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Response Re: Homeless Assistance Funding

The response below is to an email from a concerned ENA resident concerning funding of the Low Barrier Shelter vs. rapid rehousing:

Hi, nice to hear from you! The HOME Bd did not vote to ‘defund’ rapid re-housing agencies, instead we gave rapid rehousing money to two providers with a good history of providing the intensive case management required not just to get people into housing quickly, but to provide the extensive wrap-around services these clients need in order to successfully stay housed.

We voted to give Sidewalk $150,000, which is $50,000 more than we gave them last year, and we gave the Family Support Center $100,000, which is less than we gave them last year, because we intend to give both of these providers more money from the consolidated homeless grant later this year.

I’ve provided The Olympian a response to their editorial from last Thursday morning’s issue, in which they make a number of errors –principally, that it’s not rapid rehousing OR shelter, it’s rapid rehousing AND shelter (which is why Interfaith Works submitted both the Sidewalk AND The Peoples House proposals). I believe my response will run some time this week. It essentially says that the HOME Bd made funding recommendations that we felt struck a fair balance between capital projects (such as Habitat homes, a veterans shelter at Drexel House, facility improvements at the Yelm homeless shelter, the Peoples House, etc), and services (such as operations at Quixote Village, rapid rehousing at Sidewalk and the Family Support Center, emergency apartments for clients of the Housing Authority, and operations of both Rosie’s Place and Haven House at CYS). It also points out that we had nearly $5M in requests for only $2.1M, so of course, not everyone got what they were asking for.

I understand your neighborhood is concerned about the proposed location of The Peoples House. That’s a different matter, however, than whether or not we need a shelter. We definitely do. We’ll all have to work together on where.

Thanks for your interest in the issue of homelessness in our community. Solving it will require a lot more transitional housing, affordable housing and permanent supportive housing than we currently have. In the meanwhile, to get the homeless out of the woods and off the streets requires shelters. It’s not ideal, and it’s not the permanent solution, but it’s a humane step along the way to a more permanent solution. I’m grateful we have providers like Interfaith Works willing to step up for all of us.

Karen Messmer

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The People’s House (Low-Barrier Shelter) Email Lists

From Meg Martin at the People’s House – please contact her if you did not receive the email below but want to be on one or both of her email lists.
[email protected]

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Hi everyone! I wanted to let you know that you have been entered into our email group. Thanks so much for signing up. I made a separate list from our regular mailing list for those of you that are not interested in general updates. Please respond and let me know if you would like to be added to the general update list.

Otherwise, I will keep your emails separate and provide updates only about upcoming meetings, forums, public notices or process and send out the responses (that we are working diligently to get out to you ASAP) to the concerns raised at last Monday’s forum. I want to reiterate that we will not move forward with the permit application until we respond to your questions and concerns. Nothing is happening yet.

On another note, I entered everyone’s email as accurately as I could from the sheets but some of the handwriting was hard to read and I may have gotten some addresses wrong. If you hear of a neighbor that signed up and did not get this email, please have them email us here so that we can get them on the list. It only means that I entered it wrong or could not read the address.

I know it must have been frustrating for many of you to leave without answers last Monday. Please know that we are doing our best and without funding (not yet distributed) we all have other jobs, significant responsibilities and are volunteering much of our time to getting this program off the ground for the better of our community. Thanks so much for your patience and please know that we are listening.

Meg Martin

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August 19 Public Forum re: Low-Barrier Shelter Minutes

On Monday August 19 a Public Forum was held at St. Michael’s Church regarding the low-barrier shelter proposed for 1011 10th Ave.

Meeting started at 7:00 pm.

A brief overview of the process that would be used to elicit feedback from the forum attendees was provided by the 3rd party facilitator.

Concerned Eastside Neighbors expressed issues regarding the project and the lack of communication around it, and distributed a handout A Message from Concerned Eastside Neighbors.

A 10-minute presentation was provided by Interfaith Works and several handouts were distributed, The Peoples House FAQ’s, People’s House Timeline, Sexual Violence Stats and Registered Offender Map 8.19.13.

Forum attendees were asked to work in small groups to answer two questions:

1. What are your concerns about the project?

2. What are your hopes for the project?

Following the small group work, groups presented their concerns and hopes, which was followed by a short Q & A session. Interfaith Works stated that due to time constraints they would respond in writing to the concerns and hopes and the Q & A questions in “one or two weeks.” When a response is received it will be posted to the ENA website.

Below is a list of the concerns and hopes that were expressed:

Concerns

Location
Schools were not part of the criteria
If there is a large neighbourhood opposition, would you find another site?
How close sex offenders can be to schools
Concern about staffing levels
Limits on length of stays
Timeline for this process
Cost of supervision of kids at recess, specifically schools
Decrease in property values of Eastside residents
Too many services in this neighbourhood
Lack of public process
St. mike’s having a public process
Anyone can access this with all the kids
A lot of times sex offenders don’t even register
Empty beds at other shelters
$400,000 taken away from rapid rehousing, which helps children and families
Olympia is bearing a big load
Historically our neighbourhood has felt disenfranchised, this would continue that
Concern about centralization of services
What additional police resources will be available to the shelter
Increase crime
Research about placing LBS in neighborhoods
Concern about it being 24 hour access
Policies and procedures will be developed later…that should be done now
Number and kind of trained staff
Shelter becoming a dumping ground for those rejected from other shelters
How will those high risk groups interact with each other
Sex offenders self reporting
Offenders near schools
Who is on the board for interfaith that lives within four blocks of this shelter
Funding after this year
Process is moving to fast – disorganized, short-sighted, need to slow down/step back and look at overal county/city plan to address homelessness
Poor planning by city/county- they need to take responsibility to address homelessness

Hopes

We hope it’s not located here
Maybe people will have a place to go
Not near or in residential neighborhoods
People can be successful finding a place to stay
People will have a place to stay come winter
Public restrooms
We see ourselves as part of the solution
Already are sex offenders and that they would have resources
Safety for all is paramount
Have this kind of turn out to work with the shelter!
Make sure they follow through
Professional support
City/county will address homelessness holistically, with all stakeholders involved
The community at large could be a resource in helping resolve these issues, with City/County leading the charge
Meeting adjourned 8:30 pm

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August 2013 Special Board Meeting Minutes

Facilitated by ENA Vice President Brad Archbold
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Meeting started at 12:00 pm at Sandia Slaby’s home

Attendance

  • Board Members:  Andrew & Katy Beattie, Brad Archibold, Roberta Golden, Whitney Bowerman, Bev Kooi, Pat Bayle Nathan Allan, Sandia Slaby
  • ENA Residents: Stan Butler

ENA President

Luke Bowerman resigned the ENA Presidency effective Friday August 15. The Board met to discuss this issue and clarify current expectations of the ENA President.

There were no nominations for the replacement President. The ENA Vice President, Brad Archbold, expressed willingness to serve as Interim President, and his offer was accepted unanimously. He will serve as Interim President until the next Board elections in February 2014. Brad can be reached at [email protected].

Since the issue of the “People’s House” low-barrier shelter arose, Luke was spending vastly more time on ENA President duties, including actively reaching out to Interfaith Works, the City and other project stakeholders. The Board agreed that it would be difficult for any one person (in light of other responsibilities – work, family, etc) to continue to spend this much time on this volunteer role. It was unanimously agreed upon that an acting/interim ENA president, at this juncture, would fulfill the following minimum responsibilities (these responsibilities were already being fulfilled, in addition to many more):

  • Act as the communications liaison between the City & the ENA, keeping the Board apprised promptly of all correspondence to the ENA from the City and from other parties, and forwarding information necessary for residents to Whitney for posting on the ENA website. Residents can sign up for digest emails on the ENA website – eastside-olympia.org.
  • Attend Olympia Coalition of Neighborhoods Association meetings monthly, or ensure our Board is represented at them by another ENA Board member.

Low-Barrier Shelter

The Board takes no position on the “People’s House” (Interfaith Works) proposed “low-barrier” shelter. Information received by the ENA regarding the shelter will be posted on the ENA website.

ENA Annual Picnic

The ENA annual picnic that was held on Saturday August 17 was reportedly successful, with about 45 people attending, although it ended with an altercation. This occurred between a few attendees (~6) that had never been seen at any ENA activities before, who arrived toward the end, and who were speaking quite aggressively, loudly & verbally assaultively, about the “low-barrier” shelter & some opposition to the proposed shelter that this group had heard from ENA residents. The group made many verbally assaultive accusations towards ENA residents as a whole, and specific attacks towards a certain household.

Thank You

The Board of Directors expresses much appreciation of & thanks to Luke Bowerman for the extensive service he contributed as our Board President over the last 6+ months & accepts, with regret & understanding, his resignation as President due to the reasons he explained in his August 15th resignation letter.

Other Topics

It was noted that the delivery systems we’ve used this year for disseminating information to residents (postcards or new letters) both have plusses & minuses, as does the portion of the neighborhood who is on the the social network, Nextdoor.com. Bev noted that the success in reaching residents & getting residents to engage with one another & in ENA activities is currently the greatest she has seen over the 27 years she has lived here. Sandia advocated that we continue outreach via either news letters or postcards to continue reaching out to include/invite those without computer/internet access; to not assume that even most of our residents have internet access. Sandia agreed to get together with Ruth Middlebrook to get info about the system that the ENA has used to distribute our newsletters over the years, so the Board understands it, including the list of distributors & areas/mapped. Whitney advocated that the newsletter routes be looked at and revised if needed, and that the route and volunteer information be more widely understood so delivery can occur even if Ruth is out of town.

Bev showed us examples of ENA Business cards for Board members that she is willing to make for us on the computer, telling us that if we want some, each of us needs to get her our contact info to put on them.

Bev also mentioned a topic for a later meeting: outreach, generally, and specifically to seniors.

Sandia requested that our meetings be managed according to Robert’s rules of order, as they have been in the past, to ensure all voting members have a chance to discuss understand & decide on each decision made.

Meeting adjourned at ~ 1:10 pm

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July 2013 Board Meeting Minutes

Facilitated by ENA President Luke Bowerman
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Meeting started at 6:30 at Andrew & Katy Beattie’s home

Attendance

  • Board Members:  Sandia Slaby, Sherry Chilcutt, Luke & Whitney Bowerman, Roberta Golden, Nathan Allan, Jenni Fleming, Andrew & Katy Beattie, Rob Campbell, & Bev Kooi

Previous Meeting Minutes

Read and ratified June General Meeting Minutes

Garage Sale

Second annual ENA simultaneous garage sale. Lee Bickle, coordinator, reported where she’d advertised (MIXX 96, KAOS, & KGY radio, Olympia Power & Light Newspaper). Sandia did not report this at the meeting, but she put an ad in the July issue of Works In Progress.

20 homes are participating

Discussion of sign placement & agreement that balloons would be purchased to place on signs. Two sandwich boards that Mitch made are available & decision made to place.

Summer Picnic

Saturday, August 16, at Lions Park, 11-2

Confirmation of provided foods: dogs & burgers & condiments with BYO potluck or side dishes & desserts & beverages; discussion & agreement about food & shopping & who would do what about them.

Luke announced that a post card-size announcements would be printed but that mailing it was prohibitive, thus he’d be contacting Ruth to clarify the delivery routes for the newsletter delivery over the last decade +. On the announcement, it was decided, would also be a statement to encourage membership & how to pay for that.

Decision was made to suggest folks attending to bring an item to donate to the Thurston County Food Bank, as it was reported that the summer is a time that contributions are scarce.

Community Garden

Roberta opened the discussion expressing interest in there being a community garden in our neighborhood that would include more of a community building component, possibility supported or sponsored & maybe ‘housed’ by one of the churches. She cited the efforts she has seen at the one in the north eastside neighborhood area – the Capital Vision Christian Church. Nathan reported his historical experience with others on the ENA Board having interest to create such a garden in the Eastside 2-5 years ago at the old Madison Scenic Park property. He spoke of one big draw back being the lack of water access at that site, the city’s level of interest & support being minimal, and that there had been conflict among Board members during that time that was not helpful in moving that idea forward. Luke commented that he thought there was not enough energy in our ENA Board to spearhead such a project without other identified & active partners. Sandia mentioned that the Avanti School, with their interest in agriculture, might be one such partner if this idea were to get moving again. Roberta reported her experience over the last 4-5 years at the 13th Ave. & Central St. community garden & invited board members to go over there after this meeting, as it was only on block away, for a tour (which three of us did).

Business cards for Board members

Bev offered to make these for each member on her computer if there was interest. A few members welcomed them, one stated it would be nice to have them by the neighborhood picnic in August.  Bev asked that whomever would like cards to get your contact info (phone, email, whatever) to her.

Meeting adjourned at 7:30.