Recently
Bellingham’s temperature dropped as low as 10 degrees and a blanket of snow
enshrouded the city streets. The
homeless members of the Lettered Streets community who cannot find shelter
indoors have a few places of refuge along the commercial sections of West Holly
Street and Roeder Avenue.
These individuals have been barred
from access to the Lighthouse Mission
and the two severe weather shelters that
open in Bellingham when temperatures drop below 22 degrees. This is due largely to the problems with
substance abuse and mental illness that are prevalent in this chronically homeless
community.
In 2005 Washington State Legislature
passed the Homeless Housing and Assistance Act pledging
to cut homelessness by 50 percent over 10 years. Communities like Seattle have been trying a
new approach called non-abstinence housing or “wet-housing” and a new study
just released shows some surprising results.
Without such options in Bellingham,
people like 65-year-old “Hippie”, a legally blind man and alcoholic, are forced
to weather the cold nights outdoors. Steps
have been taken to help end homelessness here in Whatcom county, but at this
point it’s believed that no part of Washington State will accomplish the 10
year pledge.
 |
| A cold abode |
What is
available?
The city of Bellingham’s 2008-2012 Strategic Plan
says there is 1,021 beds available for homeless in Whatcom County. Of these, 302 are permanent beds for
previously homeless individuals with disabilities.
When weather gets bad in Bellingham
the chronically homeless
living in the Lettered Streets in have but a few options. As many as 71 individuals took refuge in the severe
weather shelters
during this last snow storm but many others did not.
The Lighthouse Mission Ministries, which
includes the Agape Women’s and
Children’s Home, has about 100 beds men and women. Ron Buchinski, the
Lighthouse Mission’s executive director says those staying are encouraged to attend a 30
minute nightly house meeting and worship service conducted by area volunteers.
But Hippie and other members of the
homeless community say that attending the service is required and that those
staying must be sober and willing to submit to a breathalyzer.
A cold abode
On Friday Jan 20, with his cane propped
up against the metal walls of an abandoned container, “Hippie” listened to
another homeless man tell him he’s got to find somewhere else to stay tonight
due to “first-comer’s” rights.
“I’ve got a MBA and I worked for
Halliburton for 27 years, but here I am,” Hippie says.
The floor of the container is littered
with backpacks, cardboard, trash, pillows, and empty beer bottles but it is one
of the most highly prized spots to be found.
“The police don’t hassle us here,”
Hippie says. “They know we’ve got
nowhere else to go.”
Sitting with him drinking a 40 ounce
bottle of malt liquor, 20-year-old Eric says it got so cold a few nights ago
they started a fire but had to put it out because the smoke had no way to
escape.
“Now we just use candles, a lot of
candles and this,” he says, holding up his 40 ounce bottle.
 | ||
| Eric, 20, keeps warm in the belly of an abandoned container. |
What has been done
here?
Whatcom County has created the “Ten-year-plan to End Homelessness” and to fund its efforts has passed two bills, HB 2163 and HB 1359, that require
county auditors to add a surcharge of $18 on recording documents. Whatcom has also received a $1.4 million grant
from the Washington State Department of
Community Trade and Economic Development to implement the new Homeless Services
Center project.
As part of the effort a point-in-time report on
homelessness has been conducted by the Whatcom County Department of Health each
year. At this time last year there were more
than 1,300 homeless individuals in Whatcom County. The report is just a snapshot of the homeless
living in Bellingham and it states that it’s likely to have underestimated the
actual numbers.
According to the same report 10 percent homeless people are considered chronically homelessness and 19 percent of the homeless in Whatcom
County are unsheltered. This means they
live outdoors, in a vehicle or in an abandoned building. It also says that 28 percent of the homeless
population report drug and alcohol addiction as the reason for their
circumstances and another 24 percent report mental illness.
While this report says that, as of January 2011, there had been a 48 percent
decrease in chronic
homelessness since 2008 it also says the homeless population as a whole only
decreased by 18 percent. Furthermore, the number of people who have been
forced to move in with friends and family has increased 24 percent. It
says this increase is possibly due to the decrease in employment.
The report attributes the decrease in chronic
homelessness to investments made in permanent supportive housing
and the construction of two halfway houses for former inmates. The overall decrease in
homelessness has not been significant enough to meet requirements set out by
the state. |
| A sleeping bag abandoned in the rain. |
Initially July 1, 2015, was
established as the required target date for reducing homelessness by 50
percent.
According to Gail DeHoog, the Housing
Specialist for Whatcom County Health Department, funds raised so
far are still being put to use in ways determined by a citizen’s advisory
committee established by the County Executive Jack Louws.
However, DeHoog believes that despite efforts no county in
Washington will meet the target date.
“It was set before the recession hit
and now I know of no plans before the legislature to adjust the official
target,” DeHoog said.
 |
| "I <3 Bham and it hates me" at the entrance to an outdoor shelter. |
The
housing-first approach and the cost of doing nothing
Some cities are trying a new
approach to the problem of alcoholism and addiction among the homeless.
The Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) in Seattle has been housing alcoholics in their
‘wet-house’ with some surprising results.
A two-year-long study conducted at DESC and issued in the Jan. 19 issue of the American Journal
of Public Health showed
that despite fears of the enabling
hypothesis, 95 chronically homeless alcoholics
participating in a non-abstinence based housing program saw significant
decreases in alcohol use over the study period.
The program did not require abstinence or treatment attendance, but participants
decreased their drinking and problems related to drinking more the longer they were
involved.
One
of the many alcohol-related problems of the chronically homeless is their need
for far more medical service than their counterparts indoors.
The England Journal of Medicine
released a study that found, per visit, homeless people spend four days more
at the hospital than non-homeless individuals.
According to research by clinicians at the Boston
Health Care for the Homeless Program
the average annual health care cost of the chronically homeless is $28,436.
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