ARLINGTON — Amanda and Marc Boucher met on a Greyhound bus.
She was Amanda Baumgartner then “spontaneous and crazy” as she now remembers her 21-year-old self. Sick of living with her parents in Everett, she hopped on a bus with $15 in her pocket, bound for Pennsylvania where she had people she knew.
He was 29, traveling from Wyoming to Florida to take care of an elderly friend.
“For me, it was love at first sight,” Amanda said.
They got to talking. He saw she wasn’t getting off at the stops to get food. When he asked why, she told him she had no money. Before they parted ways, Marc slipped $20 in Amanda’s pocket without her noticing.
Thirteen years later, the pair sat at a table in an Arlington motel surrounded by their five children Thursday. They’ve been through a lot together. Last week, the Bouchers had to leave the Interfaith Family Shelter in Everett, where they’d been staying for over three months.
Left to right, Amanda Boucher, Carter Boucher, 2, Marc Boucher, and Maverick, 4, sit together at a motel in Arlington, Washington on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
The shelter can only house people for 90 days, with extensions granted in special circumstances, due to city permit and government grant requirements.
Case managers there work with families to secure housing. For the most part, it works. Jim Dean, Interfaith’s executive director, said their success rate is 78%.
But an unlucky 20% fall back into homelessness after leaving the shelter.
What happens next for the Bouchers is still to be determined.
Amanda’s health problems leave her disabled. Among other issues, she has been living with epileptic seizures that started about a year ago. Stress makes them worse, but exactly what’s causing them is unclear.
“It’s very frustrating to sit here and go, ‘I don’t know what’s going on with my body,’” she said.
Marc has to be a full-time caregiver for his entire family. He watches Amanda constantly for seizures while doing the bulk of the child care.
Marc Boucher, left, watches as Makayla Boucher, 11, spins her brother Maverick, 4, at the Everett Self Storage Depot, at 2727 Maple St. in Everett, Washington, on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Because of the demands of taking care of the kids and Amanda’s disabilities, neither parent can work.
That makes the Bouchers’ situation unusual, said Brenda Bolanos-Ivory, an advocate who has been helping the family. Families often split up, she said, because many shelters that have places for women and children don’t accept men. But Marc can’t live apart from his family because of Amanda’s health.
In the short-term, the family has been buoyed by support they’ve received from readers of a previous Daily Herald article about their situation. People sent items from their Amazon wish list and paid for them to stay in the motel for a couple weeks.
The kids especially like the blankets and clothes people sent them.
From left, Mason Boucher, 8, Karter Boucher, 2, and Mia Boucher, 9, snack on a Lunchables and play games at a motel in Arlington, Washington on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
The Bouchers have about a week left at the motel covered by donations. Hotels.com gift cards, also donated, will tide them over for another week or so after that.
A lawyer is helping Amanda apply for disability benefits. Marc is sorting through conflicting information on how to apply for benefits as a caregiver.
Next Monday, the family is set to meet with the Anacortes Family Center, which will help them apply for an emergency housing voucher. Meanwhile, Amanda has been researching Rapid Rehousing programs.
Currently, the Bouchers are receiving food stamps and other assistance.
Mia Boucher, 9, snacks on a Lunchables with Karter Boucher, 2, at a motel in Arlington, Washington, on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Some of their benefits go toward paying for two storage units that hold all the things they can’t take with them due to limited space. They are also looking at campsites as an option, where they’ll be able to use gear people have donated to them.
Motel life hasn’t been bad. Amanda has mobility issues due to chronic health conditions, so she likes that everything is on one floor.
But the whole family has been missing the friends they made at Interfaith.
Last Wednesday, they bid a tearful goodbye to those friends as they left the shelter.
“I love you guys with all my heart,” one said as she hugged the Bouchers’ oldest daughter, Makayla. “Take care of your mom.”
The Bouchers have long been taking care of each other. They expect the future will be no different.
Sophia Gates: 425-339-3035; sophia.gates@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @SophiaSGates.
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