When city and county officials moved to sweep encampments around Olympia and house the camp residents in hotels, they were hoping it would end in more people in supportive housing units and shelters.
But only a handful of people out of more than 75 households found success. Officials blamed poor planning and unexpected complexities, with a lack of funding to top it off.
Though funding was an issue, the city of Olympia and Thurston County combined still spent nearly $700,000 on hotel stays, damages, RV and car acquisitions, and more related to the camp sweeps.
Kim Kondrat, Olympia's homeless response coordinator, said the city learned from the winter hotel stays that the only solution is to build more permanent supportive housing and stop pushing people out of camps when there is nowhere else to go.
Kondrat said accessing resources when you're on the streets takes time, and individual case management is a challenge when those who need it are hard to track down.
"There needs to be more of a streamlined process in our community, and that doesn't exist yet," Kondrat said. "We're working on that, making those clear paths. It's hard for people to navigate it on their own."
The money the city and county spent on putting people into hotels for the winter hardly compares to what's needed to build permanent supportive housing. Unity Commons, the city's first housing project built partially with Home Fund dollars, cost $20.7 million. The majority of the money came from federal Low-income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and the Washington state Housing Trust Fund.
Breakdown of costs
According to information from officials with Thurston County's homeless response program and the city of Olympia, the winter hotel stays, vehicle acquisition costs and other miscellaneous expenses cost around $704,000. Here's where all that money went.
When the city swept residents off Ensign Road in front of Providence St. Peter Hospital in January, many people opted to sell their car or recreational vehicle in exchange for a hotel room and some cash to help them secure housing later.
Assistant City Manager Keith Stahley confirmed that the city bought 20 vehicles. The city bought most for $2,000 and some for $500, for a total of $31,900 spent on buying people's temporary homes and sometimes only means of transportation.
The vehicles are now going through a process to be deemed junk vehicles before they're scrapped, Kondrat said.
During the sweep, the city also confiscated people's tents and sleeping bags, only for them to need replacing once people were back on the streets. The city's homeless response team spent $10,935 on new sleeping bags and tents.
From November 2021 to March 2022, the city of Olympia spent $335,026 on hotel stays. That includes the La Quinta and Super 8 motels in Lacey, Red Lion in Olympia and the Tumwater Motel 6, according to data obtained by The Olympian.
Damage caused at the La Quinta Inn alone totaled $77,983, almost a fourth of the total cost.
In a prior interview, Stahley told The Olympian that with a lack of planning and case workers, several hotel residents were quickly kicked out for not following the rules or damaging rooms. He said there wasn't enough support to help acclimate people to temporary indoor stays.
The costs for the countywide program were almost evenly split between the city and Thurston County.
Thomas Webster, the county's housing and homeless prevention program manager, said the county started paying for hotel rooms at the Olympia Inn in December and the Lacey Super 8 in January. The last day they paid for hotel rooms was Feb. 22. Within that time frame, the county spent $252,000 on hotel rooms.
Webster said the county also gave Olympia Mutual Aid Partners $74,000 through an existing contract to provide services to people at the Super 8, bringing the total up to $326,000. This number may be even higher, as the county finishes up payments for the Super 8.
Webster said the majority of the funds came from an Emergency Solutions Grant for COVID relief funding through the state Department of Commerce. The rest came from local document recording fee funds that are dedicated to homeless services activities.
Kondrat said she hopes she can help the public realize how difficult it is for people experiencing homelessness to access resources, especially when money is the main barrier. She said she's working with other outreach providers in the county on how to bring more awareness of these difficulties to the community.
Kondrat said she'd like to see the community participate in the solution more through volunteering or through donations of clothing, supplies and money, which can be donated at City Hall.
"I believe if you see someone in need, you're supposed to act," Kondrat said. "If you see a problem, you're supposed to be a part of the solution."
