Before sunrise on Thursday, Jamie Spinelli and Thomas Eaton headed into the woods in search of the homeless. The caseworkers from Community Services Northwest ventured down muddy trails along Burnt Bridge Creek, through blackberry brambles and under freeway overpasses in an effort to find and count people staying outside.
“Don’t worry. We’re not the cops,” Eaton said as he approached the first person they found, a 54-year-old woman.
She was bundled in a sleeping bag under a bridge, sitting next to a few belongings. She said she was homeless because her Social Security income wasn’t enough to afford rent. Yes, she said, she had been homeless before. Yes, she was alone.
Spinelli inquired about her education level, veteran and disability status, and added the information on intake forms. Thursday was the annual Point-in-Time count, a single-day census of homeless people and a requirement from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It’ll take months for the numbers to be finalized.
At last year’s count, there were 692 homeless people, including 228 unsheltered people in Clark County. People in shelters are counted, too.
Spinelli and Eaton handed the homeless woman a plastic bag of hygiene products and supplies, as well as a bus pass and a flier about Project Homeless Connect. The resource fair for the homeless was at St. Joseph Catholic Church, and a shuttle from the men’s homeless shelter could take her there.
The fair was another opportunity to get a more accurate count of homeless people.
The fact that the woman has income but is homeless is a commentary on local rents, Spinelli said. She told Spinelli that she used to live at Courtyard Village, where dozens of low-income tenants were given 20-day notices to vacate. The complex has since been renovated, renamed Parc Central, and rents were increased.
A man in his 30s found by Burnt Bridge Creek attributed his homelessness to getting injured on the job.
Spinelli once heard that people don’t become homeless because they run out of money, they become homeless because they run out of relationships. So, if people are outside, they’ve lost those important connections with family and friends.
Throughout the morning, Spinelli and Eaton find evidence of encampments: bottles, bikes, food. Next to an old red barn along Burnt Bridge Creek Trail tagged with graffiti was a tarp and food containers. They rummaged through the trash to see if they could find something with a name on it.
Over the years, the usual camping areas have shifted, and now many people stay in downtown Vancouver. Different agencies covered different sectors of the county for the count.
On Monday, Spinelli went to Washougal and Camas, where she counted five homeless people.
“It’s an opportunity for me to get out and perhaps see people I haven’t met before,” she said.
When she first started working at Community Services Northwest in the summer, she spent more time like this searching for people who might become clients. Spinelli and Eaton make up the two-person Projects that Assist with the Transition from Homelessness, or PATH, team at Community Services Northwest, which primarily provides mental health services but also assists with housing and chemical dependency.
It takes time and persistence to build trust among homeless people they meet.
“For me, it’s a matter of showing up consistently,” said Spinelli, who also does outreach work during her free time. “I don’t only care Monday through Friday if they’re cold and hungry. When they experience suffering, it hurts my heart.”
Eaton tries to relate with his clients. He’s been in jail, prison, was addicted to drugs and alcohol and was homeless for a time in Reno, Nev.
“These people, they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” he said.
Spinelli said she’s never had to live outside, but she couch-surfed when she was younger.
“I don’t think I even considered myself homeless back then,” she said.
People who are couch-surfing or doubled up with other families aren’t considered toward the Point-in-Time figures. Different agencies use different definitions of homelessness.
Not everyone wants to participate. Spinelli recognized a car that had been parked for a while, but when she approached the driver, he refused to participate in the survey.
“I’m not homeless. Stand down,” he said.
But, Spinelli believes otherwise.
The demographic info collected through the surveys helps determine who’s homeless and where homelessness is going up or down, which influences funding. The count is considered the absolute minimum number of homeless people in an area.
“If we identify the problem, we can start to come up with a plan to help people,” Eaton said.
Years ago, Spinelli worked at Share and before that at YWCA Clark County’s Court Appointed Special Advocate program for children who were victims of abuse, neglect or abandonment. Some of those CASA clients are now homeless adults.
“It’s terrible,” she said.
While their work is daunting as homelessness increases, Spinelli and Eaton do see people getting the help they need. Since September, Spinelli said, their two-person team has helped house 13 people.
