County's homeless count soars

The annual Point in Time homeless census count conducted in Mason County on Jan. 27 tallied 477 individuals, nearly double last year's number.

Of those 477 homeless people, 21 slept the night of Jan. 26 in RVs and boats; eight in abandoned buildings; 106 in vehicles; 158 outdoors; and 184 in shelters and transitional housing, said Tanya Frazier, the executive director of the nonprofit Crossroads Housing in Shelton.

Last year's February count, which included the shelter numbers, noted 186 households, or 254 people, she said. For counting purposes, a household is considered a group of homeless people who live together.

In 2020, 111 homeless people were counted. The 2021 numbers weren't immediately available.

The numbers are submitted to the state Department of Commerce and will be used in the allocation of local, state and federal money, Frazier said.

The count focused on where homeless people slept on the night of Jan. 26. The count began at 5:30 a.m. Jan. 27, with outreach fairs on Second Street in downtown Shelton and at Crossroads Housing North, formally North Mason Resources, in Belfair.

Four teams of three volunteers or more then fanned out through the county, including homeless camps in the woods, at state parks and in downtown Shelton. Volunteers asked homeless people where they slept the previous night, how long they have been homeless and how many adults are in their household who are homeless.

"We try to get as much (information) as we can, but sometimes they refuse," Frazier said.

The volunteers came bearing breakfast burritos.

"We spend a lot of time getting people to talk to us," Frazier said.

Among the agencies that provided food, resources, prizes and support services at the two outreach fairs include Mason Health, Love INC, the Skokomish Tribe, the Squaxin Island Tribe, Shelton Timberland Library, Olympic Health and Recovery, Mason County Public Health, Youth Connection, Community Lifeline, Crossroads Housing, Turning Pointe, North Mason Regional Fire Authority, Molina, Northwest Resources, Capitol Recovery, Peninsula Health Services, and the state Department of Social and Health Services.