Timing, housing and 'The Jungle' 

Timing is everything, especially when it comes to finding housing for homeless individuals living in "The Jungle." 

Since 2021, the City of Olympia has closed 14 encampments, and The Jungle is the last large encampment to be addressed.

City officials conducted a by-name listing in May, and contacted approximately 290 individuals in order to begin the process of providing them housing. 

Individuals who have moved to The Jungle since the end of May cannot be added to the list. However, city outreach staff continues to connect new arrivals with Thurston’s County’s Coordinated Entry System. 

Either way, finding housing for these individuals will take time. 

“We’re trying to be realistic about what we can accomplish because there simply isn’t enough shelter and housing available across the region,” said Olympia Director of Strategic Communications C. Brandon Chapman. 

Specific to The Jungle, he added that “as housing becomes available and people move out, we’ll close the site section by section.  Each closed area will be cleaned up and secured.” 

So what do some of the individuals living in The Jungle think of the city’s plan?  To find out, The JOLT recently spent three hours walking through the site and talking to a dozen individuals.

Seven provided their names, while the remainder of the people declined to do so.  It should be noted that there appears to be a sense of permanence about the site, as there are more wooden structures, fencing and signage suggesting private property than in previous coverage of homeless encampment by The JOLT.

When asked about the city’s plans, one young male answered by saying, “Get the f... away from me.” But the majority, however, expressed varying degrees of skepticism.  

“There’s always red tape; always some excuse as to why something can’t be done,” said James as he stood inside a tarp enclosure.  “They need to listen to hear us; don’t listen to just respond.” 

Phillip, on the other hand, voiced stronger doubts.  He said that he and his partner had lived in the Percival Creek encampment for five years before it was closed. 

“When it was closed, there was nowhere for us to go, so we came here to The Jungle,” he said, “and I’m not certain that moving us is going to be soon.” 

This sentiment was voiced by an unidentified woman who after hearing about the plan simply said, “It sounds like it might work, but I’m not betting on it.” 

Neither is Natalia. 

“I don’t know what to think,” she began as she stood inside her dwelling.  “The system does not work; it holds you back.  I would rather struggle on my own than trust the system — it keeps us homeless.” 

As the city moves forward with its plans to close the encampment, another of its objectives is to keep the public informed. 

“We’ll be straightforward about how long that (the closure) takes and keep the community updated as the work moves forward,” Chapman said. “It will take time.”