Centralia’s Homeless Committee presented several proposals to the Centralia City Council on Tuesday night.
The council initially voted to create the committee last November with the goal of developing solutions to help Centralia address the rise in homelessness.
Among the recommendations made Tuesday night were the creation of a safe parking lot for overnight camping and the removal of code restrictions to make way for the creation of tiny home villages and other forms of transitional housing.
None of the recommendations were adopted by the council. Rather, they were provided to give council members ideas concerning how to help reduce homelessness in Centralia in the future.
The committee includes Salvation Army Captain Gin Pack, Ruth Gutierrez of the Housing Resource Center, health care advisor Gillian Davis, Recovery Navigator representative Troy Westergard, Lewis County officials Meja Handlen and Justia Madrigal, Centralia resident Heather McKibbon, Patty Howard of Gather Church, former Centralia city councilor Leah Daarud, and Centralia City Councilor Elizabeth Cameron.
“It’s difficult to be here presenting on homelessness, which is a polarizing issue in Lewis County. I know that what I say could be heard as divisive but it’s absolutely not intended to be,” Howard said. “Homelessness is a complex issue with complex solutions.”
While Howard was there to explain the committee’s recommendations, she also spoke about narratives often associated with homelessness locally.
She often hears that people are being bused into Centralia from other areas due to the availability of services.
“The narrative is not true. Homeless populations are not increasing because people are being bused from place to place,” Howard said. “If it were true, service providers would be the first to notice, and I promise you, we would say something.”
While Howard does sometimes come across a new face through the Gather Church’s homeless outreach programs, if people were being bused in she would see nothing but new faces all the time, she said.
She said the COVID-19 pandemic also caused a lot of people to fall into homelessness after being evicted by their landlords with no other place to move. Economic factors play a major role in the increase in homelessness as well, with rent, utilities, food and fuel prices all continuing to rise, she said.
“Why do communities continue to tell this narrative even though it isn’t true? No community wants to see itself as responsible for the obvious suffering of its citizens. It’s easier to say, ‘They don’t belong here,’ or, ‘They aren’t from here,’ than to do the hard work of taking care of people,” Howard said.
Lewis County wages are another factor as Cameron said the median income in the county is below both state and national income levels.
“There doesn’t appear to be a lot of income available for people to afford housing at reasonable prices. That is a big concern for everyone,” Cameron said. “Even if you’ve got a job, you’re making this kind of income and you’re really strapped being able to afford to rent a place, nevermind buy a place.”
Howard said there are a lot of unseen people experiencing homelessness, not just those seen in parks or on sidewalks.
Many who are experiencing homelessness are employed, some even working multiple jobs while living in cars, RVs or couchsurfing where they can, she said.
“They’re elderly, young families, teenagers who’ve been kicked out of their homes, men and women all struggling because they do not have anywhere to live,” Howard said.
Howard broke down the committee’s proposals which, to start, recommended creating a safe parking location allowing those living in RVs, trailers or their cars a safe place to park and sleep overnight.
“Safe parking areas have been set up in many municipalities around the United States, and had varying levels of success,” Howard said. “With adequate planning and learning from the struggles in other places, we believe Centralia could set up a successful and safe parking location.”
Fencing and security for the safe parking area would be required, Howard said, along with bathrooms and garbage collection. She said this would be the first step in helping those experiencing homelessness transition off the streets.
Howard said the next step would be moving people into tiny home or pallet shelter villages complete with individual shelters, community spaces, laundry facilities and showers. Currently, Centralia Municipal Code doesn’t make developing the spaces easy.
The Homeless Committee suggested the city amend its municipal code to make it easier to build low-barrier transitional shelters along with waiving any fees associated with creating the developments.
“In these pallet shelters or tiny home villages, there would be intensive case management helping people who have transitioned from living in a vehicle or on the street gain the skills for independent living,” Howard said. “These villages would also bolster community safety by providing a place for people to be.”
Higher barrier transitional housing, like Oxford housing and six-person recovery homes, were among the recommendations made.
“We have some transitional housing in Centralia already. We have a single shelter, a family shelter and a domestic violence shelter, but we need more of those. They are almost always full,” Howard said.
City officials could help provide financial assistance to residents in need by offering discounted rates for utility installation and use, garbage collection, wastewater dumping and more, she added.
The committee also requested city councilors sign letters of support for grant applications being submitted to help fund the recommendations.
