Blog post written by Alyssa McLeod, Operations Assistant
Summer at SYM is unique for many reasons. And this tracks because the Seattle experience in the summer is unique. For one thing, Seattlites are accustomed to the rain, clouds, and generally colder weather. In the summer we all feel the sudden climb in temperature, and it changes how we move about a day. For our unhoused neighbors the change in temperature leads to a specific set of needs, and it can have an intense impact on mental, emotional, and physical health. There is rarely an escape from the constant heat, not enough hydration, not enough food, etc. Being with our young people this summer makes me acutely aware of the ways heat affects all of us throughout our day. For example, experiencing more irritability and heightened emotional sensitivities. I think we can all reflect on how the weather has impacted or does impact our moods. Think about the consequential emotional reality of not having a certain amount, or any, reprieve from the constant heat. This is why service providers around the U District are even more important in the summers and winters, respectively. They support our clients through the uniquely challenging few months of inclement weather.
As an organization we recently participated in the University District Resource Fair, connecting with other groups and organizations that support unhoused folks in this area. It is always encouraging to gather and see the good work and options available to those who need a plethora of resources.
There’s this wonderful book called “Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality and Mortality” by Richard Beck, and I’ve been thinking about it lately because I have found that summer at SYM requires a certain kind of hospitality that isn’t “one-size-fits-all” during the rest of the year. I recently read a commentary on the book from Steve MacDouell, who led a breakout session during the Inhabit conference that the SYM Staff attended in the spring. He shared: “hospitality requires some form of proximity, and this proximity can be humanizing… it [has] a way of reminding us that people are formed by all kinds of factors, many of which are out of their control.” These seasons in the PNW that mark obvious shifts in weather and the community are prime opportunities to display hospitality, both in work like that of SYM, and with our daily circle that we come in contact with.
For the purposes of this blog, I asked our clients, staff, and volunteers about what a summer at SYM means to them. No response is void of expressing the communal aspects of a summer here, thus exemplifying the value of hospitality in this place. See below for what summer at SYM means to our community.
