A Wednesday night informational meeting at St. Timothy Episcopal Church in Chehalis regarding its safe parking pilot program with Hope Housing Collaborative started with a prayer and ended with numerous attendees storming out in disgust.
Dozens of community members, many who live near the church, learned and asked questions about the program that will provide safe parking for homeless community members living in their vehicles starting in July. The majority of attendees expressed concern about the proximity of unhoused people to their homes and their children’s schools, as well as the lack of notification on the church’s part to the neighboring households about the program.
After several minutes of a contentious back-and-forth discussion between attendees and representatives of both the church and the Hope Housing Collaborative, the question-and-answer period was closed off.
About a third of the attendees left before closing remarks were made.
St. Timothy Episcopal Church is one of five Lewis County churches teaming up as Hope Housing Collaborative for the pilot program that will allow people living in their cars to park from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. for one or two weeks every two months. The church will allow a maximum of 10 vehicles to park each night.
Other participating churches include Chehalis United Methodist Church, Immanuel Lutheran Church in Centralia, Grace Foursquare Church in Centralia and Harrison Square Presbyterian Church in Centralia, but the collaborative hopes eight churches will offer their parking lots so each church hosts once every two months. Churches will only serve women and families with children who live in cars, trucks or vans who are also enrolled in local school districts. Single men are excluded, as the church said they are more likely to access and use the local night-by-night shelter.
Kay Flores, reverend at St. Timothy Episcopal Church, opened up the meeting by sharing the church’s reasoning for joining the program, noting that those who use safe parking lots are able to sleep without fear of unwanted interactions with law enforcement or others.
“Every night in Lewis County, many women and families sleep in their cars. Because of RV and public camping ordinances, many are fearful of being cited by the police and, as a result, aren’t able to sleep well,” Flores told the crowd. “Most, if not all, of the people who live in their cars work, their children are in school or in daycare, and they are doing the best they can to make a life with what they have.”
Flores then shared testimonies from community members including school counselors, therapists and members of the Salvation Army in Centralia about why safe parking is important in Lewis County. She added that when Hope Housing Collaborative called the church about its potential participation in the program, she said she didn’t think it would work in the neighborhood at first.
“Then I let them give me the presentation, and then I took it to our vestry, which is our board of directors, and the vestry decided we should pursue it further,” Flores said, adding that the church’s decision to enter the collaborative project dates back about a year. “We have come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to live our gospel lives in a way that’s making a difference for women, children, families and people in our community.”
Two hosts at the church will greet guests from 7 to 10 p.m. every night and take information, go over the code of conduct and get permission for a background check. A porta-potty and trash receptacles will move from church to church as the program rotates through the five churches. People may enter the parking lot from 7 to 10 p.m. and must leave by 7 a.m.
Flores said they expect to have the background checks by the next day for new guests and that the background checks are required for entry, and volunteers who greet and collect information from guests will undergo background checks, as well. People must be in or near their cars at all times from 7 to 10 p.m. and must be exclusively in their cars after 10 p.m. except for restroom use. No visitors are allowed, and cars are not allowed to run except if the temperature reaches below freezing.
After the six-month pilot project has concluded, the planning group and churches involved will evaluate the program and decide if it will continue in the future. Patty Howard, with Hope Housing Collaborative, said they will listen to community feedback as part of its evaluation.
Flores said it is the hope and prayer of the church and the collaborative that the program will be a “self-regulating organization” and that participants will police themselves if problems arise.
One attendee asked why the meeting wasn’t held prior to the church’s decision to participate in the program, and Flores’ response drew unapproving murmurs from the crowd.
“We made a decision that we would operate our ministry on our property in the church. We did not have the meeting early because we wanted to see when we were going to start having guests,” she said. “We’re still almost two months out from our start date. We sent personal letters to about 10 neighbors, and then we put an article in The Chronicle, which we believed would cover the rest of the neighborhood.”
Another attendee asked about the staffing after the parking lot is full or after the barricades are put up after 10 p.m., and Flores said the churches don’t believe they will need to have people on-site all night and that St. Timothy has an alarm system.
A Centralia resident who said she works closely with those experiencing homelessness sided with the church’s mission, stating that people in the community are “getting people in the street a little bit confused with the individuals in their vehicles.”
“There was a West Coast study from the center of homelessness that says that the needs of individuals sheltering in their vehicles are different from other unsheltered homeless individuals,” she said. “The individuals with the cars and the vehicles have access to greater resources, as demonstrated by their ability to maintain the vehicle. They typically exhibit lower levels of acuity compared to other unsheltered individuals.”
A neighbor asked how the churches will enforce prohibited items such as drugs and weapons from being in their vehicles. Flores acknowledged that the crowd wouldn’t love the answer.
“We’re trusting that the people who come here who are women and with children who are attending our neighborhood schools are coming here to find a safe place for their children,” Flores said. “I said you weren’t going to love it, but it’s what we’re doing. We’re in the business of loving.”
Another resident called Flores and the church “arrogant” for stating “multiple times that this is your property and you’ll do what you want,” the resident said. But she said she and her family would be directly affected as their property abuts the church parking lot.
“As someone who literally will be affected because of our proximity, how are you guaranteeing that there is no trash that’s on our property and that there’s no kids that are wandering across the fence?” the resident asked. “That’s a big risk that you’re taking with my property. I’m going to guess you don’t care.”
One person said that while many people in the crowd are Christians and have a heart for the women and families living in their cars, the proximity is too close to ignore.
“Not in my backyard,” he said.
Sharon Miracle with Hope Housing Collaborative said the team has worked closely with the Centralia and Chehalis police departments, which told them to concentrate on families enrolled in the local schools so as not to attract people from other communities.
The final comment of the question-and-answer period went to a woman whose family lives directly across the street from the parking lot. She said she commended the desire to help those in need and sympathizes with the hardships of being unhoused.
“I definitely believe that solutions to this very real issue are something that we all should be working toward solving. But with that being said, I also strongly believe that the wants and needs of some should never infringe on the rights and safety of others, especially those who have not actively chosen to enter into this type of work,” she said. “I believe that that would be the consequence of this. We have worked hard to provide the best type of environment that we could to raise our children, and we’ve made sacrifices and tough choices in order to provide them with a safe place to live and grow up. This proposal, we feel, undermines all that we’ve worked for.”
Flores ended the Q&A and handed the microphone to Howard, who began her statement as a chunk of the attendees stood up and left the church shaking their heads. Howard said the public gets the idea of unhoused people in their vehicles misconstrued and that the people using the resources are already in the neighborhoods with children in the school district.
“I promise you I’ve heard every single thing that’s been said tonight, but I also want you to hear me and to know the reason that we say we believe this will work and that the self-monitoring will work is we know the people we’re talking about," Howard said. “We believe in them, and we want to give them hope and an opportunity they don’t have.”
