Day center: Promise of expanded services offers hope

Every Friday and Saturday, a shower trailer called the Shower Outreach Project gets hauled to Friends of the Carpenter’s parking lot, the spot where the faith-based nonprofit planned to construct an addition that would’ve housed showers and laundry facilities.

The irony of the situation isn’t lost on Tom Iberle, executive director of Friends of the Carpenter, which has hosted a day center since December 2015 for people experiencing homelessness. His west Vancouver warehouse was determined to not be a viable long-term location for a day center because, among other issues, the city couldn’t secure a sewer easement to construct restrooms, laundry facilities and showers.

Now, the city looks to open a bigger, better day center late this summer about three miles away at the former state Fish and Wildlife building. The Vancouver City Council approved the project last month and rejected an appeal filed by neighborhood associations concerned about the day center’s potential impact on the area.

Friday at Friends of the Carpenter, volunteers were handing out towels and putting people on a wait list to take a shower.

David La Buda lives in a tent downtown and visits the day center when it has the two-stall trailer. He also checks his mail and is working on getting into veterans’ housing. He said he’s been on the streets since January.

“It’s kind of scary living on the street. This is the first time I’ve been homeless,” he said.

While the 62-year-old didn’t know much about the new day center, he said he wants to keep using its services.

The current day center, which is run by homeless service provider Share, has served an average of 45 people daily. Lately, that’s up to about 60 a day, said client support specialist Mike Kornell. He attributes that, in part, to increased publicity on the day center, more referrals and having showers on Fridays and Saturdays for the last few months.

Kornell has been talking with participants about what’s to come; “some but not all” said they plan to go to the new day center. That could change as people get more information and have less apprehension about going to a new location. Share does not plan to relocate until the new location, 2018 Grand Blvd., is completely set up, so people are not displaced during the transition.

Peggy Sheehan, Vancouver’s community and economic development programs manager, said the city is spending the next two months working on designing the new day center and securing building permits. Rehabilitating the space, estimated to cost about $600,000, would happen over the summer.

Continuing mission

Share rents about 1,200 square feet at Friends of the Carpenter for $2,500 monthly. After Share vacates the space, Friends of the Carpenter hopes to rent it to another nonprofit. Even after the day center moves to 2018 Grand Blvd., Iberle would like to continue hosting the shower trailer, at least on Fridays.

“There’s still going to be vulnerable people coming here,” Iberle said. “It’s amazing to hear the stories of people who haven’t had a shower in months.”

Also, Friends of the Carpenter’s main ministry in the remaining 12,000 square feet of its facility isn’t going anywhere. The nonprofit will continue providing a day facility and woodworking projects to anyone who needs them.

Even with the additional amenities that will be available at 2018 Grand Blvd., he said some people who are living outside downtown may find Friends of the Carpenter an easier trek.

“People were coming here long before the day center was here,” said Jamie Spinelli, who was helping run the shower trailer on Friday.

Spinelli, a case manager with Community Services Northwest and a volunteer with Food With Friends, said most of the people camping outside of the men’s shelter in downtown Vancouver will not go to the new day center, but they don’t go to the current one, either. The way she sees it, the future day center will see some old and new faces. Many homeless people, she said, live along the Fourth Plain corridor.

Kris Yeatherman, 56, likes the staff at the day center and wants to continue working with them. She spoke Friday while doing her makeup and charging her cellphone at the day center.

She stays at the overnight women’s shelter at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, which has access to showers and laundry, but it can get busy with all of the other women living there. She typically visits the day center three times a week, walking the 1 1/2 miles to get there even though her foot is in a cast. The new location will be an easier walk, she said.

“God will provide. He always does,” Yeatherman said.

Storage struggle

Karen Olson, who is homeless, said she’ll absolutely visit the new day center.

“I like that part of town more, anyway,” she said, noting it’s along a bus line.

She spoke from the downtown library Thursday, where she was hanging out and charging electronics with friends. Having access to larger storage facilities at the new day center is the main draw for her. Due to back problems, she can’t haul all of her belongings far.

“It’s hard to look for work taking that stuff on the bus,” she said. “Storage is a really big issue.”

She recalled going to Denny’s in Portland for dinner and noticing a sign that said the restaurant was hiring. When she asked about what jobs were open, however, she was told the restaurant was not hiring; she thinks they told her that because she had all her belongings with her and appeared homeless.

Storage is something that the downtown library in particular has struggled with as Vancouver’s homeless population has grown. For many, like Olson, the library is where they spend their days. Last June — in response to some people bringing in all their belongings — the library made a rule that people can only bring in what they can carry in one trip. At the same time, the library banned camping on library-owned property because a large encampment had grown at the downtown campus and the library headquarters at Mill Plain Boulevard and Fort Vancouver Way.

Amelia Shelley, executive director of Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries, sees the day center as a huge opportunity to give people some dignity by offering a secure place to keep their things. Storage facilities is one of the day center’s planned features.

The downtown library has also struggled with people bathing or washing their clothes in the restrooms. Vancouver lacks shower facilities for the homeless, which is why Food With Friends started the Shower Outreach Project. While the library has never allowed bathing or washing clothes in its restrooms, that’s been made more explicit in its policies.

It’s unclear whether the day center relocation will resolve ongoing issues at the library.

Jackie Spurlock, branch manager at the downtown library, said she thinks people who currently spend their days at the library, and are comfortable there, will continue doing so. After all, public libraries are open to everyone and having homeless visitors is nothing new, nor does Spurlock see it as a problem.

“We treat the homeless like any other patron,” she said. “There’s a lot here for them, and they can be as engaged or as private as they want to.”

The vast majority come frequently and know the staff. They represent a fraction of the 1,500 to 1,800 people who visit the branch every day.

“A public library is a community center. It’s a place for everyone to come and feel welcome no matter their circumstances, rich or poor,” Shelley said. “We feel public libraries are the great equalizer, because you can use our resources to do whatever you want with your life. Whatever you choose to do with our space, that’s up to you as long as you follow our rules.”

Shelley said she feels libraries are particularly adept at connecting people to information and resources. The library even considered hiring a social worker or an intern from Washington State University Vancouver to assist people on a deeper level. Still, meals, showers, laundry and storage — all slated to be at the new day center — are out of the library’s purview.

Shelley said the library is most interested to see how affordable housing continues to develop.

“We realize we need solutions around this issue. It’s not just the people we see here, we know there’s a lot of homeless families, a lot of homeless children in our schools,” Shelley said. “We intend to be part of whatever the solutions are for the future in our community.”