The trend in dealing with homelessness is improving

Pat Cole

It’s good to see the state stepping up.”

So much in life is determined by the trend, and the direction we are heading in, and paying attention over time illuminates how we are doing.  Climate change is like that; it happens very slowly, unlike the weather, and we need to track it for a while to see the change and direction it’s headed.  

When I had my second herniated disk, I had to decide whether or not to get surgery.  I was ever so slowly improving, with less pain, and so I decided not to have the surgery.  A year later, all was fine because I paid attention to the trend, and the trend was good.

We are now seeing the same thing with respect to homeless services.  For the most part, the trend is very good.   Having walked along the waterfront and into town, my impression is that downtown Olympia is cleaner and more pedestrian-friendly; there are new restaurants and businesses opening, and it feels different.  Clearly, some of that is the result of a number of programs that have been implemented over the last couple of years, including:

• the Crisis Response Unit (CRU)
• closing of the Deschutes Parkway camp,
• better enforcement of sidewalk sleeping regulations,
• the Friendly Faces program,
• Downtown Ambassador program, and
• the increase in the available shelter and transitional housing.

I spoke with Rich Hoey, Olympia’s acting Assistant City Manager, and the city still aims to get all the vehicles off of Ensign Road by mid-October. Rather than set up a quasi-RV park on the recently purchased Franz Anderson Road property, the Ensign Road people are being given priority placement in the new tiny homes in Quince Street Village. 

With more experience and the success of the tiny house model, Olympia is designing another tiny home village on part of the Franz Anderson Road property. This seems to be a much more effective solution, faster to get up and running, and easier to manage.  The current vision for the rest of this property is some kind of permanent transitional housing. 

The state is stepping up

Another improvement: Some camps have been closed, and others cleaned up.  The camp at the Pacific Ave./I-5 interchange has been closed and cleaned.  Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) did that; it’s their jurisdiction. The legislature provided additional funds for addressing highway interchanges. It’s good to see the state stepping up.   They have also gotten back to cleaning the highways, and have collected enough trash to fill Lumen Field 15 feet deep. 

One challenge that DOT faces is that the enabling legislation that provided money to address the freeway interchanges requires DOT to have shelter or housing available before they can ask campers to vacate. And there just isn’t enough. There will be a few spots open at Quince Street Village once all of the Ensign Road campers who agree to move there have done so, but that won’t be enough to house everyone.

Olympia is pursuing the purchase of a hotel to provide more shelter, which will facilitate closing up more of the existing camps. I spoke with Troy Cowan at DOT, and they are looking at a three-year process to move and temporarily house people as new resources come available.  Penny Thomas, Dept. of Commerce, sent me a copy of DOT’s Right-of-way Activity Log, and they are making substantial improvements. The state has awarded a grant of $20 million for the purchase of hotel rooms as well.  They have also awarded Thurston County $4.5M, $900k for outreach, $200k for housing people fleeing domestic violence, and $3.5M to Interfaith Works for housing over 3 years.

One area where the trend is mixed is with respect to cleanup.  DOT’s current position is that they are not going to clean up a camp like Sleater Kinney/I-5 until they have housing and can close the camp. Olympia was awarded a $200K contract to address the Wheeler camp, which is now growing.  That money is primarily for clean-up; the budget only includes money to relocate ten people. But with all else that is going on, Olympia hasn’t put that plan into action.  But now it’s time.

None of this is simple. As some camps close, others get larger.   We’ve seen that at the Wheeler Camp and at “The Jungle,” the sprawling camp that runs from Martin Way to Pacific Avenue.   DOT is putting effort into making sure that vacant areas don’t become occupied, but we need a comprehensive enforcement mechanism by all jurisdictions to prevent this kind of spillover.

Clean up the camps

My desire to clean up some camps now is not in sync with the direction our services are headed both at the state level and in Olympia. We should raise the priority of getting these camps cleaned.  It will make us all feel better, and it’s better for the people in the camps.  It has to happen sometime, so let’s get it done.   The fact that there will be more to clean later is no different than what is happening on our highways, and we clean them repeatedly.   

There is money out there, people are working on all kinds of programs and proposals; it’s simply a question of priority.

One thing is for sure, we are fortunate to have a very good, hard-working, caring staff in Olympia and at the County as well as in our community organizations. 

Dealing with national problems at our local level has taken an enormous amount of resources, and the way we’ve addressed these problems is laudable.  Plus, the state is now involved, which was overdue, and we have good people there working to provide long-term, positive solutions to homelessness.

Pat Cole  -  pcbiglife@gmail.com - is a former member of Olympia's city council. As a private citizen, he seeks to set a positive tone and lead informed discussions about local civic issues.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  The opinions expressed above are those of Pat Cole and not necessarily of The JOLT or its staff or board of directors.  

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