As winter approaches, Stanwood man remains homeless

STANWOOD — George Beard remembers trying to sleep in his 2004 Pontiac Trans Am while parked at the Stanwood Public Library this past winter.

He remembers his icy breath and clothes stiff from the cold. He remembers the frostbite, the hospital visits, the trouble finding hot meals.

Over a year ago, Beard, 61, lost his job, housing and life savings after developing a severe blood infection that made him too sick to work. In the spring, a local resource navigator was helping him find housing before the cold arrived again. Beard was on every housing list in the region, he said.

Six months later, Beard is still living in his Pontiac. If he doesn’t find housing soon, he doesn’t know if he’ll make it.

“I just feel frustrated,” said Stuart Heady, a regular at the library who has befriended Beard. “This problem should have been solved by now.”

Beard is one of more than 1,100 people living in their cars, on the street or otherwise without permanent housing across Snohomish County. In May, Lori Morgan, a resource navigator in Arlington, Marysville and Stanwood, said “very few” housing spots were available. Some complexes had closed due to meth contamination. Often, open spots had strict qualifications. She had “no answer” for how long it would take for someone in Beard’s situation to find housing.

In a recent interview, Morgan said Housing Hope’s new 52-unit apartment complex in Edmonds has helped a little. But overall, she said, the waitlist for low-income housing is at least as long as it was earlier this year.

“We’re having so many people lose their housing due to rent increases they can’t afford,” said Morgan, who works for Seattle-based Lutheran Community Services Northwest. “It’s just getting worse.”

Nearly one-third of county residents — mostly renters — pay more than 30% of their income on housing. Last year, the county reported it needs 67,585 more affordable housing units by 2044 for no resident to be rent or mortgage burdened. To meet that goal, developers would need to build at more than twice the current rate.

To help, the county plans to spend $93 million on 700 new affordable housing units by 2028. This includes two former motels turned emergency shelters, called New Start Centers, set to open next year with a total of 150 units. On Wednesday, the County Council approved $13 million for four affordable housing projects in Everett, Arlington and Lynnwood that could add at least 166 new units by 2027.

In early June, the state approved Beard’s application for a Housing and Essential Needs voucher. The voucher provides temporary assistance to people who are physically or mentally unable to work. A common use is to keep single, older residents off the streets while they’re waiting for social security, Morgan said.

Beard’s voucher is good for about $900 per month in rental assistance, he said. However, when he’s called housing providers on the approved list, he said, he’s been made to feel like he doesn’t have a chance. He has his eyes on a retirement home in Marysville. He doesn’t want to live with people who smoke, drink or use drugs. But he’s realizing he may not have a choice.

“They give him a list of people that he’s supposed to call, and then he finds out that there’s about 100 other people competing for the same place,” Heady said. “Why would they do that to somebody?”

Morgan said the vouchers don’t provide many options, but the list “absolutely” includes clean and safe spaces away from heavy drug or alcohol use.

“They get the voucher,” Morgan said, “and then it’s their choice not to take what’s available.”

Snohomish County has the highest rates of housing and shelter requests of any Washington county, according to data from 211, the state’s main essential needs program. Amanda Etchy, director of the local 211 chapter, has said the main barrier to finding housing in the county is that many people have already exhausted all the resources available to them.

Beard’s health issues have made it harder for him to navigate the housing system. In September, his infection sent him to Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon for two weeks. For a few weeks after that, he was on seven medications and felt “out of it.” He worries in that time, he may have missed phone calls from housing providers.

“I’m sick as a dog,” Beard said. “I want to sleep all the time. I’m weak. It’s hard to go anywhere or get things done.”

Beard said he may need to seek help at a cold weather shelter this winter.

Beard talks openly about his struggles because of the many others in Snohomish County who are homeless and need help. He predicts Stanwood will see more homeless residents if rent continues to increase. And those who are already homeless may visit because of the city’s high-quality food bank, he said. He hopes the city will get ahead of the problem and plan for more social services.

Stanwood police encounter at least three or four homeless residents on a regular basis, Chief Jason Toner said. But many more are “housing insecure or near homelessness,” he said in an email this week. This year, the police department partnered with the Blue Bridge Alliance to offer hot meals, clothing, gas and other essential items to people in need. The department, which contracts with the county sheriff’s office, has an embedded social worker, Amy Wheat, who helps connect people to services.

Mayor Sid Roberts said he’s never met Beard, but knows of him. A group of local leaders meet monthly at the Stanwood-Camano Area Foundation to brainstorm ways to help the homeless, he said.

At the Community Resource Center of Stanwood Camano across the street from the library, people can get help with housing and other needs, fill out program applications and access WiFi and a phone. A few blocks away, they can get food at the Stanwood Camano Food Bank and free clothing at The Caring Place.

“Stanwood is a compassionate community,” Roberts said. “There are many here who care about this issue.”

Over the past year, Beard and Heady have contacted state 211 operators, local resource navigators, low-income housing providers, police officers, social workers and elected officials.

“How come all these people cannot figure out how to solve this one problem?” Heady said. “I really don’t want to see George sitting in that car through another winter.”

Sydney Jackson: 425-339-3430; sydney.jackson@heraldnet.com; X: @_sydneyajackson.