Thurston County should open fairgrounds as a temporary home for the homeless

I have watched the homeless crisis simmer and brew for the past 30 years. What began as a trickle of homeless persons in the early 1990s has exploded into an unmanageable critical mass.

The etiology behind homelessness lie in social science, economics and politics. No other industrialized nation has the sheer numbers of homeless people as the U.S. The social and economic safety net began to fray in the 1980s, resulting in cuts in housing support and wages, along with overly generous tax cuts that benefited the upper class and large businesses. As a result of this slow moving social and economic train wreck, America is populated by mass homelessness not experienced since the Great Depression.

Accompanying homelessness are issues of dire poverty, substance and alcohol use and mental illness. What has resulted are economic refugees who are desperately trying to adapt to their new reality. The adaptation takes the form of homeless encampments, begging for money on major streets and freeway ramps, survival sex and theft along with more serious crimes.

Encampments we see around Thurston County are poorly maintained, devoid of basic health services such as water and sewer. They are dangerous and have been the sites of fires, disease and homicides. The term ‘Jungle’ that’s commonly used for an encampment is well named; as in a jungle, it’s the survival of the fittest.

The city of Olympia and Thurston County are valiantly working on this issue but a combination of mass numbers, funding shortages and local politics have been a barrier to success. Olympia’s Home Fund is a promising start, but clearly more needs to be done.

We also have to accept that the homeless crisis that we are in now took up to 40 years to manifest itself. It will likely take another 20 years to fully deal with this problem. But federal, state and local authorities and local communities must be on board with a consistent approach that provides low income and affordable housing, living wage jobs and access to health care.

I consider the encampments to be an extreme health and safety hazard and believe they should be decommissioned as soon as we can provide a substitute. I propose that the Thurston County Board of Commissioners, the Thurston County Fair Board and local jurisdictions negotiate to open the fairgrounds to accept people living in encampments, including RVs and car camping.

All of the needed infrastructure exists at the fairgrounds: water, sewer, large covered buildings that can house RVs and tents, restroom facilities and a common building. To my knowledge, all activities that are normally held at the fairgrounds are canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The taxpayers have paid for this facility, yet it sits idle.

This central facility can be a temporary home for up to several hundred people. But, to make this successful, a governance structure will need to be developed and service providers from evidence-tested agencies will need to be mobilized and put in place. The service site should have a core service philosophy and intensive case management services. The goal should be to move people out within six months as new people enter the program.

There is small sub-population within the homeless community that have adapted to this nomadic lifestyle and see no reason to change. For that population, there will need to be a consistent service approach developed with expectations that do not include illegal camping throughout the county.

Now is the time to take decisive action to prevent another generation from falling into homelessness.

Charles Shelan is the retired CEO of Community Youth Services in Olympia. He has a master’s degree in social work.