As temps surge, water bottle barrels go up to help Tri-Cities homeless. But not in Pasco

Doug Barnes is nestled in a camping chair on a hot Friday afternoon near a downtown Pasco plaza. His 13-year-old pomchi mix, Macky Rae, is on his lap panting.

The U.S. Air Force veteran makes small talk to those who come and go as the faith-based organization Clean Sweep hands out chilled water bottles to passing the homeless people.

The 60-year-old Pasco man knows the value of clean, cold water – and how important it is to surviving these hot months.

“In the summertime it’s very important, because you use moisture and you can go into dehydration so easy,” he said.

“I knew how to stay warm in the winter time, I knew how to stay hydrated in the summer. I had survival skills.”

Barnes was homeless for 18 months, sleeping in a second-hand tent with his three dogs in downtown Pasco in 2017 and 2018. He’d lost his job at Walmart, was suffering from depression and struggled with PTSD, all contributing to him losing his housing.

As he waited for the Veteran Affairs’ HUD-VASH program to fund his housing voucher, he opted to sleep on the streets instead of checking into nearby shelters so he could keep his dogs by his side.

“These guys are essentially my therapy animals. They keep me safe, which is why they were important,” Barnes said.

The federal program eventually got him into a duplex near the corner of 2nd Avenue and Shoshone Street and other services, including counseling. He’s remained housed for the past five years.

“Going from the street into a home, you’re in shock,” he said. “You remember it because you used to have a home – if it rains, I’m inside, there’s a heater when it’s cold, air conditioning when it’s warm. The things you take for granted are a blessing.”

Barnes said he luckily never developed a drug or alcohol addiction during his time on the street.

Clean Sweep nonprofit

His experience and compassion is what led him to reach out to Mark and Lynne “Mama Lynne” McKee, founding members of Clean Sweep, to engage with homeless veterans.

He comes to events to help U.S. military vets facing homelessness.

There’s been a growing tension in recent weeks between the organization and Pasco officials over where the group is allowed to provide services.

A recent complaint over Clean Sweep’s 55-gallon blue barrel “water ministries” led the city to tell the group it’s not allowed to hold organized events in part of downtown and to require a $15 special event license to host water giveaways in other parts of the city.

Permits help the city ensure that events are set up in a safe manner, that trash is accounted for and that public parks and streets are not obstructed, city officials say.

Clean Sweep is still allowed to hand out water bottles, pick up trash and conduct outreach. But restrictions in the city’s downtown retail district limit their outreach and require more volunteers.

Barnes said the city’s red tape hinders the important work they do to help keep homeless people – some of them veterans like him – alive.

“It’s easy to dismiss them as a drug addicts and alcoholics or whatever the problem is, but they are people and they need help,” Barnes said.

“And that’s one of the things we’re kind of upset with Pasco about, is they don’t see them as anything other than a problem. And all we’re trying to do is make life a little easier for people.”

The Pasco City Council and its staff say they are brainstorming short-term actions that could be taken to clean up downtown, curb public drug use and get homeless individuals into housing quicker.

Blue barrel water bottles

Clean Sweep volunteers over last weekend dropped off several of their blue barrel water ministries throughout the Tri-Cities.

The barrels provide free chilled bottled water for anyone passing by or any of the thousands of homeless individuals around the region.

Volunteers and the public are encouraged to help keep the buckets filled with ice and bottles.

Mark McKee said Clean Sweep will be out on foot in downtown Pasco, clad in their neon T-shirts, handing out water bottles when temperatures exceed 105.

“Pasco’s still a bit of a touchy subject,” he said.

On Friday, the Clean Sweep crew was out near Peanuts Park North plaza to hand out dozens of cheeseburgers and more than 100 water bottles. Members also gave away shirts and Jiffy Car Wash passes to anyone who donated a case of water.

The effort was organized, in part also to commemorate the life of Eli Barajas-Diaz, a Clean Sweep volunteer and Chiawana High School grad who died in a 2021 car accident.

“We hope that the people in the community will continue to support us, which they’ve been very good about doing,” Mama Lynne McKee said.

“For the homeless, (the heat) becomes a danger. It becomes lethal. … If we can supply them the water, if we can be out there to help, we’re going to save some people,” she said.

The public can volunteer and coordinate donations online through the organization’s public Facebook group.

Hot, hazy weather ahead

The Tri-Cities is expected to hit triple-digit heat with hazy skies this week, according to the National Weather Service in Pendleton.

Temperatures will peak Thursday, with a high of 101.

Wildfire smoke from Canada will spread across Eastern Washington and Oregon on Monday and Independence Day, creating widespread hazy conditions that will last several days.

The probability of poor air quality is low, the weather service said.