What do you wish people living in our area would understand about homelessness?

The people who become homeless do not usually fit the ‘stereotypical’ idea that many people tend to have of the homeless population. That stereotypical idea is usually of a single person who is drug or alcohol addicted. They are thought to be someone who doesn’t want to work, or doesn’t want to follow the shelter rules, or someone who actually wants to be homeless.

The truth is that while there certainly are people on the street that do struggle with addictions, many homeless people include families with children, the mentally ill, the disabled, and the working poor. Yes, there are a number of homeless on our streets who are working, who can’t afford rent or who can’t get past the background and credit checks. We don’t always see them because many of them are living in tents and cars, but they are there, and their numbers are growing.

The truth is we’ve never yet encountered anyone who said they didn’t want to work (the ability to get a job is another issue), or said they enjoyed being homeless.

The truth is that according to estimates from the Point survey taken by the Thurston County Housing Authority this year, 74% of the homeless population includes the disabled and children.

The truth is that in Olympia there are no shelters for disabled people. To the best of our knowledge, there are no shelters for couples who are not married nor are there shelters for people with companion animals. Even people with service dogs have a difficult time being accepted to a shelter. There are way too many weeks when families with children are calling shelters and services in Thurston County and being told there is no place for them to go.

The truth is that many people are one paycheck or one major illness away from being homeless themselves. We as a community have a tremendous amount of work to do in order to address this situation.

What are your thoughts on other groups such as Bread & Roses, Salvation Army, and Camp Quixote?

Thank God for these and other organizations, and for all their hard work and dedication. Each one has a different and very critical role in dealing with these problems. Olympia needs them all, plus more.

One area that City Gates Ministries has emphasized is networking. We have set up networking relationships with churches, self help groups, government services, and other organizations and would love to see more of this between all organizations working on the problem of homelessness going forward. This problem is much bigger than any of us alone and it will only be resolved by the community coming together to pool it’s energy and resources.

What is the most frustrating about this work and what is the most rewarding?

The most frustrating thing about this work is seeing the needs that are out there and not being able to respond to everyone because of a lack of our resources, and in not having the necessary resources in our community that we can refer people in need to. Please see our blog for the story of the disabled man as a prime example of this.

Even though we are thankful for our generous donors and give away what we have, it is frustrating that it is never enough to meet all of the needs. It hurts to have to turn people away that we know really need financial help and assistance in getting themselves and their children off the street.

The most rewarding is being able to see lives transformed over time, to be able to assist some people in getting off the streets, to know that we played a part in preventing another family from becoming homeless, and to just be there for anyone already on the street who needs a hug, a prayer, or someone to just talk to and get encouragement from.

Thank you for letting us be part of your blogging community. We hope people will visit our website, and come and participate at our Word on the Street blog, and join in some discussions on the impact of poverty and homelessness and how we can all work to be part of the solution. We also would like to invite potential guest bloggers who have some creative ideas to share those with us so that we can post those as well.

[Sarah's note: Email interview done with Robin Miller of City Gates Ministries]