Advocates win grant to help end homelessness on Vashon

Published 2:28 am Saturday, April 26, 2008

In what will provide “a quantum leap” in the Island’s ability to address homelessness, Vashon Youth & Family Services has just received an $80,000 grant and 10 vouchers for subsidized housing from King County.

The grant — part of the county’s 10-year effort to end homelessness — will enable the social services agency to hire a case manager and a part time drug and alcohol counselor to work with families and individuals who are currently homeless or precariously close to homelessness.

It will also provide 10 vouchers for Section 8 housing, bringing to 34 the number of vouchers available to people living on Vashon. Section 8, a federal housing program, ensures that those holding vouchers spend no more than one-third of their income on rent.

Sam Collins, executive director of Vashon Youth & Family Services (VYFS), said the grant — the first one the Island has received since the county started its campaign more than two years ago — opens the door to “a major new initiative” for the agency, which historically has focused on other issues. It also means a significant increase in services to those struggling to keep a roof over their heads, he said.

“It’s a quantum leap in our coordinated efforts to focus on homelessness,” Collins said.

Nancy Vanderpool, who heads Vashon’s Interfaith Council on Homelessness, also called the grant welcome news, as her small council has been struggling to find shelter for people without a home and the funds and services to support those on the brink of losing their homes.

“We’ve been in desperate need of someone who can do some drug and alcohol counseling, because we’ve seen that that’s one of the factors in homelessness,” she added.

The county announced its ambitious plan to end homelessness in March 2005, saying at the time that it would focus on homelessness prevention, development of more affordable housing and working to build the political and community will to tackle the tough issues surrounding homelessness.

Since then, the county has passed new surcharges on real estate recording fees to help generate funds; county voters also approved a veterans and human services levy that is generating around $13 million a year for a wide range of issues, including homelessness prevention.

The grant to VYFS — which provides $80,000 for the next five years — is part of $11 million the county is handing out to more than a dozen programs and agencies. Cheryl Markham, the program manager for the county’s housing and community development program, said Vashon received one of the awards because of the collaborative nature of the proposal Collins and others put forward and because it focused on both providing housing as well as support services.

“It was a very solid proposal,” she said.

Vashon is not seen as a place with a large homelessness population, and yet the problem is increasingly here, Collins and others said.

A handful of people fit the traditional definition: they’re living in tents in the woods or in abandoned cars parked in remote spots. Many more are “couch-surfing,” as Collins put it, or living in crowded and unsafe conditions. The situation has gotten more pronounced in the last few years, as housing prices have escalated, leading to rental increases and more home sales, he and others said.

This year’s higher fuel costs are also exacerbating the situation, said Emma Amiad, with the Interfaith Council.

Currently, VYFS, the Interfaith Council and St. Vincent de Paul work collaboratively on situations as they come up, scraping together resources to help a family buy fuel, pay one month’s worth of rent or move from one house to another.

“It’s been a band-aid approach,” Collins said.

VYFS expects to hear soon on another grant request, this one for $20,000 a year. If the agency gets that one as well, he said, “We’ll actually be able to hire the staff to do a lot more follow up and to work with folks to find the root causes of their homelessness.”

“After years of just being able to provide one month of rent, this is a nice alternative, a chance to drill down into this problem and try to address it,” he added.

Amiad said she’s hopeful the additional funds will make a difference. Right now, most people in need of help call the Interfaith Council, which has very few resources and is run solely by volunteers.

“We’re just being overwhelmed,” she said. “The needs are getting to be so great.”

Vanderpool, who last week was dealing with “13 different situations,” said she’s grateful for the additional funds.

“We’re stretched so thin,” she said.