Day warming center is essential for our homeless

The city of Olympia helped pay for a warming center for homeless people during cold days last winter. The City Council ought to continue its commitment to funding a center, and we hope other South Sound cities and Thurston County step in as they did previously.

So far a solid majority on the City Council backs the idea, despite misgivings expressed recently by Mayor Cheryl Selby. The council signaled its intention this month to provide about $100,000 to the project led by Interfaith Works, an interdenominational group that also runs the county’s largest overnight shelter.

Selby reported hearing of or seeing problems including drug dealers hanging around outside the former Alpine Experience building. Selby based her observations on her view passing by the building, which she didn’t feel safe entering. She said others in the community have been afraid to voice these concerns.

It’s good that the mayor spoke up. But Interfaith Works was listening well before she stirred the pot.

The organization is moving ahead with a $210,000 plan to operate a daytime warming-center from mid-December through March in addition to its year-round overnight shelter. Homeless programs director Meg Martin says higher staffing levels are planned than what were possible when the warming center initially opened on an emergency footing last December.

Martin says Interfaith Works has told Alpine Experience neighbors it would honor their requests to find a new location for next winter.

Council member Clark Gilman spoke for many Olympians when he countered Selby at the early June council meeting. He spoke of the community’s commitments to sheltering the less fortunate, and he’s right that these need to continue.

Olympia’s downtown is undergoing a revival meant to draw more visitors and residents. Finding safe ways to shelter the neediest and vulnerable among us is essential. Interfaith Works’ leaders understand that these interests are intertwined.

It’s understandable that some merchants were edgy after May Day protests left broken windows at local businesses. Though homeless individuals were not identified as the cause of damage, one target was a locally owned bank where activists were previously forced from a makeshift encampment.

Downtown entrepreneurs deserve support and acknowledgment for their ongoing tolerance in a changing city environment.

Meantime, we hope Selby’s sincere comments do not scare off landlords from renting space for a better-managed warming center.

An expansion at the Union Gospel Mission in the north downtown is a good parallel step. Another is the care clinic that Providence St. Peter Hospital is opening soon near the transit center. But neither is a substitute for a warming center.

Our generous community may do even more. The City Council has signaled its intention to put a property tax proposal on the February 2018 ballot for 250 supportive-living units.

Thurston County needs a response to homelessness that gets results. Other jurisdictions should chip in. In the end, the responses must balance the needs of merchants, shoppers, residents and those lacking shelter.

This story was originally published June 24, 2017 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Day warming center is essential for our homeless."