‘Things are trying to suppress it, right?’: 2021 Camp 210 sweep letter from Immigration Advisory Board, a year-long timeline / Noisy Waters Northwest

Click the image of various annotated pages of Bellingham Immigration Advisory Board minutes to view a selection of individual pages

June 19, 2024 Dena Jensen

“Things are trying to suppress it, right?” That was a remark made by a Bellingham City Council Member to the City’s Immigration Advisory Board members back in 2021. The context and specific timing will be made clear later in this post, but the question evokes an atmosphere of oppression that too many members of marginalized communities dwell within.  

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Send your input now as Whatcom County seeks to improve homeless sheltering services / Noisy Waters Northwest

Click the image of the first page of a Whatcom County draft resolution to expand year-round shelter capacity and create a shelter subcommittee to access the full document on the Whatcom County website

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen significant action from Whatcom County Council toward activating more resources to increase County-managed homeless sheltering capacity. Although some strides had been made by Whatcom County government in activating their own emergency severe weather shelter in 2023/2024, the impact of that critical effort was dwarfed by the increase in people who found themselves living outside when the rain, snow, ice, and winds struck during that time.

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