Tracy and I met 9 years ago when she commented on the Facing Homelessness Facebook page. Her sharing was, you could say, a tour de force of emotional outpouring. Today I want to revisit that exchange because something important happened, something I believe is available to all of us and provides a path for moving forward when discussing difficult s…

David knows first-hand the impacts of mass incarceration, after receiving a life sentence at the age 16. In his words, “being thrown away at 16 years old wasn’t the event. It was an exclamation point” on the consistent messaging he’s been receiving his whole life from systems that failed to see his humanity. He was released after serving 24 years, …

David knows first-hand the impacts of mass incarceration, after receiving a life sentence at the age 16. In his words, “being thrown away at 16 years old wasn’t the event. It was an exclamation point” on the consistent messaging he’s been receiving his whole life from systems that failed to see his humanity. He was released after serving 24 years, …

David knows first-hand the impacts of mass incarceration, after receiving a life sentence at the age 16. In his words, “being thrown away at 16 years old wasn’t the event. It was an exclamation point” on the consistent messaging he’s been receiving his whole life from systems that failed to see his humanity. He was released after serving 24 years, …

This is the 3rd and last part of an episode called The Skipping Rock. In this 3rd part of Casey’s story, we cover some of the most traumatic events of her life. She admits openly that due to the heavy drug use, trauma, and instability during this time, she has gaps in her memory, making it difficult to connect everything together. Rather than tell …

This is Part 2 of a 3 part episode called The Skipping Rock - We recommend you listen to Part 1 first, which will undoubtedly give greater meaning to the following Parts two and three. When we left Casey in the last episode, in Part One, she was making some big decisions in her life, wanting to not only leave the trauma and dysfunction of her child…

While it is not always apparent in the moment, our life choices, all of them, the big complicated ones down to the little daily decisions, create the direction and opportunities of our life, our future, for better or worse. When someone is successful we often admire them for their smarts, for having made all the right choices. And conversely, when …

In this episode we are talking with Benny. He has lived homeless in the Fremont neighborhood, artfully stacking stones on the parking strip, in the same place, for the last 30 plus years. It seems, in every family there is a person who is living a bit differently from the rest of the family. You could say, zigging when the others are zagging. Their…

When responding to complex societal issues, we are all familiar with the shortcomings of treating symptoms rather than causes. Even so, despite knowing this, we also all know how easy it is to go down that path. When an issue is screaming at us, any issue, our knee-jerk reaction is to just make it go away, make it stop. When the city of Seattle put…

Blair helped James get into housing and have basic needs met, she helped reconnect him with family, and maybe, most of all, feel loved in the last few years of his life. And James, what he did for Blair was to change her life. He helped her take an off-ramp from the path she was on and in the process she found her voice and her purpose in life. Joi…

Personal relationships can be thought of as the foundational supports of a healthy community. By simply getting to know each other, being exposed to different life experiences and views, we broaden ourselves and deepen our ability to empathize within the community. While we know this to be true, society appears to be increasingly slipping into pola…

On this episode we are talking with Rev. Rick Reynolds. He has spent most of his life stepping closer, getting to know those struggling. For nearly 40 years he worked at the nonprofit Operation Nightwatch, most of that time as the Executive Director, engaging in direct action for those in need. For those of you that don’t know Rick, he is one of th…

You Know Me Now would like to raise funds for hotel stay while housing can be found. You can Venmo funds to @YouKnowMeNow. Please list Daniel in your donation. No funds will be used by YKMN. If for whatever reason Daniel does not use all of the funds they will go to someone else struggling with homelessness and in need. If you have any questions yo…

The idea, or act, of Mutual Aid has been around for a long time, for a very long time. Perhaps, in the simplest form, from the beginning of time. Mutual Aid is nothing more than people coming together, in community, to take care of each other, often addressing basic needs and human rights that are not being met. The barriers, or, the reason for nee…

For folks who don't know Tent City 3 is operated by the 501C(3) non profit called SHARE / WHEEL which stands for Seattle Housing and Resource Effort and its partner organization Women's Housing Equality and Enhancement League. Both organizations have deep roots in Seattle with their birth during the 1990 Goodwill games. The self managed community m…

On February 19 2023 Rex delivered a sermon during morning worship at the University Unitarian Church in Seattle. He focused on homelessness in Seattle and building relationships between people who sleep outside and people who are housed. Full video version is available on the episode page on https://www.youknowmenow.com/ Join in on the conversation…

There were 310 homeless deaths in 2022 in the Seattle area. A 65% increase over the previous year. Fentanyl-related overdoses accounted for more than half of those deaths. Thirty-five people died from natural causes, ten people died from hypothermia or exposure, and seven died from suicide. The average age of death was 48. Those are all tragically …

When I was a kid growing up, nobody talked about mental illness. At least openly that is. There were the hushed talks about so-and-so’s mom losing it and having to be committed to a psych-ward. Being taken away, put in a hospital somewhere. Or a friend’s Uncle who ‘went off the deep end’, now getting help with his break-down, whatever that meant. A…

On this episode we have a conversation about people and their pets living homeless. I want to begin with what I think is a truism. And that is, “We all have issues.” For some, the issues are small and containable, while for others, the issues are big and overwhelming. Truth is though, we all struggle with something, or, somethings. The problem with…

We have the sincere pleasure of sharing with you a conversation I had with my dear friend Sinan Demirel. We talked about the issue of homelessness, first from a historical perspective, to better understand how we got to this crisis point, and then a bit about solutions needed from the community and our government. Join in on the conversation on our…

We want to begin this episode by asking a big question. With all the suffering, all the helplessness and fear felt, as expressed by Dene and others living on our streets, why have we not ended homelessness? Beyond what the solution needs to be, whatever combination of more housing, more mental health, more drug rehab, more job training, and whateve…

In this episode of You Know Me Now we’ll be discussing the controversial government policy of sweeps. If you are not familiar with the term, a sweep is the forced disbanding of a homeless encampment on public property. The act of sweeping is typically performed by a combination of police, tow trucks, dumpster trucks, and any other needed government…

In this episode we meet Auntie who poses a question. A question really for all of us, which is, “If you are judging my life, tell me what you have done with yours?” She goes on to say, there are probably a lot of your actions that you don’t think are wrong, but to her and to others, maybe they are. I don’t think Auntie is just saying defensively, “…

Drug addiction. As vast and complex as this topic is, chances are you already have strong opinions based on past experiences. Perhaps you’ve had a bicycle stolen and you’re sure it was taken by someone addicted, looking to sell it for their next fix. You negatively refer to that unknown person as a “junkie”. It becomes your opinion of the drug issu…

What does becoming a friend with someone experiencing homelessness look like? Getting to know and becoming friends with anyone, you begin to care about that person, about their well being. When your friend is struggling it pulls at you, you want to help. That’s what friends do. Often in these moments, the problem isn’t the ‘wanting to help’, it is …

Meet Courtney. A mother of three who has survived homelessness on Seattle streets. “When we first came to Seattle it was so freeing, so comfortable. It all felt right. I remember closing my eyes and breathing in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, feeling happy. A sense of belonging filled me. Best of all we didn’t feel judged. People were saying,…

You Know Me Now is a Seattle based podcast, storytelling and journalism project giving voice to those marginalized in our community. From these life stories we hope to spark conversation and connection. We are doing this with the sole purpose of bringing us all closer together so that we can better address the issues that divide us. When we listen …