Puyallup to continue its hotel-shelter, looks ahead to tiny home village
The Puyallup City Council is expected to extend the homeless hotel for another eight months and has started discussions of a tiny home village.
In a study session Tuesday evening, the seven council members each agreed that the 20-room shelter at the Hometowne Suites on Meridian should continue until next March 31.
The hotel-based shelter program is constantly at occupancy, with Catholic Community Services providing case management.
Council members Ned Witting, Robin Farris and Deputy Mayor John Palmer shared their enthusiasm for the project’s progress.
“I’m very satisfied and proud of our work on the hotel model. It has all the ingredients we’ve talked about for a long time, like getting people in shelter and wrapping services around them,” Palmer said.
A total of 44 clients have participated since inception, 18 of which have left or graduated. In a noncumulative dataset presented to council:
Four have engaged in medical services
Six have gained employment
Four have enrolled in outpatient drug treatment
Eight have engaged in treatment for program substance abuse
18 are engaged in mental health services
One has been successfully reunited with family for permanent housing
Three have transferred to Greater Lakes for mental health services in a supportive housing setting
Five have been given housing referrals
Ten were told to leave due to noncompliance to rules
One opted out because they were not comfortable inside
Council is expected to approve the Catholic Community Services contract extension on July 13.
City staff said there have been some challenges, like hotel staff are expected to respond to clients in crisis after hours, and the lack of affordable housing in the Puyallup area.
“It’s trying to try and locate affordable housing. They want to stay in the Puyallup area. They don’t want to leave family and friends,” city staffer Melissa Moss told the council.
There’s also a waiting list of 26 people signed up to be in the program, Moss said Tuesday.
The first phase — February to July — of the shelter has cost $291,879, 80 percent of which was allotted to Catholic Community Services for staff and administrative costs and for the client hotel rooms. The rest, $57,601, covered the city costs of a planning specialist and hotel room costs for service provider office space.
The eight-month extension from August to March is projected to cost $475,800.
The funding comes from a state grant that is covering three homeless shelter projects in Pierce County.
Pierce County Human Services Director Heather Moss said she is glad to see Puyallup doing more to address homelessness.
“I feel a reward in this conversation, because you all might know that Puyallup has somewhat of a reputation to be slow to respond to homelessness and reluctant to step into this,” she said to the council. “But this is a place where you have taken a leadership position and a change and taken a risk as a community, and I am so grateful we get to be a part of that process.”
The coronavirus pandemic sparked a city response to those living outside on the Riverwalk Trail. Puyallup has used CARES Act funding to shelter people experiencing homelessness.
The city opened the Puyallup Recreation Center’s parking lot for two months for tents, cars and RVs. After the site closed, about a dozen people were placed in motel rooms. There was more pressure for the city to act after Puyallup churches canceled their winter shelter program, Freezing Nights, due to COVID-19.
A more regional approach
Council members voiced concern that Puyallup is bearing the brunt of homelessness in East Pierce County.
Council member Jim Kastama said he supported alternative options to the hotel, as long as it was fair for Puyallup.
“I’m just afraid that as we offer these services, you’ve maintained that many people find them attractive and so they will have more utilization,” he said in the study session. “The fact of the matter is we’re the only service here, we will end up carrying the burden for over half a million people and that will be carried by a population of 43,000 people.”
While supportive of the hotel model, Mayor Julie Door and council member Cyndy Jacobsen echoed his concerns, saying they wanted to see more from the county.
“I really do want to see homelessness addressed by the county, it’s a partnership, and if you are asking us to partner, you need to have service and a shelter here in East Pierce County,” Door said.
Council member Dean Johnson wants to see more investment from other jurisdictions before Puyallup provides more rooms or other programs addressing homelessness.
Moss responded to the city council worries, saying that there is a joint task force that is taking on this issue in a regional approach and hopes to add more shelters across the county.
Catholic Community Services’ Mike Curry, who oversees the Puyallup program, said it has been a positive experience thus far with city engagement and support.
“The partnership we have had with the City of Puyallup has been wonderful, and it has afforded us the opportunity to help serve some of the city’s most vulnerable citizens,” he said in a statement.
The city is also contracting with the Salvation Army for $68,000 a year to rent 14 beds for a men’s and a women’s room. Council members were supportive of continuing it. According to Salvation Army data collected during the first year of the program, which ran from June 2019 to June 2020, 46 clients were served — 28 women and 18 men.
“The Salvation Army contract is set to expire on November 20, 2021,” city spokesperson Eric Johnson said in an email. “We will most likely do another update to council in the fall about the Salvation Army contract to see if they would like to renew it.”
Police Chief Scott Engle told the council he and downtown business owners have seen a visible reduction homelessness.
Tiny homes
Council members have said the hotel option is a short-term solution to an ongoing problem and have started to research a tiny home village option.
“I love the result we’ve had with the hotel model, but looking down stream I think there is a more cost-effective way to provide services and serve that population,” Witting said.
The city explored a 20-unit tiny home village, using an Everett company that makes pallet shelter units. They estimated that it would cost $140,000 for 20 units, which includes installation, heating and lighting, and $90,000 for a handwashing station, shower trailer, portable toilets, and staff officer trailer.
No location was discussed for the village.
Currently, one hotel room costs between $2,432 and $2,974 per room. Each tiny home unit would cost between $2,587 per unit and $3,824 per unit, according to two estimates the city received.
Tacoma has two tiny home villages, the 60th and McKinley site has 50 units with a cost of $14,000 per unit. The 6th Avenue and Orchard site holds 40 units with a cost of $18,387 per unit.
This story was originally published July 5, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
