BONNEY LAKE, Wash. _ A small traffic island between two gas stations in this East Pierce County suburb has been a flashpoint. To some, it's where local homeless people panhandled harmlessly. To others, it is "tweaker island," where handouts enable addiction.
Twice, a local group has erected a metal sign there discouraging donations; twice it has been torn down.
By one count, homelessness in Bonney Lake and the neighboring communities of Buckley and Orting has nearly doubled in the last two years, to a likely undercounted total of 130 in July. The question of how to respond has split the community.
Amplifying the issue is the lack of homelessness services or public transportation, rapid growth that has in 20 years almost doubled the population to more than 20,000, and oft-cited fears of ending up like Seattle.
That tension was only heightened by a July confrontation between a man believed to be homeless and a group of teens that left one teen stabbed and both sides claiming self-defense.
As private citizens have stepped forward, two responses have emerged, both based around addressing addiction. A largely faith-driven contingent has pursued a strategy of building trust with the local homeless population and seeking to affirm their humanity.
The other _ a Facebook-based group, Bonney Lake Buckley Against Drugs _ takes a hard-line approach. They are one of many social-media-driven backlash groups that have sprung up around homelessness in Puget Sound cities.
The Bonney Lake group is an extreme example, seeking to expose local homeless people struggling with addiction and push them into treatment by eliminating their other options, and has drawn accusations of harassment and vigilante behavior.
The group's leader, Rhiannon Skog Geffre, defends their approach as necessary in the face of lack of action by authorities. And despite coverage of concerns about the group, they've seen groups in other communities, including Orting and Puyallup, connect with them. Their page has grown to over 900 members and rebranded more broadly as "East Pierce Watch."
"It's spreading," she said.
