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Resource Report - 33 Housing Resource Center of Lewis County · Resource Report

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Hello and welcome to Resource Report, where we
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share with you important information about local
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nonprofits and resource organizations that support
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the community we share, produced by Pathways
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to Agency. I am your host, Rainmaker. Today's
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guest is Ruth Gutierrez, Executive Director of
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the Housing Resource Center of Lewis County.
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Here's Ruth! I am here at the Housing Resource Center
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of Lewis County with Ruth Gutierrez and Ruth,
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how are you doing? I'm good thank you. Awesome.
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Thank you so much for joining me today. You're
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quite welcome. Not a problem. And can you reintroduce
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yourself, your position, and how did you come
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to be here at the Housing Resource Center? My
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name is Ruth Gutierrez, and I've been a social
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worker for 34 years. I think I've been at the
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Housing Resource Center for about 15. So I've
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always provided services for homeless individuals
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and families. Nice. And housing. Sounds like
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it's very rewarding for you. It works. It's good.
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There are days. Yeah. Never the same. Anything.
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Yep. Okay. And what is the mission and vision
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and the history of the organization? The Housing
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Resource Center was initially named Lewis County
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Shelter Program. It started in 1978, and they
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started as a shelter for families with children
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moving from church to church. And then they started
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to rent a building in the basement of a church
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here in Centralia. And shortly after I came to
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work here, we purchased our own building, which
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was for families. So they have a yard and six
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bedrooms at that time. They used to be single
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women and families that shared a space together.
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And then we had another building that we used
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to move the singles in. So then it was solely
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families with children. So we were one of the
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only family shelters in our community besides
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Hope Alliance, but they're specific to domestic
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violence. So we were the only one actively doing
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family services and shelter. So. Okay, okay, cool.
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And so now looking up, usually you know what
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my procedure is, and I tell people this, is I'll go and
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extract everything I can from a website and turn
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it into questions. That was a little challenging
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for me this time because it's.. kinda there isn't really a
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website, it seemed like? There's just a lot of
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different resource websites that y 'all are on.
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Correct. Can you explain about that, please?
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We were Lewis County Shelter Program, so if you
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Google Lewis County Shelter Program, you might
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be able to find us more. Much better. So Housing
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Resource Center of Lewis County. Our website
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is not pristine. It's not good. Most people find
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us by speaking to each other, kind of word of
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mouth. Other agencies know who we are since we've
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been around for a while. So that's how people
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can find us or just give us a call and we'll
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give you direction. And you have that office
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right down there on Diamond Street. We do. And
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you can call us at 360 -736 -5140. And we'll
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have somebody who can answer whatever questions
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you have. We're kind of like a.. one door kind of
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place. So if we don't have the answers, then
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we can hopefully direct you somewhere where you
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can. You know, just to throw this out there,
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I found. the listing coming up on search from
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United Way, Lewis Mason Thurston Agency on Aging
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has your information... Mhm! ccwa .doh .wa .gov says
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call to access the coordinated entry system.
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And so there's also all of that information that
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pertains to you guys and what you do too on that
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website. Correct. And that's redirecting back
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to you. Yes. And also there's the hosw
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wa.org and affordablehousingonline
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.com also has y 'all listed in their websites
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and searches too. I want to clarify, we don't
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do coordinated entry anymore. Okay. But.. there has been
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three different agencies that have done it, but
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at this present time, Coastal Community Action Program, Coastal CAP does it.
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So, I mean, if you call us, we'll give you that
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direction. I don't have that phone number off
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the top of my head, but when you call in, we'll
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give you a direction to other agencies that can
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help you. Okay, cool. That's really good to know.
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Now talk about those services. We have two federal
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programs. One is called the McKinney Program- which,
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McKinney -Vento, so people confuse it with what
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goes on at the schools. But ours is solely based
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on housing, so we provide support services. We
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provide a rental subsidy for up to two years,
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could be up to two years, and support services,
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locating housing, working on goals to move forward
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in your life to get a better income so you can
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better self -sustain. The goal is to, after the
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two years are... six months or 12 months when
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you're on the program that we actually increase
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your income so that you can afford your rent
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by yourself because this is only a time -limited
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program and then we have the youth program which
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is a demonstration program through the federal
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government as well so it serves youth from 18
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to 24. You can have children with you, but that's
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the block of individuals that we provide the
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service for. And both of those programs are referred
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through Coordinated Entry, which is Coastal CAP.
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If we have an opening, we tell them, and then
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you enroll in the program. So we don't have a
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lot of openings. I think youth, we have six,
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and then family, the McKinney program, I think
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we can go up to eight to ten households. So we
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provide a rental subsidy up to... you pay 30 % of
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your income towards your rent. And then gradually,
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hopefully in two years, we'll get to the point
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where you can afford to pay for your own education,
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whatever. You have that opportunity to do that.
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And you have a case manager who kind of follows
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you step by step and helps and supports you through
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that and your children and all that fun stuff.
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And then we have another program that's called
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Rapid Rehousing Program, which is with the state
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fund to the Consolidated Homeless Grant. So what
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we do is the money comes through the county,
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then it's distributed to us. And what we can
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do is we can help people with move -in costs,
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help people locate housing. Hopefully, if you
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need some other supplemental income, kind of
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secure that with either state or Social Security
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or employment. And then we help you move forward
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into your own housing. We help pay deposit first
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last, you know, whatever our budget entails that
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we can do that for. How exactly does the Rapid
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Rehousing work? So the individual comes into
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the office and then we do the application packet.
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With that program, it's not that intensive. And
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then we kind of do a budget sheet with you to
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determine what exactly can you afford. So the
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Rapid Rehousing program does not have a subsidy
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attached to it, unfortunately, in this community.
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So we can't- what they're called is like, you
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can do a Shallow Subsidy, which is you know,
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pay a lot of their rent and then you can, or
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a Deep Subsidy and pay a lot of their rent. And
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then a little shallower subsidy is you're paying
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like 50 % of their rent, 40 % of the rent. So
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you can go get, do that on a consistent basis
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for two to three months. So they give somebody
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an opportunity to do what they need to do. Is
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that all income based? It's all income based.
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Yeah. That program is completely income based.
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So then, If we can do that, we used to be able
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to do that, but we're not able to do that anymore, we don't,
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with the parameters of the funding that we get
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particularly. So basically the person comes in
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and we kind of figure out what is your income
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and how- if it's not great enough that you can
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rent somewhere, if you're only getting Social
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Security. So what is Social Security? $753?
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Somewhere in that range.. I think for like one person, yeah..
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$753? Something like that. And then TANF, if it's like $440
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or $475 right now for a mom and a kid.
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So that's hard to find. Mhmm. So then we're like, then
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we have to look at that and say, we need to generate
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some sort of more income, your ability to make
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more income in order for us to like, say, Hey,
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this landlord's going to rent. Cause truthfully,
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I mean, when somebody is coming to us and they're
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getting a $553 or $790 or whatever on social security
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disability, people are renting one bedroom rooms
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in a house for $1 ,000, $1 ,200. So finding that
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is difficult. So it's like, you know, there are
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some landlords that we can work with that are,
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you know. willing to have a little lesser rent
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or you know if you're on disability we kind of
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have a conversation about is your disability
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or your social security that of one that you
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can actually get a little bit of a supplemental
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income how can you if you can do that so we kind
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of have a conversation about that or if you're
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there's a couple together it's like one's on
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social security one's able to work so you know,
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can you get a part -time job. How can we help
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you. We have job postings. You know, people call us and
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tell us about places that you could rent or people,
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places that you can actually go get a job, that, you know,
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easier step into a job. So maybe if you have
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a history or some barriers, maybe they're a little
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bit more understanding employer. And then trying
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to find some place to rent. We also pay the last
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month's rent or... first month's rent, and then
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the deposit. So that could be up to 2 grand, or
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$3 ,000 generally. Sometimes when it's a larger
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family or a single individual, sometimes it's
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about $1 ,500. So we try and negotiate with the
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landlord because we are on a budget too. So we
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want to help as many people as we can. So we
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don't want to expend all of our money. So we
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will have a conversation with the landlord if
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they're willing to take a little less. Some landlords
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will do it and they want to give back to the community,
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some lenders, you know, they're just trying to
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make ends meet too. So they can't do it. So you
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gotta have to judge which is which and what works
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we try and make landlords feel comfortable with
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us because sometimes people that we provide services
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to kind of burn landlords. So we try and go,
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okay, you know, we'll come and do more home visits.
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We'll, you know, the best that we can with, if
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they're in a particular program that we can provide
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that service. Developing trust with landlords.
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Yes. Developing trust with everyone. Right. So
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that we can move forward and kind of, you know,
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promote ourselves. And we're pretty well known
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in our community as far as somebody who's being
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fair. We're not really well known by outside
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or like, um.. people tell me, it's like you don't
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boast enough about what you do, it's like well
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we're just doing what we're doing, so we don't
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advertise our success rate, we don't DO that because,
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I don't know, um.. we're not that service provider.
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We don't, you know... we know what we're doing, we
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know we're doing the good thing and we kind of
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just stay under the radar and make sure that-
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but a lot of people in our community know about
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us so they come back to us so we have people
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who have been in our services before and then
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come back later because maybe they hit hard times
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again. We don't reject we don't judge we just
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go okay what do we got to do to you know maybe
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put you back in where you were, so that's what
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the Rapid Rehousing program is all about. And
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the Rapid Rehousing now that's.. you talk about
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subsidized housing, but that's different than
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vouchers. That's totally different than vouchers.
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So all we're doing with the Rapid Rehousing is,
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we're paying a deposit, our first month's rent,
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or if the landlord's going, well, you know, just
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to be a safeguard, you know, maybe I can get
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the last month's rent too. So, you know, we'll
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negotiate that price. You know, if they're willing
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to rent to them, but they want a little bit more
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cash and we have enough money that we can do
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that within our budget, then we'll do that. It
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does not provide a subsidy whatsoever, unfortunately.
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So it's like, we can help you get into a place,
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but not necessarily maintain that. You've got
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to do that yourself. Financially. We'll help
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support you in being able to. do that sustainably.
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Correct. We'll sustain you while you're there.
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And also we can provide case management support
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services. So if you get into a hardship or something,
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you're not able to pay your power bill, then
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sometimes we have connection with the local Community
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Action Council who does the utility assistance,
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so they can help out with that. Or if there's
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some local food banks or other community organizations
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that maybe can bolster people up and help them
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a little. Not with their rent, but other things
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so that they can not have to spend their money
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on those things. Right! Our last show was John Ficker,
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the executive director of Thurston County Food
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Bank. Actually, I found out that they work with
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the food bank over here. It's all connected.
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That's a consolidated food bank. Yeah. And he
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was talking about in the interview that being
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able to provide that food resource to people.
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Some people make too much to get on food stamps,
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but don't quite make enough to afford food and
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rent. So that kind of fills that gap. Yeah. And
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that helps make that more affordable. Yeah, it
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kind of fills that hole. Definitely in Lewis
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County, there's a lot of food resources, I think.
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That's my personal opinion. A lot of resources
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as far as food banks, free meals, those kind
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of things who are really, you know, kind of supplementing
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that. Seniors, for a lot of seniors. We find a
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lot of seniors come through our program. Amazingly,
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when we were doing single men and single women,
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amazingly, we got to a point where we were serving
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people in their late 70s to 80s. And then we
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became more attuned and able to help people get
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into assisted living. So we kind of taught ourselves.
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The only way we were going to get people housed.
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There was a need that was coming up and now you
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have to figure out how to fill it. And we figured
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out how to do it. So we partner with every agency
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on aging and for assessments. That's why y 'all
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are on our website. Yeah, that we did assessments
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with them, arranged with clients to have assessments
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so that then maybe when they move out of shelter,
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then they can transition to assisted living or
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if they need in -home care, we did that. We allow
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people to do that in shelter and we allow them
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to do that in their single room occupancy as
15:52
well so they can come in and provide the services
15:56
to individuals who are, you know, just renting
15:59
a room so they can do their laundry for them
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we try and help and make sure that it's a feasible
16:03
thing we also have all other organizations come
16:08
in and provide services to all of our buildings.
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So, you know, if they have an individual who's
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there in one of our programs or one of our units
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or places, we encourage those agencies to come
16:21
in and provide services to them, you know, where
16:25
sometimes it's more difficult. So we'll arrange
16:27
with the care providers. We'll do all that kind
16:29
of stuff with them to make sure that other roommates
16:32
understand, know what's happening, you know.
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And we're kind of that gap between in that conversation
16:38
with that individual who needs that service there.
16:41
And then if they need to, we help them transition
16:43
out. So we've done that several times. People
16:47
in their late 70s or maybe in their... approaching
16:50
80 who are just, you know, we notice that they
16:53
probably shouldn't be living by themselves. So
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we step in as much as we can, but then we find
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the other resources for our other community members
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in order to supplement and make sure they get
17:06
to a safe place because that's our main goal.
17:09
Make sure people are safe and provided good,
17:12
clean, affordable housing and get the support
17:14
that they need because you know, sometimes we're the only
17:17
one. So that's what we try and do. We're small.
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We used to be bigger. We got smaller because
17:22
funding and things kind of tightened us up., and it was, quite
17:26
frankly, safer to like, you know, tuck in and
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make sure until we get past this point of our
17:34
government and where we're at right now. Right.
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Right. And then we have some other buildings
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that we own. We have a building that we have
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18 units at that we provide a low rent. They're
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called Single Room Occupancy, so it's kind of
17:59
a shared living situation. They have kitchens
18:02
and bathrooms that they share, but they have
18:04
their own room that they can be in. So we're
18:06
looking at that as like a transitional program.
18:09
for individuals who are kind of coming out of
18:11
coordinated entry, who are homeless, who are
18:13
in the night -by -night shelter or find themselves
18:17
homeless or in a situation where they need a
18:19
stopping point. And then when they're at that
18:21
stopping point, there's no limit of when they
18:23
have to move out, but we like to transition people
18:25
between a year to two years. And then we make
18:28
room for other individuals in our community to
18:30
come through to get into them. As I kind of pointed
18:34
out before, we had a family shelter. But as of
18:39
April, because of funding situations that have
18:41
happened in our communities and in our nation
18:43
with homeless individuals, that program has kind
18:46
of weighed away. So what we did with them was
18:49
we housed all the individuals that were in our
18:51
family shelter, and now we're transitioning into...
18:55
a base program that we're partnering with Destination
18:59
Hope and Recovery and the Drug Court through
19:02
the Lewis County and the individuals will have
19:05
a stopping point there as well for individuals
19:07
kind of like moving from you know whatever situation
19:11
that they were in needing a stopping point you
19:13
know graduating up their steps and Drug Court
19:16
Department... DHR Destination Hope and Recovery
19:20
works in tandem with both of those programs so
19:24
they kind of help move people forward, case management.
19:26
They do a lot of outreach for people who are
19:29
in recovery, mental health, do that kind of stuff.
19:32
And they're a really wonderful partner. So we
19:33
chose to do that. And then we have an apartment
19:36
complex called Russell Road Apartments, which
19:39
is 50 units, which is a tax credit property,
19:41
which means that we have kind of an area median
19:46
income rent. So they're a little cheaper, but
19:50
not, you know. They're affordable, so it's 30
19:53
% of median income, 50 % of median income, and
19:56
60 % of median income. So we have a combination
19:58
of that population that lives here, and it's
20:01
a 50 -unit apartment complex. And that's the
20:04
office, actually, that we're right now in. Yes!
20:06
I get to share. So we actually self -manage that
20:09
apartment complex. Recently, we started doing
20:13
that. And yeah, it's working out pretty good.
20:17
So we do a wide variety of stuff, just kind of
20:19
trying to give people a jumping off spot. And
20:22
then you have the Homeless Set -Aside units.
20:26
We do. Here at this apartment complex that you're
20:29
at, we have 15 units that are 30 % of median
20:32
income. So someone... and they have to be homeless
20:35
to move in. So we get a homeless certification-
20:40
Now we say homeless, and I know. It's different
20:43
for the Washington State housing...How homeless
20:45
are you? Do you have a place you can stay for
20:48
a week? Yeah. Are you living in your car? Does
20:51
your car actually drive, or is it, like, broken
20:55
down and just parked, and that's where you're
20:56
living? Are you literally carrying a blanket
21:00
around and sleeping on porches? Yeah. Like, what
21:03
level? It's neither one of those levels. So this
21:07
apartment comp- well, we have people who have had it
21:09
like that here. But this apartment complex, we
21:12
follow the guidelines of Washington State Housing
21:16
Finance Commission. So this was bought with a
21:19
tax credit, which means that it was bond financed.
21:23
So we had investors who were in it for the first
21:25
15 years. So the 30%, we follow their guidelines
21:31
as far as... you can be doubling up, you can be
21:36
being asked to leave your place of residence.
21:39
Um, you, um, you don't necessarily have to be
21:43
living in your car or do anything like that for
21:45
us to qualify you to live here. So, which is
21:48
a much higher standard, I guess, as far as homeless
21:51
is considered. So they kind of give you a little
21:54
bit more leeway. It was difficult for me to like,
21:57
go, wait a minute. They... homeless to me is different
21:59
than homelessness to them. So doubling up, you
22:03
know, or you're living in a place that, you know.
22:06
is not meant to house that many individuals.
22:08
So you're housing burdened. So those are the
22:13
requirements for the tax credits here. But the
22:16
other programs that we provide services to, you
22:21
literally have to be homeless. So you have to
22:23
be staying at the night by night, staying in
22:24
your car, staying in a place not meant for human
22:26
habitation, those kind of things, or being asked
22:29
to leave your current residence within 14 days.
22:32
I think it changed. I don't know. 14 to 30 days,
22:36
you have to be considered homeless. So being
22:40
asked to leave. So there's, like I said, each
22:43
program has a different... So depending on which
22:43
program, there's different criteria. So it's
22:46
a little complicated. Yeah, sometimes it is.
22:49
But the state and the federal government are
22:51
actually on the same page. So they mostly go
22:54
by the three different levels of homelessness.
22:59
WSHFC, Washington State Housing Finance Commission,
23:02
has a different idea of what it is. So that's
23:05
a state -run program, but it's not. And then
23:08
you have all these other levels of stuff. Oh,
23:11
my goodness. Yeah, you just got to keep it all
23:12
straight. Yeah, and so it's like, you know, the
23:16
view from the street is typically... what do
23:25
I need to say about my situation versus what
23:31
is my situation? And so there's this... this level
23:36
of honestly fear that like, if I tell them this,
23:40
then I'm not going to get what I need. But if
23:45
I tell them this, I'll get what I need. Knowing
23:49
that one situation could easily turn into what
23:54
they're saying at any minute. And then, you know,
23:59
like, nobody wants to be, like, considered lying
24:03
or caught lying. And then, like, there's all
24:06
of the investigating and we've got to check you
24:10
out and give us all your information, and that can
24:14
be scary to some people because they don't know who's
24:17
going to get that information and what are they
24:20
going to do with it. So the system and the way
24:22
it works now is if you, what you tell me is what
24:25
you tell me and I write down what you tell me.
24:28
I don't put words in your mouth. So you've come
24:31
in a situation and you say, I'm living in my
24:33
car, been there for two weeks. It's like, okay,
24:37
that's what you're doing. So you self -declare
24:40
now you say, so there's no research. There's
24:44
no, like, I'm going to make sure you're in your
24:45
car and go see you in your car. So it's, you
24:49
know, what you say is what you say. That's good.
24:53
That's good to know. Yeah. So Section 8. Section
25:09
8 is a subsidy program that's run by Housing...
25:13
Housing Opportunities of Southwest Washington. So
25:16
we have a regional housing authority, which means
25:18
that that housing authority provides the Section
25:22
8 for multiple communities. So our community,
25:27
and each community gets so many vouchers. So
25:29
unfortunately, our community does not have any
25:32
more vouchers. The waiting list has been closed.
25:34
And tenant -based rental assistance program is
25:37
kind of by the wayside. It's not as highly, strongly
25:42
funded as it used to be, so that's even more
25:45
difficult. So in our community, in order to get
25:47
on the tenant -based rental assistance program,
25:50
you had to be literally homeless, and they would
25:53
sign you up through coordinated entry. I mean,
25:55
there's a few that still come out every once
25:57
in a while, but it's not as heavy funded as it
26:01
used to be, so it's gone. So Section 8, I think
26:04
they're... The HOSWWA has, I don't know, it's
26:07
like three, four years waiting list. And then
26:09
we have subsidized housing in our community,
26:11
which all have, you know, one, two, three, four
26:16
year waiting lists in order to get on them. And
26:19
so we're talking about waiting lists. What are
26:21
the waiting lists to get into any of the other
26:26
programs that you have? We don't hold a waiting
26:32
list. Oh. So what Coordinated Entry does is they
26:36
send us, when we have an opening, they send us
26:39
someone. Okay. So Coordinated Entry in our community
26:42
kind of holds that waiting list, so they put
26:44
people on the list, and then once we have an
26:47
opening, then they feed them to us, and then
26:49
we provide the services to them. Okay. So we
26:52
don't so much hold a waiting list. We don't really
26:54
have a waiting list here either. I mean, it's
26:57
first come, first serve, our team takes applications and there's
27:03
certain requirements with the tax credit so he'll
27:06
take them and then he'll call them back and say
27:09
you're still in need of housing and then he'll
27:11
kind of re -qualify them because the tax credit
27:15
properties are based on income so you have to
27:19
income qualify not necessarily your living situation
27:23
but you just have to income qualify. The 30 %
27:26
set -asides, the homeless set -asides, are for
27:29
individuals who are homeless. And like we've
27:31
talked about, it's a different criteria than
27:34
the state and the federal government has. So
27:36
we have a little bit more leeway. Okay. So we
27:39
don't really hold waiting lists anymore. Okay.
27:42
This is actually an apartment complex. There's
27:46
a mixed population, we call it. So there's people
27:48
who are working, there's people on Social Security,
27:50
there's people who are trying to work through
27:53
their issues with kids with developmental disabilities,
27:56
stuff like that. So we also are here to support
27:58
them in that, kind of moving through those parts
28:02
of their life. So we do that also with the other
28:05
three buildings that we have. We also have another
28:09
SRO, which is single room occupancy, which is
28:14
six units, which we try to transition people
28:16
off of one of those other programs that we had
28:19
a conversation about, the other two apartment
28:21
complex and a house. So it's a little bit more
28:25
self -sufficient. We don't really have a lot
28:27
of hands -on. work with those individuals, but
28:31
most of those individuals that we move into that
28:33
program are come from our community that we provide
28:37
services to. So again, it's just another landing
28:40
spot that people transition out. So I think that's
28:43
pretty much it. Nice. It sounds like y 'all
28:55
do work with a lot of different, like in tandem
29:00
with other support programs too. We have really
29:04
good partnerships with Community Action Council,
29:07
Community Youth Services, Hope Alliance, like
29:10
I said, Destination Hope and Recovery, Drug Court,
29:13
Mental Health Court. We work with Salvation Army,
29:17
the Night by Night. We have a good partnership,
29:19
Reliable Enterprises. So we can also, when we're
29:22
doing the Rapid Rehousing Program,
29:25
we actually help people fill out applications
29:27
for those particular properties in our community
29:30
that are subsidized or tax credit. So we help
29:33
them fill them out. We do introduction letters.
29:35
We work with their budget. So maybe if they had
29:38
some stuff in their past and they have some barriers
29:41
to housing, we're able to kind of work through
29:43
that and have a conversation about how do you
29:46
present yourself to someone who you can then
29:49
become their tenant. Wow, that's really extensive
29:52
support there. Like all the nitty gritty, a lot
29:56
of people, especially going through these kind
29:59
of challenging situations, you're in survival
30:02
mode and that kind of seizes up a part of your
30:04
brain. Yeah. that helps with executive function
30:07
and makes it really challenging for people to
30:10
process and think and make good informed choices
30:14
and just fill in boxes with information. Yeah.
30:18
Yeah. And that's why we're there is to give that
30:21
kind of gentle support. I've always kind of looked
30:25
at it, my 34 years, aging myself, but you're
30:31
just that auntie or you're that uncle. who's
30:33
there to like say hey you know maybe if you make
30:36
this choice maybe we can get this done or to
30:38
fill in the blanks here and there you know because
30:41
we get a lot of people who come that either burn
30:43
bridges with their families or have made a personal
30:46
choice not to associate with their families because
30:48
it's a bad history so we're there to be that
30:51
support for them to help walk through it with
30:54
them. We can't do everything for them, but we can
30:57
give them that opportunity to you know, give them
31:00
suggestions as to maybe move forward you know
31:03
how we can move forward to make a positive impact
31:05
in their life. Yeah. So if someone's coming to
31:09
you in any kind of situation what what would
31:12
the.. what would the process look like? So
31:15
if they came into our office and enrolled in
31:17
one of the programs some of the programs have
31:20
intensive packets application packets and most
31:25
of that is, the federal government requires us
31:27
to fill out certain things, and the state requires
31:29
us to do certain things. But in those things,
31:32
we do a stability plan. So it's like, what are
31:34
your plans? What do you want to move forward
31:36
with? Oftentimes, individuals, when they come
31:39
in to meet with us, they also get homework. So
31:43
it's like, you know, within steps. So baby step
31:45
to you is, you know, I got my kid up. Or, you
31:49
know, baby step is, I went and did... an application,
31:52
one a day something, so then the case manager
31:55
will do that with them you can meet with all
31:58
depending on your... we call it progressive engagement.
32:02
So you meet the client where they are. So then
32:04
you, you know, you have that conversation and that
32:07
case manager starts to get to know that person
32:09
and that person begins to feel safe, and then
32:12
they start sharing information and finding out
32:14
what, you know, what is the best fit? Where are
32:17
there barriers? Kind of recognizing where there's
32:20
barriers. So if they have a criminal history,
32:22
if they have a poor rental history, if they have
32:24
a poor credit score, we don't really work on
32:27
that. We don't do drug testing. We don't do any
32:30
of those kind of things. That's not our goal.
32:32
That's not what we're about. If we think, or you
32:34
have an issue with that, we refer you to an agency
32:37
that they can better support you. And then we
32:39
work in tandem with that agency in order to move
32:42
you forward. So once you're enrolled in the program,
32:45
the two federal programs, the McKinney program
32:48
and the youth program, we actually have you come
32:51
to our office and we actually go to your house
32:53
and we actually visit your house. And so if there's
32:57
housekeeping issues or you've never been a tenant
33:00
before or maybe you lost the sight of what a
33:03
tenant was supposed to be looking like and what
33:05
your rights are and what the landlord's rights
33:06
are, it's our responsibility to share that information
33:09
with you. So if you need things done in the house
33:12
and you have a hard time communicating with the
33:14
landlord, that's the case manager's responsibility,
33:16
is to help support you have that ability to
33:19
have that conversation, so basically it's kind
33:22
of like a one -on -one learning. You know, they
33:25
learn about the case manager the case manager
33:27
learns about them and their household and you
33:30
know what all the barriers are and tries to figure
33:32
out how to motivate and how to maneuver through
33:36
you know one's life, so it's like, you know, we
33:41
sometimes know too much about people's lives,
33:43
but we have to, and they share because it's safe,
33:47
and none of that information goes outside of
33:49
our office. So it's a confidential situation.
33:53
If somebody calls and asks if we provide services
33:57
to you, if we don't have a release of information,
34:00
we're really not going to have that conversation
34:02
with you. So, yeah, that's pretty much what somebody
34:05
expects when they come. You mentioned a couple
34:09
of things that I would like to ask further about.
34:12
I actually was homeless coming into Chehalis
34:17
from Eugene in 2015. Oh. Yeah. With my ex, who
34:25
I've divorced since, and my two kids. one of
34:29
them was old enough for school and did go through
34:32
the Mckinney-Vento act oh at a school district
34:34
right and we ended up getting on TANF and we
34:38
did go through uh your your housing services
34:40
oh now you mentioned a couple of things, letter
34:44
of introduction and drug testing. First of all,
34:47
we were drug tested. We don't do that anymore.
34:50
Not anymore. So this was 2015. So that would
34:53
have been after that, that you thought. Thank
34:56
you for clarifying that. Secondly, letter of
34:59
introduction. Now, we had come up from Oregon.
35:03
and are actually originally from New Orleans,
35:06
Louisiana, and had spent two months being homeless
35:10
in Eugene, Oregon. And then because my husband
35:17
at the time had voluntarily left his job in New
35:20
Orleans so that we could move to the Pacific
35:23
Northwest and then ended up homeless for two
35:26
months, we could not get on TANF there. But we had
35:30
friends that moved to Chehalis after Katrina
35:32
that we had not seen in 20 years. We came up
35:36
to go stay with them. And so now coming up to
35:41
Chehalis, we were now technically homeless in
35:44
Washington because we were already homeless leaving
35:47
Oregon. And now we were allowed to get on TANF.
35:50
Oh. But we didn't have any proof of anything.
35:55
But I did, in fact, get my massage therapy license.
36:00
I was a massage therapist previously in New Orleans.
36:02
Oh, cool. And I had gotten my license and everything
36:04
in Oregon and did get a job. And so y 'all at
36:11
that time, so I don't know if this is what you're
36:13
doing now, but y 'all at that time needed some
36:16
kind of proof of our situation or whatever. And
36:20
my employer was willing to write a letter of
36:26
introduction for us to validate our situation
36:30
and our story coming out here. And y 'all did
36:33
accept that, so I was so grateful for her for
36:36
that and so I'm wondering like are y 'all still
36:40
doing things like that, like, in certain situations
36:45
people need to have someone else validate them.
36:48
If they have no other means to do that or someone
36:52
that y 'all can call, can you please explain
36:56
those circumstances? So since then, things have
37:00
changed tremendously. Okay. So the rules that
37:04
we follow or guidelines we follow with the state
37:07
and the federal government, so everything that
37:09
we do is driven by what they say that we can
37:12
do in order to get the money from the federal
37:17
government, the state, and the county. So right
37:19
now what it is is what the federal government
37:21
did was they, gosh, I can't remember at what
37:25
point Coordinated Entry started. So the federal
37:27
government said everybody, every community everywhere
37:31
has to have an organization that all individuals
37:35
who need homeless services need to go through.
37:38
So they developed that program. So now we have
37:41
a system, and it's not perfect, but everybody who's
37:45
homeless goes in and gets an assessment, and
37:47
then you are whatever way. And I couldn't tell
37:50
you how they do it now, but it's kind of a scoring
37:52
system. So then depending on your barriers, depending
37:55
on where you came from, depending on your, you
37:58
know, if there's mental health, if you're a criminal.
38:01
I think there was an interview. I think it was
38:03
either the Family Support Center or SafePlace,
38:06
one of those, or maybe Peer Olympia, one of those
38:08
that I interviewed. Family Support Center, yeah.
38:10
The scoring system, one of those. Yeah, and I
38:14
couldn't tell you how that is because that's
38:16
not my cup of tea. I don't do that. So what they
38:21
do is they figure it out. Then they give you
38:24
a referral to whatever community organization
38:27
that fits your need once you come up on their
38:30
list. So they hold kind of the waiting list,
38:32
the Coordinated Entry entity in each community
38:36
so then they make the referral but with that
38:39
referral it comes with a homeless certification
38:41
so they're actually can verify for you so you
38:45
wouldn't have to go to your employer to get that
38:46
letter. Okay. So they actually have something that
38:49
it's a just a state federal form that they fill
38:52
out and they say yeah you're living in your car
38:54
you're living with you're doubling up because
38:56
each program has a different requirement as to
38:59
what they say homelessness is, so they do that
39:04
for you at that agency, and then they give you
39:06
other resources because they have their tap on
39:09
all the organizations that actually participate
39:11
in coordinated entry. Then they give you the
39:14
referral back out to those organizations that
39:16
can provide those services. So that's how it's
39:19
changed. So it's made it a little simpler. So
39:22
you don't have to do that more difficult... How
39:24
am I going to get somebody to verify that I'm
39:26
homeless? That works better that way. Okay, yeah.
39:30
Easier. They want to do one shop, so they don't
39:32
want you to have to go to multiple different
39:34
places. Yeah, I don't think there was Coordinated
39:36
Entry was not set up yet when we were going through
39:39
all of that. Nope. Okay. When determining criteria
39:53
for services, how does that work? So the federal
39:57
government has, you know, they give you the guidance
39:59
of who the participants can be in those particular
40:03
programs. So we follow their guidelines as to
40:06
who can actually qualify for those programs.
40:09
Coordinated Entry will send you to us, but it's
40:12
our job to find out, dig a little deeper and
40:16
see if this program is a fit for you. Okay. And
40:20
then we do the dig and then we fight figure out
40:22
if you're actually qualified and if you're not
40:24
qualified for the program, we try and find another
40:28
program that you would qualify for. So we'll
40:30
send you back to coordinated entry and then coordinated
40:33
entry and with a conversation of, wait a minute,
40:36
they didn't meet the criteria. So then we'll
40:39
look at something different. So we follow the
40:41
guidelines of the federal and the state government
40:44
who tell us. But a couple of the other programs
40:46
that we have, the buildings that we own, we own
40:49
them. There's no federal funding associated with
40:52
them, so we can make a personal choice as to
40:54
who we want to provide the services to. One of
40:57
them, the one 18 unit, 16 unit apartment that we
41:03
have, we do... are fed through Coordinated Entry
41:06
with that particular program. But we are not
41:09
state -funded or federally funded for that program.
41:12
We just made a personal choice that, you know,
41:14
we want to meet our mission and provide the services,
41:16
and we've just kind of jumped off that platform
41:19
and done it by ourselves. Because it was, you
41:21
know, we do own our building, so we have that
41:25
latitude to make that judgment. Speaking with
41:28
some other organizations that have worked with
41:30
Coordinated Entry, it kind of sounds like there
41:34
are certain barriers that by doing things your
41:37
own way and not having that certain housing opportunity
41:43
connected to Coordinated Entry, you don't have
41:47
those barriers. That's really good. Yeah, we're
41:51
able to... that's why we've partnered with other
41:54
agencies that we feel comfortable with and they
41:57
have a good base themselves and we've seen the
42:01
really positive work that they've done and we've
42:03
helped some of the clients that have been in
42:06
the programs and a lot of those programs are
42:08
peer support programs, too. So a lot of individuals
42:10
have lived experience actually work for their
42:13
organization so they understand, which is a valuable,
42:16
you know, they've... grown in their growth and
42:19
want to give back, so we have partnered with those
42:23
agencies that will actually... you know, we see value
42:26
and we want to give people an opportunity to
42:28
move forward you know sometimes it works most
42:31
of the time it works sometimes it doesn't, but
42:34
we're not an agency that says, oh man if it failed
42:36
one time you're never going to come back. We don't
42:38
do that, even when we had shelter, it was like,
42:41
oh you got kicked out, but that was a couple months
42:43
ago, three months ago. What did you do to change
42:46
your behavior and who are you working with? And
42:48
most of the time we'd say, yes, you can come
42:50
back. Unless it was a violent crime and then
42:52
it didn't work that way. Because we've got to
42:55
take in consideration the other vulnerable individuals
42:58
that we're providing services to. Gotta be discerning. Mhm.
43:12
So we talked a little bit about criteria. to SEED services,
43:16
what are some examples of situations where you
43:21
would not be able to help someone? If they had
43:23
a violent criminal history when it was that it's
43:28
associated with assault. If they have, we can't
43:33
provide services to other people, individuals
43:35
over a level one sex offender. The permits in
43:38
our community, I mean, are... The housing that
43:43
we provide, we have to apply and make sure that, you
43:46
know, the state knows what we're doing. So no greater
43:49
than six individuals can live in a house together
43:51
who are not related to each other. But we want
43:54
to be very mindful and very comfortable with
43:57
our neighbors. So we want to make sure that we
44:00
don't, you know, we want it to be a peaceful
44:04
situation for everyone, especially the participants
44:07
in our program. So that's the only other criteria
44:11
that we don't... don't go past, is level one and
44:15
also if it's a violent crime and you've done
44:18
your time and you've done what you need to do
44:20
and there's differences in your behavior then we
44:25
will work with you. So that's always not a solid
44:28
note. Kind of if you have, like, the mental health
44:33
therapy records to prove... I don't really have
44:36
that yet. If you're working with an agency that
44:40
can say, hey, you know, from point A... We know
44:44
that they were there. Now they're all the way
44:46
to E. And they're doing a lot better for themselves.
44:49
So they have that extra support. We work with
44:52
mental health court a lot. We've housed a lot
44:54
of individuals from mental health court, from
44:57
drug court, you know, other programs that, you
44:59
know, maybe their behavior wouldn't be so accepted
45:02
by other landlords. A kinder, gentler landlord.
45:05
We try to be. Good. That's cool. Now, you did
45:17
mention earlier that you had funding for certain
45:21
programs and then you don't have as much funding
45:24
now due to circumstances in the community. And
45:28
I do know that there are a couple of commissioners
45:31
in Lewis County that are seeking to reduce funding
45:35
for homeless services. And how has that impacted
45:38
you? It's made it more difficult. And that's
45:41
kind of why we made a personal choice to move
45:43
away from that particular support program the
45:46
family shelter with the county because they were
45:48
having a difficult time funding it to the level
45:51
that we needed it to be funded to and we wanted
45:53
to create a program that was more positive and
45:56
was going to have a positive impact on our community,
45:58
so we reached out to Destination Hope and Recovery,
46:02
and we reached out to Stephanie at drug court
46:05
and said, hey is there a partnership that you
46:08
guys want to do with us. And we're going to have
46:11
a building that that is going to be provided
46:13
to. We can't provide services to families, but
46:16
we can provide services to single individuals
46:18
because co -living with five or six different
46:22
families is very difficult. Drama. Drama. A lot
46:28
of stuff goes on. So it's like, you know, I mean,
46:32
six individuals by themselves sometimes can
46:35
be a little tenuous and a little difficult. But
46:38
we try and select individuals that can work with
46:41
each other and also kind of work with those individuals
46:44
to learn how to work with other people. You know,
46:47
they're co -residing with each other. I mean,
46:50
sometimes you can't even live with your family.
46:52
So, I mean, it's difficult. Right, for sure.
46:56
And also... Along with that, it seems like there's
47:02
a general attitude in most of the community in
47:07
Lewis County against people who are homeless,
47:10
people who are LGBTQ, people who are kind of
47:13
just that different, you know, not the usual
47:17
quote unquote. Like, what is that even? Right?
47:21
So there's there's a lot of concern, especially
47:24
among homeless and LGBTQ individuals about like,
47:30
where is a safe place that I can go for support?
47:33
And so there are organizations that sometimes
47:35
maybe don't feel safe that there may be a little
47:38
bit biased against. So how do y 'all consider
47:41
yourselves? How do y 'all feel about that view
47:43
in the community? I don't know, you're a human
47:46
being. That's kind of the way we look at you.
47:49
You're just a human being. Yeah, thank you. It's
47:53
important for people to hear that, you know. Yeah, we're
47:56
not judging you. That's not our job. That's not
48:00
what we're about. It's about you need a particular
48:03
service, so we're going to do our best to provide
48:06
that service within the means that we have. So
48:08
you're just a human being. You're no better,
48:11
no worse than anyone else. Thank you. the federal
48:17
administration has kind of made a big upheaval
48:20
around topics like that. And it's got a lot of
48:23
people, you know, frightened. So knowing where
48:27
is a safe place that they can go that they are
48:32
not being judged is important to know. We don't
48:35
do that. We're not. And my team doesn't do that.
48:37
So we try and just look at you as an individual
48:40
and you come to us with a need. So we'll see
48:43
what we can do. Can't always fix it, can't always
48:45
meet it, but we'll do the best that we can to
48:48
make sure that it happens. Thank you. People
48:58
who are seeking these services quite often might
49:02
be considered to be an immigrant or might look
49:05
like one. So there's a lot of ICE activity that's
49:08
been going on. Have y 'all had to deal with ICE
49:10
at all? No, no, uh -uh. No, I haven't. Not in
49:15
our organization, no. I mean, or we didn't know
49:18
that they were. We don't get questioned a lot,
49:21
but I mean, because we're not going to tell you.
49:23
I mean, if the police come and they ask me a
49:24
question, then I have to answer that question.
49:26
But other than that, no, we haven't been impacted.
49:29
That's really good to know. Luckily, yes. Yeah.
49:32
I don't know. In the future, who knows? Right.
49:43
So how can people get involved? Y 'all don't
49:47
seem like you're hiring, really. We don't hire,
49:50
and we don't really volunteer because of the
49:54
particular population that we work with. We've
49:57
tried the volunteer thing. It didn't quite work.
50:00
Because, I mean, we're in a small community,
50:02
so a lot of people know a lot of people, and
50:04
we prefer that people don't talk about other
50:07
people. And provide the services to. At my interview
50:10
with Hope Alliance, she talked about that. Yeah,
50:13
and we just want to safeguard. We want to be
50:16
very conscious and aware of the people that we
50:19
provide services to, the individuals, to make
50:21
sure that we're respecting them. Confidentiality
50:25
is important. Yes, and so we just don't do that.
50:28
But do you all accept donations at all? We do.
50:32
We don't as much, you know, toiletries are always
50:35
a really good, you know, toilet paper is huge.
50:39
And just personal hygiene items, things like
50:44
that. Okay. We don't really, I mean, there's
50:49
a diaper bank. We don't really do that. We used
50:51
to do that. We don't do that anymore. We don't
50:53
have the storage for it because sometimes people...
50:56
but bedding is important, you know. So we, you
50:59
know, try and provide individuals who come into
51:01
our housing some sort of. Come to think of it,
51:04
I do remember when we were going through your
51:07
programs in the lobby over there on Diamond Street,
51:10
there was a box. I would actually get diapers
51:13
and pull -ups from y 'all for my youngest. And
51:16
we did get a little bit of kind of bags. There
51:19
were a little bit of food bags once in a while
51:21
that we did get. Whatever we have, we try and
51:24
people can just come. If they're not in our services
51:26
and they just ask for something, if we have it,
51:29
we provide it. There's that little free box in
51:31
front. So yeah, we try and do that. Do y 'all
51:35
accept monetary donations? Yes, we do. That would
51:39
be nice. But y 'all don't have really a website
51:41
to collect that. How does that work then? We
51:44
have a lot of people. The people, the individuals
51:46
that do provide monetary support to us just find
51:51
us through other individuals and know, and then
51:53
they just get back. So we don't have a lot of
51:55
it. So I suppose if I was more of a forthcoming
51:59
person that I would be out there asking for money.
52:02
Social media is a lot of work, let me tell you
52:04
what. I know. Yeah, and I'm not that. I'm of
52:10
that age that's, you know, you just have a conversation.
52:13
So I ask my sons how to do things a lot. Okay.
52:26
So is there anything else you would like to share?
52:30
I would just watch out for the federal government
52:32
because our youth program may not be... Because
52:36
they focused on more of alternative gender. They
52:45
kind of focused on that with this program. That's
52:47
what the purpose was, kids that were coming out
52:50
of some mental health abusive situation, stuff
52:52
like that. So we're not sure if we're going to
52:55
have the program anymore or not. You know that
52:58
there are individuals that the government have
53:04
in place. to specifically vet all incoming grants.
53:10
And any grant that has anything to do with...
53:14
Yes. I mean, you know. Can't have it in there.
53:17
Or gender anything. Yeah. They just automatically,
53:22
like, close those grants. Yeah. Yeah. Luckily,
53:26
our grant, we stayed very generic. So we didn't
53:29
focus. Yeah. We didn't focus on that. So it would
53:32
be, you know. We didn't get pulled out. A lot
53:36
of other agencies did. I know that there's a
53:42
lot of agencies that are getting really nervous
53:45
because their funding is going to be pulled because
53:46
they have that language in their application,
53:49
and that is a particular population they've chose
53:52
to provide services to, which is wonderful. But
53:55
I think in a couple of meetings that I've been
53:58
at, they're kind of pulling. People are getting
54:01
a little scared. So I would just watch, and the
54:04
more that you can support that kind of, you know,
54:06
movement towards not pulling those, because they're
54:10
human beings, they just need to start. So we
54:13
can't judge on that. Yeah. So we try not to do
54:17
that. It's become very strict. Yeah. But Centralia
54:21
College has the ability to provide that, which
54:28
is good. Yeah. So, yeah. And so can you, once
54:40
again, please clarify the best way to find out
54:44
about the services and contact? Reach out to us
54:49
at 621 South Diamond in Centralia or call us
54:52
at 360 -736 -5140 and we can give you direction.
54:58
Oh, thank you so much for your time, Ruth. The
55:09
Housing Resource Center of Lewis County is also
55:12
one of our Zine distro locations. Besides our
55:16
Zine, you can also pick up information from other
55:19
resources there as well. The folks there will
55:22
be happy to help you find what you need. That's
55:34
it for today's Resource Report produced by Pathways
55:37
to Agency. At Pathways to Agency, we are driven
55:40
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55:43
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55:46
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55:49
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55:52
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55:55
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56:03
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56:06
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