BATTLE GROUND — The North County Community Food Bank in Battle Ground serves about 750 households every month. People shop for what they need at the small pantry, one of the few resources in Battle Ground for those struggling to make ends meet. Blankets, gloves and waterproof totes full of ready-to-eat foods are kept in stock for the pantry’s 300-some homeless clients.
“Some of them are in their cars so they’re moving from place to place where they can camp,” the food bank’s Executive Director Liz Cerveny told The Columbian.
She said the food bank has gotten 52 clients off the street through its partnership with Council for the Homeless. The two nonprofits were among those that participated in a town hall Thursday evening at the Battle Ground Community Center where the community gathered to discuss homelessness.
“This conversation is long overdue in our community,” said Mayor Mike Dalesandro, adding that about a year ago he began discussing with people how to address homelessness. “We came to this conclusion that rather than turning to the government for answers, turning to taxpayers for answers, what can the community do? What can we do?”
He said he got fired up about the idea of every individual doing just one thing to prevent and end homelessness. This is the driving force behind Just One Thing, an initiative unveiled at the town hall.
“These are our neighbors and the people in our community who are homeless,” Dalesandro said. “This could happen to me. This could happen to anybody.”
Lydia Sanders, Battle Ground Public Schools’ homeless liaison, is part of the group behind Just One Thing. She came from a background similar to the students she serves at the Family and Community Resource Center. As a child, she lived in tents and along rivers, showered at school and stuffed her pockets with food from the school cafeteria.
The district has 261 students identified as homeless. Sanders said of those referred to housing assistance programs, 11 have been housed.
“The first thing we’ve got to do is move away from that idea that there’s a program that’s going to help them, because I’m here to tell you, there just literally are not the resources available to do that,” Sanders said.
She is also vice chair of the Community Action Advisory Board, which makes funding recommendations to the county for how to spend available dollars on homeless services, so she’s aware of funding limits.
Sanders asked the dozens of people gathered at the community center how they each want to help end and prevent homelessness.
Judy Fu, owner of Daybreak Dental, said she volunteers at the local free clinic providing dental services. However, she’s realized there is a long wait list and it can be difficult to get seen by a dentist. She’d like to do more for people in pain.
“If you have a missing tooth, you don’t really want to go out and interview or get a job,” she said.
Having recently started a professional group, she told the crowd that perhaps she could convince providers to team up and donate services.
Jamie Spinelli, a case manager with Community Services Northwest, asked what other resources are available in Battle Ground for homeless, single adults besides the North County Community Food Bank and Council for the Homeless’ twice monthly visits to the food bank.
“The answer is nothing,” Sanders said. “We do a lot for students and for families that have students in schools. There is nothing other than the programs that are already happening in the rest of Clark County and in Vancouver. … It is what it is, but that is literally why we’re here tonight.”
She added that the school district’s methods of helping students are working — homelessness is declining — and similar services need to be expanded throughout the city.
People at the town hall spoke about what they’ve seen in Battle Ground and how homelessness has touched their lives.
Mike Eddington is a retired social worker and has volunteered for three years at the Battle Ground Community Library.
“Within the last year, I’ve seen a significant increase in the number of people that come in … and stay all day,” he said.
People have asked him if he knows of an extra room somewhere or places to stay in Battle Ground. One homeless woman told him she felt safer in Battle Ground than downtown Vancouver or Portland. Eddington said he was surprised to find out there is no sort of day center or overnight shelter in Battle Ground. When the Battle Ground library closed for three weeks for remodeling, he worried about the library’s homeless patrons.
Council for the Homeless has long been looking for a place in Battle Ground to provide winter shelter.
‘Stop this tragedy’
Battle Ground resident Joseph Hardin grew up in a small, affluent town in Connecticut. After he graduated high school and later left the Air Force, he became homeless.
“If somebody like me can find myself homeless, what about people who don’t have those advantages?” said Hardin, who heads an organization called Veterans Relief Project.
He’s noticed a rise in homelessness since moving to Clark County in the 1990s.
“Next time you see somebody who’s homeless think to yourself, ‘What am I going to do about it?’ ” he said. “We are the only ones who can stop this tragedy from happening.”
There will be another discussion about homelessness and the Just One Thing initiative at Mill Creek Pub, 1710 S.W. Ninth Ave., next month.
