Rural Homelessness

What does "homeless" mean?

This is a very good question, The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has four categories of homelessness: (Click on each for more information).

An Individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning:
* Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation;
* Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or
* Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habit
An Individual or family who will imminently lose their primary nighttime residence, provided that:
* Residence will be lost within 14 days of the date of application for homeless assistance;
* No subsequent residence has been identified; and
* The individual or family lacks the resources or support networks needed to obtain other permanent housing
An unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age, or families with children and youth, who do not otherwise qualify as homeless under this definition, but who:
* Are defined as homeless under the other listed federal statutes;
* Have not had a lease, ownership interest, or occupancy agreement in permanent housing during the 60 days prior to the homeless assistance application;
* Have experienced persistent instability as measured by two moves or more during in the preceding 60 days; and
* Can be expected to continue in such status for an extended period of time due to special needs or barriers
(4) Any individual or family who:
(i) Is fleeing, or is attempting to flee, domestic violence;
(ii) Has no other residence; and
(iii) Lacks the resources or support networks to obtain other
permanent housing

By this definition, someone living is a travel trailer is a friend’s backyard is not homeless, Some staying nightly with different families is not homeless. People living in a friends spare room is not homeless. Although these people may feel grateful for the roof over their head, hey do not have a permanent home.

No one chooses to be homeless. People become homeless because their landlord converts their rental into a B&B. People become homeless because it is safer on the street than where they are living. People become homeless because of mental issues or substance abuse. There are more sources of homelessness than can be imagined.

Homelessness is not an urban problem. There is no doubt that Seattle and King County have twice the homeless per capita than the rest of Washington, but homelessness population in Washington State is estimated at over 17,000 people or 2 in every thousand people. It is the same if you only look at rural areas. Washington State is number 2 in the United States for in the category ‘largely rural homelessness.’ And, that is not a static number. The percent of unsheltered rural homeless in 2020 increased more than any other category.

However, homelessness is defined as people living in shelters, in transitional housing, and in public places (see inset). Government statistics do not include the people who are uncertain as to where they will spend the night, families “doubled up” with friends, or individuals moving from house to house in what is more commonly known as couch surfing.

Who are the homeless?

There are a lot of misconceptions about homelessness. you will hear people say, “It’s the mentally ill,” or “they are just drug users.” The facts, however, are that in Washington’s rural communities, Point in Time counts show only 8.3% of the homeless have severe mental health issues and only 7.5% have chronic substance abuse issues. More alarming is that 7.6% are victims of domestic violence and 7.5% are unaccompanied youth. Astoundingly, a whopping 17% of rural Washington’s homeless are under the age of 18.

Homelessness on Whidbey Island

Homelessness is a problem. Homelessness is a rural problem. Homelessness is a problem on Whidbey Island. Per the statistics from the HUD, less than 20% of homeless in rural Washington is due to substance abuse and mental illness. Less than 10% is due to domestic violence. This means the remaining 70% is due to other source issues. In general their issues include*:

Insufficient income due to
- Low wages
- Shortage of affordable child care options
- Lack of transportation
Loss of job
Chronic health issues
Inadequate affordable housing.
Eviction for back rent
Conversion of the rental for other use
Inability to manage money.

*Tischler, et al., Mothers experiencing homelessness: mental health, support and social care needs, 15 Health Soc. Care Cmty. 3, 246-253 (May 2007)

Thriving Communities’ Documentary on Homelessness on Whidbey

What is a Point in Time (PIT) Count?

The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that regional or local planning bodies (known as Continuum of Care or CoCs) that coordinate housing and services funding for homeless families and individuals conduct an annual count of people experiencing homelessness who are sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Safe Havens on a single night. CoC also must conduct a count of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness every other year (odd numbered years). Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally. The Housing Inventory Count (HIC) is a point-in-time inventory of provider programs (such as the ones provided by the Whidbey Homeless Coalition) within a region that provide beds and units dedicated to serve people experiencing homelessness (per the HUD homeless definition), categorized by five Program Types: Emergency Shelter; Transitional Housing; Rapid Re-housing; Safe Haven; and Permanent Supportive Housing.

Guest Demographics

2020 data. Out of 450 unique guests (not all guests were able to answer all questions)

Guest "Home" County (2020)

316 hail from Island County
57 hail from Skagit, San Juan, Snohomish, or Olympic Peninsula Counties
9 hail from King county
3 hail from out of state

Guest Identifying Gender Distribution

276 guests identified as male
174 guests identified as female

Guest Age Distribution

Under 25: 20
25-35: 28
36-45: 24
46-55: 21
Over 55: 7

What services are available on Whidbey Island?

Homelessness is not a problem addressed by one organization. There are more than dozen organizations on Whidbey Island providing social services that touch the homeless in one way or another. Each has their own specialty. whether you are learning more about homelessness for your own education, to find an organization to volunteer with, or looking to donate money, the Whidbey Homeless Coalition, wants you to understand landscape. Homelessness is such a broad topic with hundreds of contributing factors. Try to represent this information in simple graphics is difficult. Below is a non-exhaustive list of non-profit organizations on Whidbey Island and how they fit into the network of services for people living on the island.