Uptick in homelessness noticed by Everett residents


Increased homelessness noted by Everett residents


Doug Ramsay photo

Tents and belongings of homeless campers block the sidewalk and a bus stop on Everett Avenue by the Interstate 5 underpass on August 14.

EVERETT – From individual tents to small camps, homelessness on the streets of Everett is on the rise and attracts attention.
At a city council meeting last month, Mayor Cassie Franklin and several council members noted an increase in calls and complaints they received from local residents.
“There really are noticeably more people living outside,
now less secure in our town than it was two or three months ago, ”Franklin said during the July 14 meeting. “The fight against homelessness remains a top priority and we take it very seriously. Our team in the city works with partners – the district, our health care providers, our religious organizations and non-profit organizations – on solutions. “
In January 2020, using the county’s point-in-time snapshot, volunteers found 300 people living on the streets of Everett. There was no census for 2021, but Julie Willie, the city’s community development director, said the Everett Police Department’s homelessness-focused unit counted 463 people homeless between April and July. This unit, the Community Outreach and Enforcement Team (COET), includes social workers and law enforcement officers.
Liz Stenning, the executive director of the Downtown Everett Association, which represents dozen of companies, said the impact of the additional uninhabited population predates the pandemic.
The need for support exists across the city, she said, and requires more resources to address the complex issue.
“We want people to feel comfortable when they come to downtown Everett,” said Stenning. “There is often an idea that this place may not be safe. Some of it is real, some of it is just the unknown, but we absolutely encourage people to come downtown to support the business. “
Willie said the city’s no-sit, no-lie zone around the Everett Gospel Mission on Smith Avenue was not to blame. Enforcement has not yet started, she said. The streets in the area are clear and many people left the area in March when the council first passed the regulation.
“We didn’t have all this visible homelessness then, it has increased since then,” Willie said.
The significant increase has no singular root, said Willie.
Some people flocked to Everett as the pandemic shrank in coverage in different parts of the county. Others who lived on the street were from Seattle, Willie said, looking for a safer place to sleep. Further restrictions could be hampered by ongoing restrictions on state and federal social services, she said, which make access to necessary funds or documents impossible for those affected by homelessness.
“We carry a lot of the burden and a lot of them are chronically homeless people who we don’t have a lot of really good service to serve because there is a new population especially in our county,” Willie said. “We are still developing resources and services to meet their needs and help them avoid these negative effects on our community.”
The effort is an attempt at a balanced approach of “… compassion and care for our weakest, but also (with) respect and appreciation for our taxpayers and our companies who help us do the limited amount of programming we can do. “, Said Willi.
Even then, the solutions are often temporary. When a camp is cleared and people get help by going to shelters or getting a hotel voucher, Willie said another group moves in hoping to get similar help.
“The problem persists because we don’t have enough accommodation,” she said. “Work continues, but we no longer have pallet shelters to put people in. We need more resources to protect this chronically homeless population. ”

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