Hundreds gather in Yakima seeking solutions for homelessness

Yakima, Wash. – An annual gathering aimed to get service providers and advocates from across the state together to share ideas on solving homelessness boasted a record attendance of about 800 people Tuesday at the Yakima Convention Center.

Organized by the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, the annual Conference on Ending Homelessness typically draws about 600 people.

Narrowing housing markets, rising homelessness and recent state laws banning rental discrimination and preventing landlords from denying housing vouchers most likely are what sparked increased attendance at the conference that continues today, said Rachael Myers, executive director of the Low Income Housing Alliance.

“We have a big housing crisis in this state right now, and people are here to solve that,” she said.

Discussions included housing-first models, involving the public in housing solutions through community organization, and understanding and addressing the physical and behavioral health of homeless people.

Yakima’s homeless issues mirror what’s happening across the state.

For example, the number of homeless K-12 students has nearly doubled over the past decade — from 20,780 in the 2008-09 school year to 39,671 in 2015-16. That’s 3 percent of the state’s more than 1 million students.

The Yakima School District alone has seen its homeless student population quintuple over the past nine school years, from 171 in 2008-09 to 847 in the 2015-16 school year, about 5 percent of the district’s 16,200 students.

Yakima also has grappled with a chronic homeless population that’s fluctuated from about 70 at times to more than 100 in the downtown area the past few years.

Lee Murdock, director of the Homeless Network of Yakima County, said seeing the different evidence-based practices on dealing with homeless people with certain issues was refreshing.

“What jumped out at me was the data the state Department of Commerce keeps,” she said in regard to statistics on the number of homeless and program success rates.

Beth Dannhardt, chairwoman of the Homeless Network and former longtime director of substance abuse provider Triumph Treatment Center in Yakima, said she was happy to hear discussions about how to help homeless people who suffer from substance abuse.

Years ago she established a low-barrier housing unit for men with substance abuse problems. She said removing the stress of living on the streets allows them to work on their sobriety.

“There’s a concept of loosening how you look at people who are chemically dependent, and not tell them what they should do and how to do it,” she said.

The conference continues today at 9 a.m. with several discussions throughout the day, including providing respite care to the homeless, addressing racial inequality in homelessness and housing homeless veterans.