Several steps remain for proposed day center for homeless

If all goes as intended, the former state Fish and Wildlife building could become a bigger, better day center for homeless people, opening as soon as January.

Jacky Snell doesn’t want to get her hopes up, though, while the idea is in limbo. The Share case manager has worked about 7 1/2 months at the current day center on Vancouver’s industrial west side.

Snell said that being situated in part of Friends of the Carpenter’s warehouse isn’t very convenient and mainly serves people who live downtown and are physically able to walk to the day center at 1600 W. 20th St.

Paul Trent spends much of his days walking. He said he gets coffee at the day center and uses the computer to contact his family. On Monday, he came to charge his electronics and use the lockers.

“It’s a really good system they have set up over here,” Trent said.

The 30-year-old said he’s been homeless for five years and often walks to the day center from Share House, the men’s homeless shelter about a mile away. He came to Vancouver 14 years ago after living in Kingman, Ariz., a small city west of Flagstaff, and went to Legacy High School. One issue he sees with the city’s plan to move the day center to the old Fish and Wildlife building is that it would mean a longer walk.

The city announced Monday that it intends to purchase the 26,578-square-foot building at 2018 Grand Blvd. for $4.3 million and open a day center for homeless residents. While the city considered 20 properties, this one stood out for its location in a commercial zone along The Vine bus route and for having a property owner willing to sell.

The property across from a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market was vacated by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife last year when the agency relocated to the Port of Ridgefield. Watumull Properties Corp., a Vancouver property management company, owns the property.

The sale is expected to close in January.

In the meantime, the day center operated by Share at Friends of the Carpenter will remain open. The 1,200-square-foot space opened in December 2015, and 1,000 people have used it since then. Snell said about 45 people visit the day center daily, which is staffed by four people and open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. There’s limited storage, she said, and it lacks a bike rack and cooking facilities aside from a hot water dispenser.

The day center was determined to not be viable long term because the city couldn’t secure a sewer easement to construct restrooms, showers and laundry facilities. C-Tran also discontinued bus service, and pedestrians face increased truck traffic.

The current day center costs about $300,000 annually to operate, using funds from the city, county and Vancouver Housing Authority. The housing authority’s board of directors voted Oct. 26 to extend the agency’s financial contribution of up to $30,000 through 2018. Opening a larger day center would likely cost more, said Peggy Sheehan, community development program manager, but the city has to calculate that cost.

About 4,000 square feet at the front of the former Fish and Wildlife building would be used for a day center, she said. The remainder could be used in the future for an overnight shelter and office space for service providers to use for case management, mental health care, job training and housing support. To start, though, it would operate much like the current day center. That includes being used as an emergency shelter in the winter when the weather is particularly bad.

Sheehan said the city is determining what sort of remodeling has to be done and whether it all has to be complete before people start using the building. Remodeling would include building showers and laundry facilities and additional restrooms.

So far, the city has submitted an application that explains plans for the site and looks at other services located nearby. The city also began reaching out to adjacent neighborhood associations.

Funding may come from the city’s general fund.

“Right now, we have not approached (the city) council to use the Affordable Housing Fund,” Sheehan said, referring to voter-approved levy funds.

In the city’s announcement Monday, Mayor Tim Leavitt said: “Without the availability of a full-service day center in our city, homeless people have been increasingly frequenting parks, businesses and public buildings.”

Sheehan said that currently, public restrooms are overused and the downtown library is overwhelmed with people trying to tote all of their belongings. People hanging out in parks with all their things can be intimidating for other people, she said.

Other spaces have been floated as possible day center or overnight shelter locations. Those are still backup ideas because the city hasn’t yet secured 2018 Grand Blvd., Sheehan said.