50-unit apartment building at Drexel House will serve homeless veterans
A new apartment building will further solidify an Olympia shelter’s status as a de facto hub for serving homeless veterans in Thurston County.
The project, known as Devoe II Veterans Housing, will be built behind Drexel House at 604 Devoe St. SE in Olympia. An official groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday.
Upon completion in April 2017, the four-story building will feature 50 low-income studio apartments, as well as offices, laundry facilities, meeting rooms, storage and parking.
The campus will include outdoor seating and plenty of room for veterans to walk their service dogs. Inside, the apartments will each have at least two windows to let in as much natural light as possible.
The apartments will house veterans who suffer from chronic homelessness or a disability. Tenants will be selected when the project nears completion.
The apartments are an extension of Drexel House, which is operated by Catholic Community Services of Western Washington. For nine years, Drexel House has been accommodating single homeless adults and has seen an increase in the number of homeless veterans seeking help, program manager Bary Hanson said.
At this time, Hanson said 29 out of 52 people sheltered at Drexel House are veterans, and veterans represent about 40 percent of the program’s overall clientele.
At the new building, the veterans can stay as long as they need to stay.
“Veterans are a specific population and have specific needs,” said Bonnie Hill, CCS division director for southwest housing management. “Having this housing is really going to allow a clearer pathway from emergency shelter into permanent housing.”
Over the years, Drexel House has worked with organizations like Veterans Affairs to screen clients, connect them to medical benefits and improve their access to affordable housing, for example. Hanson said any veteran organization in Thurston County can use the Drexel House as a space for serving clients.
“Adding these 50 units is a way of putting our money where our mouth is,” said Hanson, who has been with Drexel House since it opened in 2007.
During construction of the new apartments, Drexel House will continue its mission of making veterans more employable by translating their military work experience into a civilian career. For example, someone who drove a truck in the military could find employment in the transportation or customer service sectors.
This transition to civilian life can be further complicated by post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries. Another obstacle, Hanson said, is that veterans are often survivors who must now learn how to fight for themselves.
“They need to see how the military experience benefits them in the civilian world,” Hanson said. “We’re always trying to get them back on their feet.”
About 8 percent of the homeless population in Thurston County identifies as a veteran, according to the 2015 homeless census, which counted 39 veterans out of 476 total homeless individuals.
The VA reports that about 11 percent of the nation’s adult homeless population consists of veterans, with about 91 percent of those being men. About 45 percent of homeless veterans are African American or Hispanic, and about 41 percent of homeless veterans are between ages 31 and 50.
This story was originally published March 6, 2016 at 5:29 PM with the headline "50-unit apartment building at Drexel House will serve homeless veterans."