October 7th: Study Session on proposed expansion of Camping Ban
Tacoma City Council Consideration Request – Amending Title 8 of the Tacoma Municipal Code to expand the Camping Ban. Link to a PDF of the proposal submitted by Council Member Hines.
Camping bans and other policies that criminalize homelessness don’t reduce homelessness. Housing reduces homelessness!
Opportunities to Provide Comments to the Tacoma City Council
On October 10, 2025, people around the world will commemorate World Homeless Day. Actions and activities focus on:
- honoring the contributions and gifts of those with lived experience of homelessness;
- increasing awareness of the many paths to homelessness;
- advocating for useful policies and systemic changes;
- preventing and reducing homelessness;
- alleviating the suffering of those experiencing it; and
- celebrating progress wherever it can be found.
Unhoused people have included scientists, Olympic athletes, Nobel prize winners, inventors, and some of the most remarkable souls in history. If you engage with shelters or outreach, you will hear frequent stories of kindness and witness the power of communities that are forged in extreme weather, crushing poverty, and social exclusion.
Public policies that reduce public places to sit or sleep – through camping bans and sweeps – create additional obstacles to survival. We need to end these harmful practices and invest public resources in projects that improve the safety and health of the entire community, particularly the most vulnerable.
October is a good month for learning more about the challenges and accomplishments of unhoused people. World Homeless Day also offers opportunities to get better informed and advocate for real solutions. The Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness provides local resources and information on our website. Links to weekly meetings and other events can also be found on the page. All are welcome.
Learn About Positive Plans
- Pierce County Comprehensive Plan to End Homelessness
- A Way Home, Washington
- All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
Help Shift the Narrative
Libraries, Community Centers, Schools & Other Public Spaces
- Display books about homelessness, including hero narratives
- Post positive posters (download some from this page)
- Offer affirming and myth-busting materials (local materials can be found here)
Media Outlets and Others with Pulpits/Platforms
- Present balanced stories about people experiencing homelessness
- Include narratives that celebrate acts of compassion and shared humanity.
As Chimamanda Adichie of TedX said, “Single stories create stereotypes. They make one story become the only story.”
IMAGES TO SHARE
