EVERETT — Drive by the Everett Gospel Mission’s shelter by night, and you’re likely to see 60 or more people sleeping outside, under the nearby overpass.
So forgive the Mission’s CEO, Sylvia Anderson, for being perplexed by a recent survey suggesting that Snohomish County’s homeless population has dropped by 25 percent since last year.
Despite some apparent success with homeless veterans and families, Anderson has seen no decline on Everett’s streets. You probably haven’t either, if you live or work downtown.
“It’s such complex issue, that a single stat that says a 25 percent decrease screams for an explanation,” Anderson said. “There are still a lot of people, more than I would want in my community, suffering.”
Some of the homeless men under the freeway overpass on Saturday afternoon reacted with similar skepticism.
“It’s gone way up,” said 38-year-old James Munger, with a laugh. “If they’re not out here, they’re in jail.”
The tally in question came from last month’s Point in Time homeless count. It tries to gauge the number of people and families living on the streets in Snohomish County, whether in emergency shelters or some other precarious housing situation.
This year’s count was 948 compared to 1,272 last year. There were 1,996 in 2013 and 2,387 in 2012.
The figures are coming out as Everett city leaders continue efforts to address homelessness, especially the problems visible on city streets. A task force called the Everett Community Streets Initiative convened last year and now is preparing to follow up on recommendations from their final report.
Local nonprofits organized about 150 volunteers to perform this year’s Point in Time count on Jan. 22. Volunteers asked each person questions such as how long they had been homeless. They provided information about finding temporary housing, mental health services and counseling for drugs and alcohol.
The survey started in 2006. The data helps channel assistance programs and grant requests.
“We view it primarily for trend lines, rather than an absolute count,” said Mary Jane Brell Vujovic, a division manager for the county’s Human Services Department.
This year’s figure included: 21 people living in abandoned buildings; 220 people living outside, on the streets, in tents or other makeshift housing; 71 people living in vehicles; and 499 people, from 355 households, living in emergency shelters or transitional housing. There were 43 households that consisted of only children — meaning nobody over the age of 18.
Number-crunching is ongoing, with final figures expected this spring. That includes data specific to different geographical areas of the county.
The numbers do show some encouraging news, namely for homeless veterans and families with children. The number of homeless vets estimated to live in the county, for instance, dropped to 68 this year from 99 in 2013.
An improving economy probably accounts for some of the gains, Brell Vujovic said.
The numbers also can be influenced by weather conditions, such as the unusually warm winter we’re having.
Changes in public assistance programs might be paying off, too. The county has started giving out more short-term rent subsidies, in order to spread the money among more households, Brell Vujovic said.
“It does help people who are economically on the edge and just a little help to get over the hump,” she said. “That doesn’t work for everybody.”
At the same time, the number of people in shelters and transitional housing remains steady from years past. Those facilities are “operating at capacity and still very much in demand,” she said.
Reasons for this, as many homeless people in Everett will tell you candidly, include a long, but consistent list of problems.
There is, of course, unemployment. But the root of the problem goes much deeper.
Mental health issues and drug addiction are huge factors. Heroin use is particularly bad now. People with criminal records have a hard time finding housing.
Police often take homeless people to jail — an expensive, short-term solution that does little to improve the person’s situation.
Which brings us back to Everett Gospel Mission, and the crowded sidewalk below the overpass.
“This is the first year that I’ve been here that I’ve seen that many people sleeping on the sidewalk by the mission,” Anderson said. “If we have empty beds, we’re asking them to come in. They’re not coming in.”
Several people were happy to discuss their reluctance to go inside the men’s shelter, even when there’s space inside.
They include: not wanting to get sick when in close quarters, and feeling physically safer with the group outside. Some men won’t use the mission’s men-only shelter for fear of leaving a girlfriend or a spouse alone and vulnerable on the outside.
Munger, the man who laughed at the statistical drop, said he’s been homeless for 16 years — and doesn’t expect his situation to change.
“I like being out here on the street,” he said. “I like being homeless. They’re my family.”
Born and raised in Everett, Munger said he’s a Christian and considers it his mission to help this extended family.
The main reason for the crisis, in his view, is methamphetamines. He’s had his own struggles with addiction.
“The police don’t let you sleep at nighttime,” he said. “It’s kind of like they want us to get high on meth.”
A friend, Scott Szwaja, said he’s been sleeping under a bridge. He’d like to see a safe place for people to go, especially during the daytime, instead of getting shooed from place to place.
“It seems like they corral us into one section … so they can keep a better eye on us,” the 51-year-old said.
Szwaja offered some advice to the civic leaders looking to improve the situation: “The answer to homelessness is not putting people in jail.”
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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