Additional beds open up at Maple Court for homeless, Sleater-Kinney camp to be closed next week

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During the agenda-setting meeting earlier today, Homeless Prevention and Affordable Housing Coordinator Keylee Marineau reported that 15 more beds are available at the Maple Court homeless encampment.

The homeless people residing in Maple Court came from the Sleater-Kinney Road encampment.

The county will transfer the additional homeless from the Sleater-Kinney encampment to the empty spaces in Maple Court.

“They [housing institute] have some work to do. They're waiting for the first floor– they've hit a snag and getting those ready for folks,” said Marineau.

“They do not intend to move anyone from Sleater-Kinney this week into Maple Court, but will complete the closing of the Sleater-Kinney camp next week by moving in the remaining nine or so people that are in the encampments,” Marineau added.

Marineau also reported that they had divided the homeless encampment in Wheeler Avenue into sections to be cleared weekly, and they already gave the section numbers to the people in the camp.

“The Wheeler camp will start moving residents into the Franz Anderson Tiny Home as soon as next week. And that process should take three or four weeks for that camp to be completely cleaned,” said Marineau.

“There's [a] conversation about who to prioritize next. At this point, I believe they are considering prioritization of the Nickerson camp, which is on the same road as Wheeler,” Marineau added.

The commissioners asked whether the prioritization would be done by assessing how long the homeless person has lived in the area. Marineau clarified that it would be based on their vulnerability.

“Our prioritization processes are based on vulnerability. There's an assessment that goes through coordinated entry. And one of those criteria is not how long they've lived in Thurston County, but rather how vulnerable they are to living outside,” explained Marineau.

Marineau projected that the camps in Sleater-Kinney and Wheeler will be cleared entirely, with all eligible individuals and households housed in either the Tiny Home Village or Maple Court.

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  • JW

    The Homeless Industrial Complex hard at work. How long until Maple Lane is completely trashed and has to be closed for hazmat cleaning?

    Wednesday, August 23, 2023 Report this

  • WA_Mojo

    There will just new bums filtering into town looking for more free s@&% provided by clueless progressives.

    Wednesday, August 23, 2023 Report this

  • hptrillium

    I am thankful that those working to house the homeless are doing their jobs. The homeless are not "bums". They are people who have had bad circumstances to deal with. It could happen to any one of us. We should be doing everything we can to house everyone. Many of the homeless are working, but not making enough to afford rent. Others are mentally ill and not able to get treatment. Others need treatment for drug addiction. There are not enough treatment facilities, but even with treatment people can't recover without housing. This calls for compassion - not blame. What would your house look like if there were no trash pick up, no trash bags, no bathrooms.

    Wednesday, August 23, 2023 Report this

  • JW

    "It could happen to any one of us"

    Yes, it could happen to me if I start smoking fentanyl.

    Some people believe that becoming "unhoused" is a disease that you might inadvertently contract while going about your life.

    Wednesday, August 23, 2023 Report this