Now might not be the best time to ask the Legislature for money, but that’s not to deny the need and potential to change lives in the city of Everett’s $2 million request of this session’s supplemental budget.
Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson and other city representatives are in Olympia today seeking the funding to add what it has gathered from its own budget, grant sources and Snohomish County, for a $5 million fund it hopes to use to provide stable housing for the chronically homeless.
The city, Stephanson said, wants to buy an existing property, renovate it and provide 10 or more low-barrier housing units, the first phase toward providing as many as 40 to 50 such units. The city has identified at least two properties in the city: one in the north end, one in the south and both located on transit lines. The housing itself would be managed by others in the community with experience in delivering the needed services.
“Low-barrier” housing, also referred to as “housing first,” removes the preconditions for putting the chronically homeless into stable housing. While there are rules and expectations, recipients typically aren’t required to abstain from drugs or alcohol. The intent is to provide housing first, then work to connect people with help to address addiction, mental illness and other needs.
Salt Lake City’s Housing First program, later expanded across Utah, might be the most well-known example. As of last year, Utah’s population of chronically homeless people had dropped 91 percent to fewer than 200. Lloyd Pendleton, director of Utah’s program, came to Everett in November to discuss the program and encourage similar work here. A follow-up forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Feb. 1 at the Historic Everett Theatre. Panelists will include Robert McCann, executive director of Catholic Charities of Spokane; Troy Christenson, chief operations officer for Tacoma’s Metropolitan Development Corporations; and Mary Jane Brell Vujovic, director of Snohomish County Human Services.
The housing project is among the scores of measures that the city has launched or is considering as part of its Streets Initiative, which brought together representatives from throughout the city in 2014 to discuss the best strategies for addressing the city’s intertwined problems with homelessness, addiction, mental illness and crime.
Stephanson said his attitudes and perceptions of the problems have evolved over time. More than just a law enforcement issue — although police resources remain part of the formula — he has embraced the broad-based approach of the Streets Initiative that he launched.
“This is something positive we can do to change lives for the better,” he told The Herald Editorial Board.
State Rep. June Robinson, D-Everett, is sponsoring the city’s request in the House. Sen. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, is sponsoring a similar request in the Senate. While fully behind the request and the project, Robinson has no illusions that the request will sail through the budget process, stacked as it is against other pressing needs, including last summer’s efforts to fight wildfires, more classrooms and deficiencies in the state’s mental health system.
Even if the funding request is successful and work can begin soon to begin housing the city’s most chronically homeless, the program is not likely to escape challenges and setbacks. But similar programs in Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane and Portland are considered successful.
There’s an economic argument to be made for the project. The city estimates about $500,000 is spent each year per person among the city’s most troubled homeless when costs are added up for paramedic, hospital, police and other services. Providing housing first is simply a more efficient use of limited resources.
That it could turn lives around is all the more reason to support it.
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