Community Funded Journalism

Living Houseless

Pocket Guides to living on the streets of Vancouver sit fanned out. The books, which Lois Smith began handing out in 2017, provide tips and key resource contact information for those living outside.

Weather-proof, pocket-sized guides link homeless people in Clark County with important resources

February 7, 2024, 6:08am Clark County News

On Valentine’s Day in 2017, an idea struck Lois Smith as she drove home from a volunteer shift with Friends of the Carpenter. Read story

Vancouver waterfront apartment building will get $3.11M tax break over eight years

February 6, 2024, 2:48pm Clark County News

The Vancouver City Council awarded an eight-year tax break to the developer of a seven-story apartment building with 194 market-rate units planned for the waterfront. Read story

Employees at Express Cleaners across the street from downtown Vancouver's pallet-shelter community said it hasn't affected their business at all.

Vancouver’s third Safe Stay ‘right exactly what we expected — calm and quiet and stable’

February 6, 2024, 6:15am Clark County News

Neighbors of Vancouver’s third Safe Stay — known as 415 West for its address on 11th Street downtown — had concerns about how the opening of the transitional housing community in November would affect their businesses. Two months later, owners and employees say the community is generally quiet and residents… Read story

Vancouver resident Libby Wymore is among one of the advocates who traveled to Olympia Monday morning to ask for support of House Bill 1450. Wymore was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma when she was 20 and went into remission a year after.

Vancouver woman among advocates who urge lawmakers to support House Bill 1450 to expand insurance coverage for biomarker testing for cancer patients

February 5, 2024, 5:51pm Clark County Health

Cancer patients, survivors and their families from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network traveled to Olympia Monday morning to urge lawmakers to endorse House Bill 1450, which would expand insurance coverage for biomarker testing throughout the state. Read story

The Vine on Fourth Plain, also known as the Green Vine, opened in 2017.

Homes along Fourth Plain near C-Tran’s Vine route jumped in value 5-7% more than average, says study

February 3, 2024, 6:14am Business

Homes within a 20-minute walk of a Vine on Fourth Plain station experienced a boost in their property values since the bus rapid transit line opened in early 2017, according to a new study. Read story

High rents have tenants on edge: 25% of Vancouver renters spend more than half their income on rent

Construction was in progress this summer on The Broadstone Apartments at the Vancouver waterfront. A recent Harvard University study found that half of renters locally and nationwide spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities; 25 percent of Vancouver tenants spend more than half their income on rent.

Bonnie Waser’s green Chevrolet Malibu sits in front of her mobile home in Vancouver. The 62-year-old can only put a bit of gas into the car at a time. This is just one of the ways she has had to get by since her latest rent increase. She’s among the… Read story

‘I just don’t believe this is the right policy’: Sen. Cleveland votes against rent stabilization bill

Maya Hendin of Council for the Homeless looks out at the Capitol during a break from meeting with state legislators Tuesday for Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day.

Sen. Annette Cleveland on Wednesday voted against a rent stabilization bill that proposed to limit rent increases in Washington to 15 percent or lower depending on the choices of local governments. Her move effectively killed Senate Bill 5961 in committee. Read story