A person sleeps outside a tent at one of the most populated homeless camps near downtown Vancouver in this 2022 file photo.
Troy Brynelson / OPB
More and more people in Clark County are struggling to stay in their homes, even as local municipalities and nonprofits work to stave off homelessness.
A new report shows that more than 9,000 people last year sought help in some form, whether it was rental assistance, temporary shelter or another service. That’s a 43% increase from the 6,285 people in 2021, according to the report.
About two-thirds of those people, according to the report, had never been homeless before. Sesany Fennie-Jones, executive director of the nonprofit Council for the Homeless, said that should be a sobering number for others.
“That is devastating. And that number is going to increase,” she said. “Hopefully, people are paying attention.”
People of color appear to be particularly vulnerable. Despite making up about 15% of the county’s population, the report said nearly 44% of the county residents in the report are people of color. That’s roughly 4,000 people.
The report said more young people, families and seniors called for help this year than last year, as well, though the increase is smaller. The report is not comprehensive and likely undercounts the number of people experiencing homelessness.
Homelessness continues to grow across the Northwest, even as more nonprofits and governments try to stem it. Rental assistance programs in Clark County delivered $26 million to people last year, the report said. More outreach workers are working in the county. And nearly 200 shelter beds have been added since 2021.
“Resources have increased,” Fennie-Jones said. “Homelessness is rising at a much faster rate.”
The most visible people experiencing homelessness have typically been on the streets for longer than a year. That subset also appears to be getting larger, experts said, and conditions are worsening.
Jamie Spinelli, the city of Vancouver’s homeless response coordinator, said she is more concerned about fentanyl becoming pervasive. She said it’s already been a bigger challenge.
“There are certainly shifts in substance use over the last year,” she said. “The fentanyl crisis, I think, is everywhere right now. It’s really changed the outreach game. It’s a different animal than it was a year ago, two years ago, three years ago.”
Vancouver has launched new programs to help. The city has started two outdoor, tiny home-style villages since 2021 and is planning two more. Clark County officials are also considering one.
Still, the problem ultimately turns to housing. The report noted the median rent in Vancouver grew from $1,650 to nearly $2,000 in the past year, a 21% increase. That number cited the real estate app Zillow, which analyzed the Vancouver rental market between August 2021 and 2022.
