“Home for the holidays” strikes a different note for the residents of Nickelsville where home is a tent raised on packing crates in the middle of the University Congregational Church parking lot.

The University District has been Nickelsville’s home for nearly three months. The encampment was intially located in a parking lot on the corner of Northeast 50th Street and 15th Avenue Northeast, but moved to the parking lot directly across from the northwest corner of campus on 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 45th Street to avoid fines that would have been imposed on the University Christian Church.

“Winter wonderland” rang true this year as harsh weather conditions blanketed the camp in snow, causing tents to collapse and tarps to fly into the street with gusts of wind.

“It was a mess,” said Samuel Pierce, a resident of Nickelsville. “It was the first time I’ve been camped out in the snow.”

Many people throughout the U-District community offered aid, such as hot food and monetary donations. Paul Foreman, the University Congregational staff liaison to the encampment, said both Lutheran and Methodist churches in the area provided additional daytime or nighttime shelter.

“It is kind of counterintuitive, but [the residents] have told us many times that the night times are not the difficult times because once you are under the dry blankets you are good. So the issue is finding them warm places during the day time,” Foreman said.

However, most individuals in Nickelsville remained in the encampment despite the opportunity for inside heating, partly because of the efforts of camp resident Gerald T. Nicknamed “The Wood Guy,” Gerald T. spends 16 to 17seventeen hours each day maintaining the fire pit.

During the worst of the weather, the hours for the pit had to be shortened because there wasn’t enough dry wood to sustain the fire. After the community learned of the problem, people began bringing wood in bundles.

“I kept the fire going so people could stay warm,” Gerald T. said. “For a while there I was going through the alleys collecting what I could. I go to bed pretty well tired.”

His fiancee, Liz, noted how his efforts affected Nickelsville.

“Everyone was out here,” Liz said while sitting by the fire. “And the snow was thick. There was so much. But people were very generous. We had a lot of donations, especially food — gifts on Christmas, too.”

Members of Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party were some of the groups to bring food, supplying a dinner of ham and scalloped potatoes.

“It was one of the worst, nastiest nights,” said Andrea Bauer, Radical Women member and an editor at the Freedom Socialist Newspaper.

Coordinating the effort for the Freedom Socialist Party was Margaret Viggiani, who had many people respond to her request for volunteers. People donated, cooked, transported and cleaned up food after the event.

“A lot of people wanted to help,” she said. “Even though the weather didn’t help at all, we were able to get a hot dinner down there. Everyone sort of hung out. They have a tent area set up where they have food. They really appreciate it. You will hear a lot of stories about why people are there. It will break down a lot of misconceptions.”

Some members of Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party also attended the Dec. 16 Camp for Survival, a program put on by the Real Change Organizing Project that invites people to camp at Seattle City Hall for a night to call attention to the homeless’ plight for shelter and to protest sweeps of informal homeless camps, Bauer said.

Overall, residents of Nickelsville handled the situation better than most would assume, said James White, a transitional pastor at the University Congregational Church.

“Actually, the people have done well,” White said. “They know how to take care of things.”

Challenges included managing their own garbage when much of Seattle was wading through three weeks of trash because road conditions made it impossible for trucks to pick it up. And when many home owners increased their thermostats with abandon, Gerald T. managed just fine in his tent.

“It’s like an igloo,” he said. “It’s pretty well insulated. I can be in there with just a short-sleeved shirt. I’ve built mine since day one.”

Reach reporter Heather Milligan at news@dailyuw.com.