The Lewis County Gospel Mission has a new executive director, but the challenges of a surging homelessness epidemic across the region remain the same.
Rollin Caryl took the job this spring at the Lewis County Gospel Mission (LCGM), the only location in Chehalis that offers free meals every day as it caters to folks who are homeless or otherwise in need.
The organization also supplies clothing, showers and restroom facilities.
The LCGM has seen a steady uptick in guests needing help this year, Caryl said. Hosting well over 2,000 guests per month on average, the number is ticking up each month this year, which Caryl in part attributes to a steady influx of transitory homeless people.
“We’re seeing a lot of new faces that haven’t been here before,” Caryl said. “Part of that is areas north and south of us are busing folks to our area if they don’t have enough resources. They give them a Greyhound bus ticket. We try very hard not to do that here because that just exacerbates the problem, it doesn’t solve anything.”
With a budget still reeling from extensive flood damages last year to the facility, equipment and supplies, Caryl said donations are also down significantly this year.
“We make the best use of what we have, and we’re not the only shelter in the area that is having this issue,” Caryl said. “We’re just making sure that we do the best we can with donated funds and volunteers that come into our facility and trying to be more responsive to the community and the chronically homeless people that we serve.”
Caryl had retired from his previous gig at the Yakima Gospel Mission in early 2020, where he worked as facilities manager for six years. But Caryl soon found himself busy as ever — he was elected to the Montesano City Council in 2021, where he also works as a volunteer firefighter and manages a part-time fishing reel repair business.
“I was very happy with retirement but sometimes when you get a calling you have to take it.”
After college, Caryl spent two decades in law enforcement, which he said gave him a more nuanced perspective on homelessness and mental health issues.
“A lot of times of times we don’t think outside the box, but homelessness is a complex issue and it’s very individualized,” Caryl said. “Until we develop relationships with these folks and find out specific needs and where they’re coming from in their life experience, we’re not really equipping ourselves to bring (them) into a more normal social relationship.”
The underlying issues that have lead to the homeless and mental-health crisis have intensified in recent years, Caryl said.
“It’s gotten significantly worse and the pandemic didn’t help us because of the isolation,” Caryl said. “Doing education over Zoom was appropriate but it was not a healthy thing for young students and we’re suffering the consequences of that, and it’s nationwide.”
The mission primarily provides hot meals and clothing, along with a restroom and hot showers. Guests are allowed one shower per week and restrooms are open 8 hours per day, but the mission is exploring ways to increase those services. In the future, Caryl said he would also like to see the mission potentially add a family shelter, but budget and staffing challenges abound.
“One of the huge problems, not just in Washington but nationwide, is there’s just a huge lack of treatment facilities and trained counselors,” Caryl said. “There’s just a huge void out there to fill that need and our society is traveling more and more down that path of needing it.”
Caryl’s wife, Debie Caryl, has also seen the crisis at the local youth level, working with at-risk fourth graders at an elementary school in Montesano. Even in that reasonably affluent community, Caryl said, some children are already suffering from mental health and substance abuse issues.
“Children with triggers like physical or emotional abuse and single-parent homes can really determine how successful a child is going to be in society,” Caryl said.
More volunteers are always welcome at the LCGM. The mission has five regularly paid staff members and about 25 volunteers for day-to-day operations, from cooking meals to sorting clothing and custodial work.
“We always need more volunteers and we’re looking into how we can incorporate more opportunities for folks.”
Lewis County Gospel Mission
Hours: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday; 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday
Phone: 360-996-4474
Address: 72 SW Chehalis Ave., Chehalis
Web: lewiscountygospelmission.org
