The Columbian

Vancouver resident recounts her journey with the foster care system and homelessness

Kayla Sample holds a root beer as she takes a break outside her camper. She sits next to a stack of papers that includes her housing research and mission statement for Operation Can You See Us, a homelessness organization she aims to start.

Kayla Sample knows what it’s like to feel invisible. A 35-year-old woman born and raised in Vancouver, Sample has not had a stable place to call home since she entered the state’s foster care system as a little girl. Read story

Vancouver’s new Fire Station 11 opens

Local children help Vancouver and Clark County officials cut the ceremonial ribbon at Saturday's grand opening for the city's new Fire Station 11.

The Vancouver Fire Department and Clark County Fire District 5 celebrated the grand opening of the city’s new Fire Station 11 on Saturday. The station will help serve residents in the Orchards-Sifton area of the county. Read story

Friends of the Carpenter opening new shower, laundry trailers in west Vancouver

Friends of the Carpenter Board President Wendy Wright displays a dryer in a new laundry trailer at the organization's west Vancouver workshop. The washers and dryers will be open to those in need for free use as soon they're connected to electricity.

Faith-based nonprofit organization Friends of the Carpenter is opening new shower and laundry trailers at its west Vancouver day center in an expansion of its services for homeless and low-income people. Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle cut the red ribbon on Thursday in a symbolic opening of the trailer facilities. Read story

Living Hope Church operates the second Safe Stay Community site 24/7. Many of its staff have recovered from homelessness and also serve as mentors for residents at the site.

Air quality a concern for homeless in Vancouver, Clark County

October 17, 2022, 2:20pm Clark County Health Free

As the Nakia Creek fire expanded this weekend, people living outside had some extra precautions to consider, such as where to find safe shelter if bad air quality makes it too dangerous to stay outdoors. Read story

Part of a vacant lot at West 11th Street and Daniels Street will be the location of the third Safe Stay community, the city of Vancouver announced Tuesday. The lot is shown from the front steps of Briar Rose Inn on Sept. 14.

Downtown Vancouver eyed to host city’s third Safe Stay Community for homeless people

October 12, 2022, 6:05am Clark County News

The city of Vancouver announced Tuesday that it intends to transform a vacant downtown lot that was previously the site of New Heights Church as the site for the city’s third Safe Stay Community. Read story

iStock.com/The Columbian illustration
While it may seem that cooperate homebuying is a problem, corporate purchases are actually low in Clark County, accounting for 618 of 24,624 purchases, or about 2.5 percent, of residential single-family home purchases between January 2020 and July of this year, according to the analysis of Clark County Assessor's Office data conducted by The Columbian.

Who is really buying all the housing in Clark County?

October 2, 2022, 6:05am Business

As Clark County residents try to reconcile themselves to rapidly increasing rents and home prices, one possible villain has emerged in the popular imagination: corporate homebuyers. Read story

Housing in the Ridgefield and La Center areas is among the priciest in the county.

Redfin data led to error in Washington Post’s housing story about Clark County

October 2, 2022, 6:00am Business

In February, the Washington Post mistakenly published inaccurate data about Clark County’s rate of corporately purchased homes. The story, which used data from real estate brokerage platform Redfin, stated that multiple ZIP codes in Clark County had the majority of new homes purchased by investors — up to 60 percent… Read story

Hope Village resident Jimmy John Howland sits by his favorite mural at Hope Village, the city's second Safe Stay Community. The mountainous landscape featured in the mural reminds him of Trillium Lake, where he used to go with his dad when he was younger.

Murals brighten up Vancouver Safe Stay Community Hope Village

September 23, 2022, 6:04am Clark County News

Nonprofit organization Fourth Plain Forward, through a partnership with the Clark County Mural Society and the city of Vancouver, is installing local art to beautify the city’s second Safe Stay Community for people experiencing homelessness. Read story

Stories by Kelsey Turner

Columbian staff reporter

Clark County’s housing market continues to cool as low inventory offsets falling prices