah, it represents the largest group
of unsheltered people who are living in Seattle.
It's 30% of our unsheltered population.
- That' huge.
- It's actually been that way for over 10 years.
And it's actually going back 12 years ago
it's about 8 times what it was 12 years ago.
So , even though it's still.
- 8 times.
- 8 times what it was 12 years ago
- Growing.
And it's gonna grow with the boomer generation in 65.
Without savings, without health insurance.
Gonna grab an RV, live on the side of the street.
- Absolutely, and that brings up a good point.
Many of the people that we find living in vehicles
are experiencing homelessness for the first time.
Many of them don't know how to navigate the resource system.
- Right.
- Many of them are scared of the resources.
- That's right.
- An advocate put it a good way.
It's like trying to...
Getting resources is like trying to navigate a labyrinth.
But really, you don't even know what door to get in through.
- Yeah.
- So, they're stuck outside
and don't even know how to get into the labyrinth.
- Now, you said there's six criteria or classifications.
Has to meet two of them of being able to classify
or recognize a vehicle that people are living in.
Can you go over them please?
- Sure, what we do is we have a system
to identify vehicles as a residence.
What we say is if a vehicle has two characteristics
of the six then we say that it's a vehicle residence.
First, the view from the front to the back is blocked.
- Cause they got stuff.
They're living there.
- Yeah, or they might have a sun shield over the front.
Or they might have cardboard over the back.
- Privacy.
- That's right.
Then at least one of the side windows is blocked.
That would be the second.
- Now why is that, I didn't quite?
Why the side windows?
The same thing?
- Well, typically yeah, it's for privacy.
And the reason why we say at least one of them is because
a lot of times people will have the window
that's facing the street blocked
and not the one that's facing the parking lot.
- I get it. Yeah.
I've always wondered that.
Thank you.
- Yeah, that's why.
The third is that there's unfrozen condensation
on the window.
This is particularly important in the winter time.
Especially in the northern states
because when we do the federally mandated counts
which are the last weekend of January.
Many vehicles just on the street have frozen condensation.
- Right.
- So if we say...tell people look for condensation
- Right.
- There's going to be condensation everywhere.
- Right.
- So we need to look for one that specifically is unfrozen.
The fourth is that there's a window that is slightly ajar.
There will be at least one is.
One window is slightly open
and that's to reduce the condensation.
- Ventilation, yeah.
- Ventilation.
The fifth is that their vehicles
that are typically associated.
I'm sorry their items that are typically associated
with vehicle residency.
Such as storage containers or a bicycle
or a generator that are externally secured.
- Got it, yeah.
- And then the sixth is that there are a large amount
of possessions often within bags.
Like shopping bags that may appear to be garbage
or junk that are within the vehicle.
A lot of time what we see too
is that people will even build kind of a cubby
underneath where their possessions are.
So that if a door is closed,
you won't see the person in there at all.
You can't because they're actually
under a board or something.
- Wow.
- And so that's one of the reasons why we have this system.
Is that using this our researchers can identify a vehicle
that's being lived in from a block away.
Without making any contact or shining a light at them.
- So, our friendly officers.
- Mmmhmm.
- They're doing their job...
- Mmmhmm.
- But, they're just moving people around.
It's a cat and mouse game that just causes tax payer money.
- Yeah, we call it whack a mole.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, cause you hit people one place
they pop up another.
- Right, right.
And, we just talked to a gentleman
that has lived in his RV for ten years
and he drives it 12 miles a year.
- Right.
- Because he's just avoiding the police and tickets.
- Right.
- And it's just stupid.
- Right.
- You know.
Talk about solutions.
You started something called safe parking.
And you said the number one thing they need is
are the most dangerous.
- Well, one of our partners,
Bill, Crill and Hacket who works with the
Interface Taskforce on Homelessness.
One of the thing he says is that
living in a vehicle is one of the
most expensive way to be homeless.
I think that that is true.
I think that when someone lives in a vehicle
there's a cycle of harm
that is very difficult to get out of.
But the only reason why...
- What do you mean cycle of harm?
- Well, that when someone begins living in the vehicle
by trying to live within this very limited legal space
and trying to avoid the parking enforcement.
Playing this game of cat and mouse.
They develop what's called workflow.
And what that is is where
any contact that's made with the vehicle.
Regardless of whether there's a ticket given.
- The police have a workflow.
- That's right.
The police have a workflow and it's just
a long term documentation of the vehicle.
What happens is is over time
when a patrol officer comes up because of
lets say a crime being reported in the area.
And they pull the information on the vehicle
it's got a twenty page deep workflow.
Which then can be grounds for having the vehicle impounded.
- Right.
- The officer things the person is thumbing
their nose to the law.
When in reality, they're just trying to live
within this really restricted space.
So what happens is that often the vehicle
gets a series of tickets.
Which then can lead to the denial of registration tabs
because they can't pay their tickets
and that means more tickets.
- Yeah.
- Which then the vehicle ends up getting impounded.
- The criminalization of homelessness.
- That's right.
And I think that really within that system
and again the reason why this is the most expensive
form of being homeless
is that there's no safe place.
There's simply no safe way out.
- Yeah.
- And that a lot of time we want to over complicate it
but it's really as simple as we need safe parking.
- Yeah.
- We need a place where people can park off the street
overnight for an extended period of time.
And be able to be employed and get their lives together.
- So briefly, you told me
you're working with some churches.
You have some places...
Where people can utilize the shower and maybe a kitchen
and that's working.
Your getting people a safe place to park.
- Yeah.
- Hi Graham.
- Hey, how's it going?
- I know everyone in the community.
- (laughing)
- Yes, we are, we're doing this.
It's called the safe parking program.
We have two churches right now.
There's another four that are actually
supposed to be coming on the next couple of months.
And what they do is they provide people with a place
for 90 days to start.
Then there's a 90 days reapp period afterwards.
They also get case management
and they get access to the bathrooms
and typically a food preparation, food storage.
Also a place to hang out during the day and night.
- I can talk to you forever but briefly
where people can find more on your research?
- Sure, they can find us well at Seattle University
in the Department of Strategic Communications.
Our program is called
the Vehicle Residency Research Program.
You can search for it online or email me at
PressG@SeattleU.edu.
- Well thank you everybody.
Mobile homelessness is definitely gonna be
even more of a crisis.
- Vehicle residency (laughing).
- Vehicle residency, he's getting me to change.
Vehicle residency is gonna continue to grow
and continue to be an issue
for communities all over Venice California.
It's a crisis and we have to do something about it.
So, starting in research is great
and thank you very much for joining us.
- Thank you.