Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce, Local Business Owners Take Preventative Approach on Homelessness

Rebecca Staebler, Centralia city councilor and owner of Hubbub in Downtown Centralia, said she hasn’t seen her business affected by homelessness. That doesn’t mean that the anticipation and fear of that changing isn’t felt. 

Staebler and other local business owners listened Thursday as Lewis County Housing Program Coordinator Meja Handlen presented the county’s preventative approach to rectifying its homeless issue at the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce monthly forum. 

Following the meeting, Staebler cited a large group of people who are concerned for those on the streets with ailments such as addiction or mental illness and want to show compassion. She said they feel the frustrations of the impacts homelessness has on their businesses at the same time. 

“Some (businesses) have had some real impact of people sleeping in their entryways, leaving debris, creating kind of a nuisance sitting in front of their business,” Staebler said. “I personally have not had those, but I absolutely know that some people have. 

“I hear a lot of, ‘we don’t want to be Olympia,’ or I hear people from Olympia saying ‘I like to come to Centralia, I’m scared to shop in Olympia.’”

Handlen outlined the five key components of the county’s 5-year Housing Homeless Strategic Plan, which was developed with input from the Department of Commerce. 

The plan focuses on making contact with those experiencing homelessness in a timely manner, making sure those who need housing the most get it, operating an “effective and efficient” crisis response that aims to quickly find people permanent housing. 

The final two steps center around projected “the number of households housed and the number of households left unsheltered,” and “addressing racial disparities among people experiencing homelessness,” according to Lewis County Public Health and Social Services. 

Handlen said the size of the Centralia and Chehalis area makes it easier to identify those who might be impacted by homelessness. 

“We’re so small, but we’re big enough,” Handlen said following the presentation, “So, you see the same person walking by back and forth and you notice it. What are you doing about it?” 

The county dedicated $529,000 to homeless housing services in 2019, according to Lewis County Public Health and Services. 

“We want to prevent people from becoming homeless,” Handlen said. “We also want to make sure people who are working and are trying to get their kids back have available resources to do that, so, our community is great, but it’s better when families and children can be together.” 

The idea of supporting those who are suffering from homelessness through accountability was an additional method Handlen discussed with those in attendance during the meeting. Accountability support would be helping someone who is homeless and dealing with addiction with conditional help, such as housing, contingent upon a person’s effort. 

She added the method is viewed favorably by those who would qualify for that help. 

“They’re in a shelter where they’re in active recovery, meaning they’re 30 days clean from using opioids or methamphetamine, then someone just got on to the program who is actively using, that’s really hard,” Handlen said during her presentation. “I’m on a diet, if I’m sitting with someone who is eating a cupcake, that is really hard. An opportunity where I can go somewhere and eat with people who say, ‘more salad,’ that’s what we need.”   

Lewis County Manager Erik Martin acknowledges there may be challenges surrounding the prescriptive state and federal funding for homelessness prevention.

“(The challenges are) not going to stand in our way of meeting what we believe is this community’s values,” Martin said during the meeting. “That idea of people getting help with accountability, we’ve heard loud and clear. We understand that and we want to do everything we can, especially with the local funding we have, to make that one of our primary goals.”

Handlen said some of the concerns surrounding the impact of homelessness can be traced back to eventually having to combat a homeless problem on a larger scale. 

She said Lewis County isn’t yet in that position. 

“What I’ve seen, is that phrase, ‘we don’t want to become Olympia,’” Handlen said. “We are not Olympia. We are Centralia, Chehalis, Lewis County and we need to still embrace that but also figure out how to work together to move on.”