Homeless this holiday

The Christian Christmas story starts with a young traveling couple, Mary heavy with child, Joseph carrying the burden of knowing the baby is not his. Jesus was born on the road, in a barn, homeless.

There are over 1,800 homeless in Skagit County this Christmas season. Close to 75% of them are Skagitonians, neighbors, friends and family. The apartment vacancy rate is effectively zero here for low income people. The Skagit County Public Health Department reports that one-fourth of renter households pay more than 50% of their income for housing and that Skagit County apartment rents increased 31% from 2012 to 2017.

There are county residents working full time and living in their cars.

Google “homeless shelter Skagit County” and Anacortes Family Center and, in Mount Vernon, Friendship House and Oasis Teen Shelter, are the result. All are emergency shelters, each with limited space and short time limits.

There is no permanent long term shelter for homeless people in Skagit County. Until now.

Last week Steve Sexton, Burlington’s mayor, broke the logjam of neither the county government nor its largest municipalities funding or managing housing for the homeless. Sexton wants to site 40 shelters on city property on Pease Road by May and convert a warehouse there to provide support services. That is real, and unexpected, leadership. That is what grace looks like.

Sexton said Friday “If the Steve of four years ago saw the Steve of today the one would not recognize the other. For the longest time I thought I don’t want this in our city.” But, campaigning for reelection last fall, he found it was “the number one, overarching question last year on the campaign trail.”

Sexton changed his heart, his mind and his convictions. He will ask his city council to give a 90 day notice to the warehouse renter and get planning and design services underway to convert the warehouse for providing social services, including meals and showers. He plans to order 40 shelters made of aluminum and composite materials from Pallet, a social purpose company with a manufacturing facility in Everett.

Sexton says, “It is going to be all of us working together on this project.” He is right.

Residents vote for three county commissioners. Greater La Conner is in District 1, with Ron Wesen, but all three are on your ballot. The commissioners need to hear from housed residents that significant funding and results are needed to build additional permanent housing in Skagit County in 2021.

Contact information: [email protected], (360) 416-1300.

Town residents can tell the mayor and council they need to advocate for housing: 360-466-3125, or stop them on the street.

How many more years will the answer be there is no room at the inn, no permanent shelter, for our neighbors?

Who knows the potential, what these children might grow up to become? What a waste if they die young because their neighbors did not speak up or act.