Outsiders
It’s rare to find reporting on the large structural issues behind the surge in homelessness on the West Coast that also humanizes the unsheltered people at the center of the debate. Outsiders’ ability to do both is a uniquely compelling narrative feat. Reporters from KNKX and the Seattle Times focus specifically on Olympia, Wash., a city whose homeless population swelled dramatically in 2018 from about 30 tents in the downtown area to 300. Some in Olympia’s government pushed for innovative solutions, like setting up a mitigation site that offered a safer, more supportive environment than street encampments. Many local businesses and homeowners were not pleased, but the city forged ahead with its grand experiment before COVID-19 hit. Outsiders used this new strategy as a lens through which to examine the relative contributions of gentrification, weather, the economy and local politics to homelessness. But when the pandemic arrived, they quickly pivoted, training their focus on the effects of the coronavirus on a vulnerable population. Throughout, the reporters ground the story in compelling testimony from unsheltered individuals who, faced with a series of often unexpected disasters, find themselves in a situation impossible to escape. Their stories demonstrate just how thin the line is between sheltered and unsheltered.
Storyline
It’s rare to find reporting on the large structural issues behind the surge in homelessness on the West Coast that also humanizes the unsheltered people at the center of the debate. Outsiders’ ability to do both is a uniquely compelling narrative feat. Reporters from KNKX and the Seattle Times focus specifically on Olympia, Wash., a city whose homeless population swelled dramatically in 2018 from about 30 tents in the downtown area to 300. Some in Olympia’s government pushed for innovative solutions, like setting up a mitigation site that offered a safer, more supportive environment than street encampments. Many local businesses and homeowners were not pleased, but the city forged ahead with its grand experiment before COVID-19 hit. Outsiders used this new strategy as a lens through which to examine the relative contributions of gentrification, weather, the economy and local politics to homelessness. But when the pandemic arrived, they quickly pivoted, training their focus on the effects of the coronavirus on a vulnerable population. Throughout, the reporters ground the story in compelling testimony from unsheltered individuals who, faced with a series of often unexpected disasters, find themselves in a situation impossible to escape. Their stories demonstrate just how thin the line is between sheltered and unsheltered.
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