LONGVIEW — Community House on Broadway’s new youth shelter will be named Beth’s Place in honor of executive director Frank Morrison’s daughter Mariah Beth, who passed away after an overdose in 2023 at 28 years old.
Although she was not homeless herself, her experience with addiction has motivated him to help others with similar struggles, which often includes people who are homeless, he said.
Morrison said he hopes the shelter will be able to open in October, but the timing depends on how construction goes and when the state finishes reviewing the shelter’s policies.
Growing need
Cowlitz County is seeing an increase in homeless unaccompanied youth, according to Morrison, but does not have any shelters available for them. Unaccompanied youth are defined in the U.S. McKinney-Vento Act as homeless children who are not in the custody of a parent or guardian.
As of October 2023, Longview, Kelso and Castle Rock school districts had a total of 106 unaccompanied youth, according to a Community House survey. The state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction also reported Longview had 255 total homeless students during the same time, Kelso had 262 and Castle Rock had 58. Updated counts for the current school year are not yet available.
Community House accepts families but does not typically allow unaccompanied youth due to safety concerns and to make sure it is not sheltering runaways, which it cannot legally do without notifying either their parents or the state Department of Children, Youth and Families.
However, Morrison said he often saw cases there and at CORE Health’s Ascent Youth Activity Center that underscore the need for a youth shelter. These cases include a pair of teenagers whose mother died while staying at Community House and a 15-year-old who had been kicked out of her home after becoming pregnant.
He also highlighted two brothers, Juan and Antonio Navarro-Guizar, 19 and 17, who stayed at Community House last year and spoke at a dinner about their experience. The shelter made an exception to allow them to stay without their parents — despite Antonio Navarro-Guizar being underage — because staff knew them from a previous stay with their parents and didn’t want to risk them ending up on the street, Morrison said.
“I typically kind of kept to myself, especially being a younger-ish person there and just living with my brother,” Antonio Navarro-Guizar said. “Some of the people there, I did get to know a little bit, but other than that, I just did what I had to do and stayed on the low.”
The brothers separated from their parents because of issues with their father, who was taking money from Juan Navarro-Guizar, Morrison said. After staying at Community House, they were able to move into an apartment of their own last month.
Despite moving out, Antonio Navarro-Guizar continues to receive support from Community House such as mental health counselling and a peer support counselor who helps him go over his goals. His peer support counselor is currently helping him get his learner’s permit, he said.
He also works at Grizzly Shakes and More, a business run out of Ascent Youth Center where teens aged 16 to 19 can gain work experience.
Beth’s Place will have a similar program so residents can earn money and gain experience. Morrison said he would like that location to sell crepes with sweet and savory toppings. Mackin’s Auto Body, which leases space from Community House in the same building, has also offered to hire some residents.
How will it work?
The youth shelter, which is still under construction, will be located on 12th Avenue, behind Community House and in the former location of The Carriage Restaurant and Lounge.
It will have 12 rooms for boys and 12 for girls, each with two beds, as well as a recreation area, a workforce training center and space for CORE Health counselors to meet with residents. Although it will have space for 48 residents, the plan is to start with 24 while the program gets off the ground, Morrison said.
Cowlitz County teens aged 13 to 17 years old will be able to stay at Beth’s Place if they agree to engage in substance-use treatment and work toward sobriety if applicable. The program is geared toward getting residents on track to graduate school and find employment, Morrison said.
“We’re looking for the ones that want to be helped, not the ones that are fighting the system,” he said.
Many homeless youth and adults struggle with substance use, and the problem often starts young, Morrison said. A survey of Community House residents found that the average age when children started using drugs is 11 years old.
The shelter will work with liaisons at local school districts to identify teens who might need somewhere to stay.
Funding the shelter
The projected annual budget for the shelter is about $1.37 million, according to information provided by Community House. Most of that will go to employee wages, salaries and benefits. Household and program supplies including cleaning supplies and meals are the second-largest portion.
The majority of the shelter’s funding is expected to come from a partnership with CORE Health and community support and grants. Service revenue, leasing facilities to businesses, and in-kind and food donations make up the remainder.
Community House was awarded $2 million in county funds for construction in December, following a drawn-out debate by the Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners. It also received a $5.3 million state grant in March 2023.
The shelter currently has funding to cover construction costs but not operational costs, Morrison said. Operational funding will hopefully come from community donations, as it’s harder to secure grants for intangible costs than for things like building new facilities. He also plans to reduce costs by sharing staff between Community House, Ascent Youth Center and Beth’s Place and by having fewer staff on duty during hours when residents are in school.
“The community has always stepped up,” Morrison said.
