OUR HIDDEN HOMELESS: KITSAP STRUGGLES TO SOLVE A GROWING CRISIS
Items left behind hint at who's stayed where

written by:Rachel Pritchett

Behind the strip mall at the north end of Bremerton that contains Rite Aid and Kmart is a 22-acre greenbelt originally set aside to buffer homes from the Wheaton Way businesses.

But the area designated to provide privacy for homeowners is also attracting tenters who are dependent on nearby stores and social services.

The greenbelt has become "a double-edged sword," said Bremerton Police Sgt. Wendy Davis.

The property's owner, Merit Company of Tacoma, has told the city no one should be there, said city code enforcer Janet Lunceford. Merit has signed paperwork that makes it easier for police to arrest tenters for criminal trespass.

For the moment, tenters here are gone. But a January visit with a group of social-service workers suggested tenters were there recently.

Rudy Muriel, a WorkSource Kitsap County youth counselor, peered into a tiny water-soaked tent and recognized a job-training manual from his office, along with a Stephen King novel, pop cans and clothes. Muriel worried the young person who lived there might have been one of his clients.

A sleeping bag was slung over a branch at the next site, which had a bigger tent and grill. Perched high on another branch was the unexpected sight of a cheerful stuffed puppy with a Santa hat.

"It's so important to have toys when you don't have a home," another WorkSource youth counselor, Laura Hyde, said of the number of stuffed animals that appear at tenters' sites.

Hyde, at one time homeless herself, talks about the strong ties among the tenters.

"You take care of each other," she said. "What you don't have, maybe someone in your circle does."

"The people that are not in relationships are the ones who are truly suffering. And they don't live long," she said.

A third tent site was strewn with water jugs, a razor, a stuffed bunny, a corncob pipe, cans and wrappers from high-protein foods such as jerky and sardines, and a little girl's hair barrette.

"I've had it this bad," Hyde said sadly.