{"id":16314,"date":"2011-11-04T20:12:50","date_gmt":"2011-11-05T03:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reallifesuperheroes.org\/?p=16314"},"modified":"2011-11-04T20:12:50","modified_gmt":"2011-11-05T03:12:50","slug":"skyman-federal-way-superhero-fights-crime-helps-homeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/2011\/11\/04\/skyman-federal-way-superhero-fights-crime-helps-homeless\/","title":{"rendered":"SkyMan: Federal Way superhero fights crime, helps homeless"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally posted: http:\/\/www.federalwaymirror.com\/news\/132966828.html<\/a>
\nBy GREG ALLMAIN<\/a>
\nFederal Way Mirror reporter
\nOct 31 2011
\nSkyler Nichols, also known as SkyMan, is Federal Way\u2019s very own Real Life Superhero.
\nNichols, who recently made an appearance during Federal Way\u2019s Recycle Palooza, hopes to help his hometown in whatever way he can through his alter ego of SkyMan, the Tri-Colored Crusader.
\nNichols decided to try and help in Federal Way, after being an active member of the Seattle group of Real Life Superheroes (RLSH), whose most famous member is Phoenix Jones.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve been operating in the greater Seattle\/King County area for 18 months now, and I live here in Federal Way, and I\u2019m really trying to become more local,\u201d he said. \u201cI see Federal Way hurting, and I\u2019d like to help out.\u201d
\nNichols, 28, says he sees the effects of the economic downturn on Federal Way, and the effect on some of Federal Way\u2019s residents, such as the transient population. He used The Commons Mall as a glaring example of the slow decay that has overtaken Federal Way and many cities in the Puget Sound area.
\n\u201cI grew up in this mall. It used to be filled. Now it\u2019s just got anchor stores that keep it going, like Target and Sears,\u201d Nichols said. \u201cIt\u2019s sad, this place. You walk through it, there\u2019s so many empty storefronts. Suburbia in general. Auburn, Kent, Burien. We\u2019re all hurting.\u201d
\nWith Phoenix Jones more well known as being a \u201ccrime fighter,\u201d Nichols is more interested in helping those who are vulnerable, like the homeless. His own experiences of not having a roof over his head have led him to try and help the most disadvantaged in the area.
\n\u201cI want to help people\u2026I consider myself a humanitarian first as a real life superhero. One of the reasons I decided to start with charity work and homeless outreach is it was simple, and it was what I could do,\u201d he said. \u201cI was homeless for a time in 2003. I was so drug addled and not wanting to hurt my father anymore, I went and slept under the viaduct for four months. And it\u2019s just\u2026I see these people hurting.\u201d
\nNichols is more focused on helping those who can\u2019t help themselves. He said he has patrolled the streets and has even broken up a few muggings in his patrols.
\n\u201cI have done my fair share of patrolling, so I know what street crime is about. In fact, I\u2019ve stopped a few muggings, just by my presence, and my colorful, exuberant costume,\u201d he said of his encounter with would-be muggers. \u201cThey\u2019re like \u2018Whoa, who\u2019s this guy in armor and colors?\u2019\u201d
\nThe more traditional idea of a superhero asserted itself in Nichols when he discussed the recent police blotter item in The Mirror regarding a man who was caught masturbating at the public library.
\n\u201cI read that story, I go to the library at least once a week. If I had seen that dude doing that, he would have gotten a tri-colored talking to,\u201d he said.
\nOne of the largest ways that Nichols had contributed to the greater Seattle and Puget Sound communities was by doing homeless outreach. He would prepare care packages for homeless people. With the economic downturn, and he and his father\u2019s increasing reliance on social programs just to survive, Nichols said his work in helping the homeless has petered out recently. He hopes the community can help with donations or other information, so he can become a larger part of the social fabric of Federal Way.
\n\u201cI would like donations\u2026I\u2019m a charity-based superhero, but I live on welfare. My cash grant, from DSHS, the funding is just not there. So I haven\u2019t been able to participate or give back in a homeless outreach in several months,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t have a PayPal account, I don\u2019t really have something to take donations with, but if somebody would come along and give me some guidance on how to take proper donations, that\u2019d be great.\u201d
\nBarring donations, Nichols is also looking to connect with the community through social media,<\/a> and to find out about groups and charities in Federal Way where he could help.
\n\u201cI hope you friend me people, I hope you have suggestions for me for what I can do to help the community of Federal Way, exciting options and organizations and everything. I really want to become a more of a local guy, a local hero,\u201d he said.
\nNichols understands that many people are probably dubious of \u201ccostumed activists,\u201d as he likes to term it. He said there is an excellent documentary playing in Seattle that explains the ideas and motivations behind real life superheroes. The movie is called \u201cSuperheroes,\u201d and will run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 at Seattle\u2019s Grand Illusion Theater (1403 NE 50th St., Seattle, WA 98105). The film will show at 7 and 9 p.m. Visit www.grandillusioncinema.org<\/a> for more information.
\nRegardless of any of the external attachments of being a real life superhero, Nichols said he\u2019s just motivated to be the best person he can, in whatever way he can.
\n\u201cAll SkyMan really is, is a philosophy of trying to do good, trying to live up to heroic ideals and principles,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t really like to claim I\u2019m a hero, I like to say I\u2019m aspiring to that\u2026Living my daily activities as a real life superhero has just cemented my firm belief that that\u2019s what I want to do in life. Which is ultimately help people and inspire others to get away from apathy and more into altruism.\u201d
\nLearn more<\/strong>
\nNichols can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com\/skyler.nichols.<\/a> To learn more about the Real Life Superhero community, visit www.reallifesuperheroes.org.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nichols is more focused on helping those who can\u2019t help themselves. He said he has patrolled the streets and has even broken up a few muggings in his patrols.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[1203,1992,2041,2118,2173,2176,2181,2338,2429,2430,2548],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}