Officials want to ‘help’ homeless? Offer proven, housing-first solutions

Though we normally reserve this week’s editorial space for reflecting on gratitude, thankfulness and, sometimes, the importance of keeping holiday shopping dollars as local as possible, recent comments made by Camas officials during Monday night’s Camas City Council meeting made us reconsider that tradition. 

Instead, we feel it is more important to talk about homelessness — an issue that at least two Camas City Council members have pushed for inclusion on the Council’s already bursting-at-the-seams December meeting agendas. 

Camas Councilwoman Leslie Lewallen brought the issue up during the start of Monday night’s Council meeting, and said she wanted the City to rethink its recently adopted camping ordinance — which established strict regulations around camping in public parks and near sensitive environmental areas — and pass an ordinance mimicking the one Clark County passed earlier this month. 

The new Clark County ordinance, which went into effect Nov. 17, severely limits where unhoused people can sleep or store their possessions. The law bans tent and car camping from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on streets, sidewalks and in other public places. Violators will face misdemeanor criminal charges.

“We’re fighting to keep the magic of Camas alive,” Lewallen said Monday. “I think we all want to preserve that magic. … I believe if we are not proactive about(homelessness), we could put the magic of Camas at risk.”

Councilwoman Jennifer Senescu, the director of the Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce, agreed with Lewallen. 

“We’re in a crisis state,” Senescu said. “There are more homeless people (in Camas). And I think it’s time we get ahead of the game. … to make sure those people get the help they need. To protect our citizens and merchants. We want to get them help, but also protect our businesses and not get to the point where we’re declaring a state of emergency. If we’re going to be battling a homeless situation, we’ve got to get ahead of it.” 

Unfortunately, as anyone who has ever experienced homelessness or advocated for solutions to help unhoused people will be quick to point out, simply banning camping in public spaces isn’t going to do much to help people who have no shelter and may also be struggling with mental health and/or substance abuse issues. 

In fact, according to study after study, the best way to solve homelessness is to implement policies that actually house people. 

“The solution to homelessness is simple – housing,” the National Alliance to End Homelessness states  in its “Solutions” literature. “Rapid re-housing provides short-term rental assistance and services. The goals are to help people obtain housing quickly, increase self-sufficiency and stay housed. It is offered without preconditions such as employment, income, absence of criminal record or sobriety, and the resources and services provided are typically tailored to the needs of the person.” 

In other words, when it comes to helping people we see sleeping in our local business doorways or public parks or in RVs on our side streets, the answer is not “charge them with a misdemeanor,” or even “let’s get them into an addiction treatment program,” but rather “let’s see if we can help these folks find decent, safe, affordable housing.” 

Why do housing-first strategies work? Well, for starters, the biggest reason most people find themselves living in their cars, or couch-hopping with friends or trying to sleep in a tent in a public park is not some personal moral failure on their part but because the cost of living — especially on the West Coast — is out of control and there is a huge disparity between the “haves” and the “have nots” thanks to decades of conservative policies that helped the rich avoid paying their fair share in taxes but did very little to bolster the middle class or provide any true safety net for people who live paycheck to paycheck and are just one major health issue away from losing their homes or livelihoods. 

According to a July 2023 NPR report, a combination of “double-digit rent spikes” and a severe, nationwide housing shortage has contributed to increasing numbers of people who simply cannot afford basic shelter. 

“A landmark new report surveyed thousands of people in California about how they came to be without housing, and researchers conducted in-depth interviews with hundreds of them. For most, high rental costs were crucial,” NPR reported. “Some said they’d had their work hours cut. Others lost a job because of a health crisis. Many crowded in with relatives or friends, who were also likely to be poor and struggling.”

The report pointed out that “homelessness rates are highest in places where there is both poverty and high housing costs.”

Camas has some of the highest housing costs in Clark County, but city officials have not seemed interested in passing some of the policies — such as requiring developers to add affordable housing units — that might help build housing for lower- and even middle-income families and individuals.

We would hope Camas officials will not blindly react to the unfounded fears that sometimes accompany homelessness and will, instead, educate themselves on the causes of homelessness, the studies that show elderly, LGBTQ youth and veterans are some of the groups of people most at-risk for homelessness – in fact, a 2023 Department of Health and Human Services reports shows seniors are the fastest growing age group finding themselves without a place to call home, with the number of homeless elderly Americans expected to triple by 2030 — and the best-practice solution is not to banish these folks from our sidewalks and streets but, rather, to put public resources into helping them find safe, stable, affordable housing.