Olympia will soon hire new homeless response coordinator
Almost exactly one year after taking the job, Olympia’s homeless response coordinator, Teal Russell, is leaving.
She’s not going far, though. Russell is moving to the city’s Crisis Response Unit (CRU), a city effort launched in 2019 that dispatches responders trained in de-escalation to situations where people are having mental health crises.
In an email to The Olympian, Russell said that she has worked “on call” for the CRU for the past few years, and saw the job as a chance to continue that work.
“I love working in direct outreach and feel like it’s where a lot of my talents lay,” Russell wrote. “The Crisis Response Unit has become a integral part of the Olympia police response and I am excited to be a part of that team.”
Russell took over as homeless coordinator in May 2020 after Colin DeForrest, who originated the role in 2018, resigned.
“The city needed someone to fill that spot quickly and since I have existing relationships with stakeholders as well as our folks living outside, it made sense at the time,” Russell wrote.
According to Home Fund manager Cary Retlin, the city received 21 applications for the coordinator post, interviewed four people this week, and is making an offer to their top candidate. Retlin, who is covering Russell’s duties in the interim, said he expects to have the position filled within the next few weeks.
The position pays between $78,000-$95,000 per year, according to a copy of the job posting provided by the city.
One of the major projects for the new coordinator will be implementing the county’s scattered-site camp management plan. Approved last month, the $1 million project will fund case managers to work with encampment residents at Deschutes Parkway, Wheeler Road, and Ensign Road, as well as clean up camps and establish codes of conduct.
This story was originally published May 13, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
.jpg)