Council on the Homeless/SHARE House NOT Sharing Services Well With Public

Welcome to Thursday's O Vancouvria!, many apologies for the delay - I had a bit of burnout what with working a full-time week, including gearing up with new clients for my gardening business, The Sacred Garden.

This is a difficult post to write, coming on the heels of my recent post about a lack of "tiny house" zoning in Vancouver, and an abundance of homeless folks sleeping in doorways on downtown Vancouver streets. This post also comes close on the heels of September 24's "24 Hours for Charity", which raised a large amount of dough online in 24 hours for needy non-profits and their services in Clark County - including services provided through our Council on the Homeless and their associated SHARE House, through their clearinghouse on NE Andresen at 25th, the Fromhold Center. 

However, what's clear from City Council and Council on the Homeless board members' feedback, as well as sources close to O Vancouvria!, and from my own legwork dealing with the Fromhold Center and Council on the Homeless staff (including repeated attempts to get a hold of an obivously overworked Andy Silver, Director of Council on the Homeless) is this: both Council on the Homeless and SHARE House are in a state of administrative chaos, unable to efficiently provide simple services to those they are SUPPOSED to serve, including those populations (homeless and poor folks) identified in their mission statements. 

Furthermore, its clear that Council on the Homeless board members, including Vancouver City Councilwoman Alishia Topper and Vancouver City staffer Peggy Sheehan, are clueless when it comes to focusing their Board's priorities on needful changes to the way the Council on the Homeless, and their associated services through SHARE and the Fromhold Center, works. Meanwhile, both Topper and Sheehan were eager to tell O Vancouvria! that their Board will be "taking up the topic of 'tiny house zoning' at their next meeting" - while refusing to tell me when or where that meeting was. 

It's not clear to me if Council on the Homeless Board meetings are supposed to be open to the public. Given they receive public monies, the "sunshine law" regarding open meetings would indicate that to be a "yes". I'm not sure why Topper and Sheehan haven't let me know when/where said meeting will take place. 

However, what's even more germane to this post is WHY ON EARTH the Council on the Homeless, rather than the Vancouver City Council, is taking up "tiny house" zoning (that is to say, city zoning allowing for much smaller than average-sized houses, around 100-200 sq feet total) in the first place. Councilmember Bill Turlay had indicated to O Vancouvria! that the CITY COUNCIL, rather than the Homeless Council, would in fact be taking up tiny house zoning in a Council workshop rather soon - a statement that Councilwoman Topper has denied, in an email statement to O Vancouvria!. 

I'm not sure when the Council on the Homeless Board became a part of City government, given we as citizens of Vancouver never got a say on their accession to the bureaucratic machinations going on down at City Hall on W 6th and Esther. Neither Eric Holmes, City Manager, nor his capable assistant Peggy Furno had any comments on the tiny house zoning matter, other than to refer me to Topper and Sheehan. Its not clear to me when or why Council on the Homeless had the need or wherewithal to hire planning experts or outside consultants on tiny house zoning, nor is it clear to me why a group of folks UNACCOUNTABLE to the public (the Council on the Homeless Board) are even discussing regulations that affect ALL citizens in Vancouver. 

Beyond that, Council on the Homeless/SHARE/Fromhold Center (all in same building) woes with a new computer and telephone system (installed at the expense of helping those they claim to serve) have NOT simplified matters. Upon making five calls to the Council on the Homeless, I finally reached a staffer there (couldn't get through to leave a voicemail direct for Director Silver) who was "unsure" whether she could take a message for their director. 

Sources private to O Vancouvria! who receive tenant rental checks from SHARE to cover the cost of renting to SHARE clients indicate similar trouble to me, including hold times on the phone of over 45 minutes, unresponsive case managers who don't show up to work or return phone calls, and frozen computer systems that can't be bothered to cut rent checks on the first of each month. As of today, said landlord STILL has NOT received SHARE's check, and is currently in hot water with their own landlord because of SHARE's inability to get services provided to those they claim to serve. 

My own experience with Fromhold Center, simply finding out where I could go to receive food and a bus pass, as well as a mailbox, in Vancouver, was equally difficult: nowhere on SHARE's site is there a LIST of places to get said items (food, bus passes, mailboxes, personal hygiene stuff, free voicemail, job services, childcare) in Clark County - yet Fromhold Center does in fact (after dithering with a temp receptionist for half an hour) have a SHEET listing where said services lie (NOT at Fromhold Center). Fromhold staff keep NO FOOD on site (I had to beg for a granola bar so as not to collapse from blood sugar lows), and I witnessed clients of SHARE waiting for OVER AN HOUR to receive a weekly or monthly bag of personal hygiene items, such as tampons. Finally, I offered what was a decent, clean boxspring and mattress to SHARE as a donation - the temp took my name, and I still (a month later) have YET TO HEAR FROM SHARE STAFF. 

What's clear from these experiences, and from Council on the Homeless Board comments to O Vancouvria!, is that things are VERY BROKEN when it comes to SHARE/Council on the Homeless/Fromhold Center's ability to provide effective services to those they claim to serve. Rather than taking on issues and functions of City government (tiny house zoning and planning), these folks need to get back to basics and remember FIRST THINGS FIRST when it comes to effectively providing services to those they need. As someone who was recently homeless, it frightens me that this inept Kafkaesque maze of unresponsive staff, overreaching Board members, and labyrinthine access to services is our FIRST AND LAST resort to help those in need in Clark County. 

I call on the Council on the Homeless Board to get their act together immediately and HOLD SHARE staff and their own staff accountable. I call on everyone involved in this mess to pull it together - start answering your phones, returning phone calls in a timely manner, cut checks by the dates required, and at least carry non-perishable food items at Fromhold Center, your clearinghouse for folks in need. Furthermore, clean up your website so folks can quickly find where they need to go without having to hoof it to NE 25th and Andresen. Its high time, even past time. 

FINALLY, a special message to Council on the Homeless Board members, especially Vancouver City Councilwoman Topper: please STAY OUT of business that isn't yours, particularly zoning issues and needs pertinent to all citizens of our city. That business needs to STAY down at City Hall, not hide in the dark at Board meetings that aren't open to public comment or witness. Given how eager Topper was to stand in the limelight dancing around at Hello Vancouver!, you would think she'd also be eager to stand with Councilman Turlay and get some action down at City Council on this very needful topic. 

Til Sunday, enjoy your week. We go in on Sunday with our sit-down with Lauren Colas, running against a very overripe Treasurer Doug Lasher and a very "do-nothing" apathetic staff down at County Treasury with problems of their own.