Homeless Invited To Leave Town

Homeless people looking for shelter space in and around Olympia are being asked to consider Seattle and Tacoma instead.

The suggestion, “Can you leave the county?” is part of an information sheet distributed by the Crisis Clinic and Emergency Housing Network of Thurston County. It lists camping as one option and says more shelters are available in King and Pierce counties.

The flier was written by Ann Matthews, a Crisis Clinic worker who also distributed it last week at area shelters and jails. She said the purpose is not to dump the problem on Seattle and Tacoma but to let the homeless know that Olympia has an acute shortage of shelter space.

“This (flier) was not meant to be detrimental,” Matthews said. “We are just trying to get people safe and get them off the streets.”

She said Thurston County is “at a critical point” with shelter space.

In Seattle, some shelter operators were incredulous when told of the information sheet.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” exclaimed the Rev. Rick Reynolds, director of Operation Nightwatch, an emergency shelter referral agency.

Reynolds said his agency recorded 164 homeless people looking for shelter Thursday night, “which is triple from two years ago.”

“We turned away 37 men and three women - meaning there was no shelter for those people,” he said.

The Thurston County Crisis Clinic flier lists four shelters in the county, including the Emergency Housing Network, which provides overnight shelter to single women and families when the other shelters are full.

Nonetheless, the lodge manager of the Salvation Army shelter in downtown Olympia said his facility has not been full since December.

The manager, who declined to be named, said those looking for shelter in Thurston County shouldn’t have to go to Seattle or Tacoma.