You may have seen Jp Walmer’s name a few times in The Columbian over the past year. Columbian reporters met him on his first day of homelessness when it was 103 degrees Aug. 14 in Vancouver. We were also there for his last day of homelessness.
Last week, Walmer, 71, moved into permanent housing in Vancouver’s Lincoln neighborhood with a roommate and an old dog and cat.
“I’m just looking forward to taking a big, deep breath and getting my life back together,” he said while sitting on the couch in his new home. “It’s been awhile.”
Walmer’s troubles began when he cashed in his retirement savings to start a pet photography business that didn’t work out.
Then, he tried to start a business selling hand-crafted wooden pipes. He sold them at markets but didn’t make much money.
In August, Walmer received a 72-hour notice from his landlord he needed to vacate his apartment. He couldn’t afford to move anywhere else. His only income was $1,200 monthly from Social Security payments. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Clark County is $1,610 a month, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
So he moved all of his possessions into a storage unit and set up camp near Vancouver City Hall. There, he mostly kept to himself and spent his days reading library books, taking walks and trying to ignore the incessant construction sounds coming from the waterfront.
Walmer could always be found with a smile on his face or whizzing past traffic on his bike in downtown Vancouver. Although he did his best to stay positive throughout tough times, self-doubt would creep in when he least expected it.
He said he’d lie awake in his tent at 3 a.m. asking himself, “Are things going to get better?” And he wasn’t sure.
But when the city cleared the camp to make way for development there, Walmer got on a waitlist for 415 West, one of the city of Vancouver’s transitional housing pods. He moved into one of the shedlike shelters the day it opened, Nov. 20.
He helped his neighbors at the camp move into the Safe Stay. Those same neighbors shed tears as he held a cake reading, “Congratulations JP!” on the day he left.
After seven months of homelessness, he said he’s most looking forward to cooking again and volunteering at the Safe Stay.
“I just want to enjoy myself. I want to keep connected with the people I’ve met down there and see how they’re doing,” he said.
