Janet Vallandingham is couch surfing, having lost her last place after her roommate moved to Arizona.
“I can’t find affordable housing,” said Vallandingham, who works a minimum-wage job. “The housing here is ridiculously high.”
After staying in motels became too expensive, Vallandingham began bouncing around at friends’ homes and backyard sheds. Her daughter just got a job last week, so she’s hopeful that with two incomes they’ll be able to afford something soon.
“This is the first time we’ve ever not had a roof over our heads,” Vallandingham said.
While calling 211info to get connected with housing resources, she learned about Project Homeless Connect. The annual resource fair for homeless people sponsored by the Council for the Homeless happened Thursday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Vancouver. Before opening at 9 a.m., about 50 or 60 people were waiting in line to get services, said David Bilby, who headed the event.
While at the resource fair, Vallandingham took advantage of the free eye exams offered by Evergreen Eye Care and tried on a few frames.
Homeless people can lose their glasses, have them stolen or simply be wearing a prescription that’s out of date, said Dr. Jan Hurtubise, a member of the Salmon Creek Lions Club and optometrist with HoneyBee Eye Care in Hazel Dell. In some cases, volunteers were able to fit people with donated glasses; otherwise, people will go to the clinic to pick up a newly made pair.
There were dozens of other resources. One of the most popular was foot care, where people could get their feet cleaned and massaged, as well as assessed and fitted into a new pair of shoes.
“We have had some serious foot problems today,” said Marilyn Johnson, a parish nurse at Trinity Lutheran.
Some people had foot ulcers, long nails in desperate need of a trim and neuropathy, or nerve damage, in the foot.
Dr. Dave Griffin, a podiatrist with Kaiser Permanente, met with a woman who had a diabetic foot ulcer, a serious complication of diabetes that can lead to infection and possible amputation. Her swollen toes were bandaged and Griffin said she needed to get diabetic shoes.
With most people, Griffin saw more mild issues related to having improperly fitting shoes, such as calluses.
Fleet Feet Sports PDX got people set up with socks, shoes and insoles.
“Comfortable shoes will really make or break a day,” said Holly Haffey, training program and outreach manager at Fleet Feet.
Griffin was assessing another patient when a woman in the room collapsed and began having a seizure. He, along with several other volunteers, rushed to her side and put a pillow under her head until paramedics arrived.
It was the second time in the morning that an ambulance had to be called to the church, Bilby said, which is unusual for the resource fair. The incident, though, provided insight into some of the high medical needs among some homeless people.
The resource fair was also a chance to get pampered.
St. Joseph students served food during lunchtime — on real plates, not paper, Bilby said. And, Hands of Favor was cutting and styling people’s hair.
Jennifer Padget got her hair cut for the first time in over a year. She heard about the event through Share, where she’s in the Housing and Essential Needs program. Padget has been living with family, she said.
“Maybe I’ll be able to wear it down more often,” Padget said, looking over her new ‘do in a handheld mirror.
Derek Thompson, a retired hairstylist and instructor who started Hands of Favor, makes monthly trips to local charities such as Friends of the Carpenter and Open House Ministries.
“I couldn’t see myself doing anything else right now,” Thompson said while cutting a man’s hair. “We’re going to make you look like a rock star.”
More than 200 people showed up to receive services at Project Homeless Connect.
Homeless count
Earlier in the morning, teams of outreach workers and volunteers walked the streets to count the number of homeless people in Clark County for the Point-in-Time count, a national single-day snapshot of homelessness. All 39 counties in Washington participated in the count.
It was pouring when volunteers went out at 6 a.m., said Dale Whitley, who headed the count. The teams went to areas such as Hazel Dell, downtown Vancouver, Battle Ground, Camas and spots along Interstate 5 and 205, as well as state Highway 14, to try and count as many people as possible.
“They try and find people before they get up and move,” Whitley said. He’s not sure how the weather may have impacted the count.
People were asked where they slept last night, along with some basic demographic information, such as race, age and veteran status. Anyone they came across was given a flier for the resource fair and a bus pass to get there.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development asks agencies across the country to do the count annually during the last week in January. The rationale is that during the winter more people are staying in shelters, making it easier to count people and prevent duplication.
Besides the surveys, the Council for the Homeless checked in with all of the local shelters to get the number of people staying in those places. The Council for the Homeless will also review the registration forms filled out at Project Homeless Connect.
“It’s never everybody. It’s just as many as you could count on that one day,” said Whitley. “Sometimes the number gets misinterpreted as ‘this is how many homeless people are in Clark County.’ ”
The findings of the Point-in-Time count weren’t available Thursday.
Last year, there were 213 registered guests at Project Homeless Connect. Of those, 113 were literally homeless, 44 were doubled-up with family or friends, and the remaining 56 were people were housed but at immediate risk of becoming homeless.
