His work hangs in homes of family and friends throughout Southeast Alaska, but Thomas Bell doesn’t have a home of his own.
The elderly Tlingit homeless man weaves figures — usually crosses — out of rope and either gives them away or sells them for a small amount of money. As he delivered his most recent piece Monday, he brought a message with him as well.
Bell leaned on his walker as he stood in the lobby of the downtown fire station and handed his newest cross, made of salvaged rope from a crab pot, to Capital City Fire/Rescue Chief Richard Etheridge. The gift is one of goodwill, Bell said, as many of his homeless brethren appreciate the work that emergency workers do.