I think homelessness is an issue that overwhelms some people, that it freezes them.

I feel it whenever I see a dude asking for change, or a huddle of blankets and cardboard in a downtown doorway. The immediate reaction is “what am I supposed to do?” And what comes with that is usually a bunch of, often conflicting, thoughts about not really the guy in front of me but about our political systems, our welfare systems, society, culture, why alcohol is legal, the big companies that benefit from drug sales, the winter, self harm, our defense budget… By then usually handing over a dollar or checking to see if the person needs another blanket seems like whistling in the wind, and the moment is gone, and then I’m just another guy walking past pretending that I don’t see anything.

For people who live and work on the Eastside, maybe traveling between Bellevue and Sammamish each day, homelessness isn’t something that you probably see a lot of or think about much. But for those of us who spend a lot of time in Seattle, the continuing extent of it is clear. It is a cold hard fact that every night, even the ones where it gets below freezing, there are people sleeping on concrete, in bins, on ground frozen solid, under bushes.

Like most people the thing I always need to explore is the “why?” Why is that person there, in that position? How did it happen? Whose fault is it? Is it anyones?

The answers are always complicated.

With Tent City 4 on its way back to Issaquah later this month, I was inspired for the first time to dig a bit deeper into the why. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, Tent City is basically a small moving village of homeless people. On a rotating basis they set up in church grounds around the Eastside. At the moment it is at the Bellevue First Methodist Church. It will stay at the Issaquah Community Church from Jan. 23 to April 24, during which time groups of volunteers will provide meals for the 75 – 100 residents. Tent City is operated by Seattle Housing and Resources Effort (SHARE) and Women’s Housing Equality and Enhancement League (WHEEL), both organizations run by homeless and formerly homeless men and women. Rules of behavior at are strict. They provide their own security.

One can understand why some cities wouldn’t be too keen to host such a gathering, but the City of Issaquah has been nothing short of beautiful in their welcome, following the first visit here in 2007.

I caught up with one of the local facilitators, Paul Winterstein, the other day, who told me about how shop keepers put up signs saying “Tent City residents welcome here.”

For people used to being passed around and held at arms length like rotting vermin, it must have meant very much.

Often when people are confronted with homelessness, or panhandling, their immediate response is ‘they could be working, if they really wanted to.’ It is that reaction which is at the core of a reluctance to put more resources into a solution for homelessness. And, as Paul admits, yes, there are people in bad situations who are there by their own bad choices. There are those who probably don’t deserve the compassion of others. And there are those who probably abuse the charity of those kind enough to offer it.

In addition to his support of Tent City, Paul also volunteers for the Issaquah Meal Program, which serves a hot meal to anyone who needs one six nights a week.

Something Paul said to me about that experience immediately resolved a lot of my questions about the “why.”

“It is almost impossible to distinguish, to filter them out,” he said. “Amongst the people we serve, there are those who probably could be providing a meal for themselves. But there are also people who genuinely need help, for whatever reason. If the cost of helping these people is that you have to give something to others who don’t need it, then that’s what it is.”

I understood, maybe for the first time. And it is an idea at the very heart of charity – that you give for its own sake, that being kind to everyone is better than reaching out to none.

I know this sounds like a very esoteric, airy-fairy kind of a concept to address what is a serious, and pressing, societal problem, but for me it does a lot to explain what my role is, if any.

Speaking of roles, the people of Issaquah and Sammamish have a chance to play theirs when Tent City arrives later this month.

In addition to providing meals and food supplies, Tent City residents are also always in need of warm clothing, blankets, and all sorts of other things.

In coming weeks The Reporter will be working with Tent City organizers to coordinate these efforts. Stay tuned.