Providing a home to those who served

Ninety-nine. That’s how many homeless veterans were found during January’s Point in Time count in Snohomish County.

In the months since the count, that number has dwindled, thanks to an effort called “Housing the ninety-nine.” It’s a goal that grew from a partnership between the county, nonprofit and social service agencies.

It’s hard to look at a number and see a person behind it — until you meet one.

Meet Brian Matthews.

He is 59. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1972 until 1976, mostly in Thailand toward the end of the Vietnam War.

For the past year, he and his wife, Bertha, lived in a car that no longer runs. They spent nights sleeping at an I-5 rest area. Long days were spent in the parking lot of a south Everett store, parked out of the way near a fence.

At times, two grown sons stayed with them. Eric Matthews, 29, was in the Marine Corps and served in Afghanistan in 2009. He left the military eligible for 80 percent disability compensation. He now lives on Vashon Island. Another son, 23, was sometimes with them in a truck. They had their dog, too. Dexter is a miniature pinscher.

They had been homeless before, about 10 years ago, and stayed in a motel and a van. This time, job losses for both Brian and Bertha Matthews were followed by an eviction from a house in south Everett. He had been a security guard. His wife lost her phone-company job years ago.

“I had given up,” Matthews said Thursday. “When we first went homeless, we went to every agency. Either they had funding cut or were only helping families with little kids. Not getting any help, I quit looking.”

They also refused to split up, which ruled out shelters that house men and women separately.

The couple now have a real roof over their heads. Brian Matthews spoke Thursday not in a parking lot, but in their new apartment near Mariner High School.

Last week, they moved into the two-bedroom unit at Center House, a complex run by the Housing Authority of Snohomish County. They are being helped by a HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing voucher, which provides rental assistance to veterans.

While homeless, Matthews never stood on a corner with a sign asking for help. But he did have a sign taped to his car. All it said was “Homeless veteran. You’re welcome.”

Once, when their son took them out to breakfast, someone saw the sign and suggested that Matthews get his military records and seek help.

With his discharge papers somewhere in storage, Matthews met with Jerry Gadek, a veterans service officer with Snohomish County Human Services. Gadek helped get copies of his records and start the process of getting a rent voucher. It’s one of many success stories that have come from “Housing the ninety-nine.”

Gadek said Wednesday that after the Point in Time count, when 99 veterans were identified as homeless, “we needed to do something with this number.”

A new Veterans Homelessness Committee brought together the county and nonprofit and social service agencies. They symbolically decided to help at least 99 veterans.

“We made a commitment to two things: Increase our outreach to every nook and cranny of Snohomish County to find 99 homeless veterans. The second part was to make existing resource programs — veterans or otherwise — easier to access for these folks,” Gadek said.

By Aug. 31, 72 veteran households had secured permanent housing due to efforts by the partnership between the county and nonprofit agencies, according to a statement Thursday from Snohomish County Executive John Lovick’s office.

“I was the 69th veteran on the list,” Matthews said Thursday.

Gadek said when he first met Matthews “he was in a homeless coma, resigned to the fact that nothing is going to change. It’s when that hope light starts to go out.”

Matthews said he has suffered from depression since the 1970s, when he was at the Udon Thani military base in Thailand with the Air Force 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. He ran backup generators, did photo interpretation and worked on the flight line catching aircraft.

“I saw a few pilots who weren’t in good shape,” Matthews said. “I believed in what I did, and I would do it again for the country.”

Today, because of a knee injury and other health problems, he receives Social Security disability income. They live on less than $1,000 a month, and about $40 a month in food stamps.

Matthews hopes to find another job in security work. If their income rises significantly, the voucher will go to another veteran.

With their car broken down, Chris Horner of the Housing Authority of Snohomish County drove them to look at apartments. The Center House unit opened up when another prospective tenant didn’t take it. “It was like a miracle, as far as I’m concerned,” Brian Matthews said.

Now, they are getting settled. In the apartment Thursday was a big pile of folded blankets — bedding when a car was home.

“We did not want to sit through another winter in a car,” Bertha Matthews said.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Help for veterans

For information about housing and services for veterans in Snohomish County, go to:

http://snohomish.wa.networkofcare.org/veterans/content.aspx?cid=795

Or contact Jerry Gadek, 425-388-7367 or email: Gerard.Gadek@snoco.org

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.