Has Puyallup’s plan to ship homeless people to Tacoma worked?
The city of Puyallup signed a contract in July with a Tacoma shelter to provide a bed, three meals and access to programs for those experiencing homelessness.
For the past five months, Puyallup police have transported 29 folks interested in the program to 1501 6th Ave.
While the Salvation Army has been able to provide beds and food, getting clients access to resources has been a struggle. Since the start of the program in July, the shelter’s case manager and social services director have left.
“I don’t have money for more,” Maj. Martha Sheppard with the Salvation Army said of the positions. The Salvation Army relies on donations and public funding.
Sheppard said she has no way to get people into permanent housing. Many of the current clients have been there for more than 100 days. The agreement between the city and the nonprofit was for a flexible 90-day program.
“We are still working on an exit strategy,” she said.
Most of the clients are 50 years old or older, Sheppard said.
Of the 29, four have been moved into friends’ homes, and one saved up enough to buy a mobile home. Eight clients have left after a few days, two moved to the nativity shelter, and one was sent to rehab.
Fourteen are currently in the beds leased by Puyallup. Of the six men, four have jobs, and a fifth is going through drug court. Most of the men have found jobs or stayed sober.
“They’re changing their lives, and they are doing it on their own,” Sheppard said.
The head of Tacoma’s Salvation Army pointed to a different trend among the women.
“The women are the most vulnerable ones, and the men are the ones who want to get housed and change their lives,” Sheppard said.
Women tend to be older and disabled. Eight women from Puyallup live in a room, and four of them use walkers. The nonprofit added a walk-in tub for the room. Sheppard can’t believe these women lived outside, and some of them do not know how long they have lived on the streets.
Mayor John Palmer said he is impressed by the number of people taking advantage of the program, which is getting the most vulnerable off the streets and into shelter. He wasn’t sure how successful the program would be.
Some of Puyallup’s homeless advocates and service providers had doubts about the program. The director of the only homeless service provider in Puyallup, Paula Anderson, said in July there wasn’t an interest, and Ted Brackman with Puyallup’s Homeless Coalition said Tacoma was already inundated.
Asked if he felt the program has fulfilled its goals, Palmer said, “Overall I’d say yes, but we definitely want to see some improvement in moving people to the next step.
“That’s one of the challenging pieces everywhere — the lack of transitional and permanent housing across the county.”
The agreement
Tacoma’s Salvation Army center includes a food bank, administrative services and shelter. Three rooms have been set aside for Puyallup after the city signed a contract for $65,000 in July and a private donor contributed $10,000.
Puyallup Police Chief Scott Engle told The Herald in July the program gives officers an option to help those living on the street.
The contract was the city’s response to years of contentious lawsuits with the city’s only daytime center, New Hope Resource Center, and residents’ growing concerns.
“We had to start somewhere,” Palmer said.
The program is a short-term solution while Puyallup considers a shelter within city limits, he said.
“It’s time for Puyallup to consider the next step,” Palmer said. “If appropriately sized and appropriately run, it would be a good thing for Puyallup.”
The mayor will support discussion to have a shelter like the Salvation Army in the city, where the shelter has a fixed amount of beds and restrictions on the time a person can stay there. He believes a drop-in shelter would not be a good fit for the community.
“If it’s just a drop-in facility and then if its overfilled, people spill over into the community,” he said. “It’s a delicate balance in the city of Puyallup.”
This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 5:30 AM.
