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3/1/2018 The hidden homeless: families in the suburbs | The Seattle Times
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/the-hidden-homeless-families-in-the-suburbs/ 1/12
The hidden homele: familie in the uur
Originall pulihed April 20, 2016 at 5:52 pm Updated April 21, 2016 at 8:01 am
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3/1/2018 The hidden homeless: families in the suburbs | The Seattle Times
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/the-hidden-homeless-families-in-the-suburbs/ 2/12
Zach Weer, a ingle father, and hi four kid are part of a growing prolem. More than 35,000 tudent in Wahington were homele at ome point lat ear, and man were in uuran ditrict uch a dmond and Mukilteo.
o Young eattle Time taff reporter
Zach Weer i a ingle dad with four kid who are part of a growing phenomenon in Wahington.
Zach Weer and hi children walk along a hiking trail down the road from their tranitional houing in verett. “I’m intending to e full elf-ufficient,” aid Weer, who i dialed low viion. (Mike iegel/The eattle Time)
3/1/2018 The hidden homeless: families in the suburbs | The Seattle Times
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/the-hidden-homeless-families-in-the-suburbs/ 3/12
Weer, 29, and hi children live in what’ called ervice-upported homele houing. Weer’ daughter, enrolled at Ode lementar in the Mukilteo chool Ditrict, are among the tudent in Wahington pulic chool counted a homele. Lat ear the totaled 35,511.
Youngter like Weer’ 5-ear-old on, eager to how off hi wiggl looe tooth, and 11- ear-old daughter, glad to hare picture of her pet cat, are in man wa the hidden homele. War of tigma, the or their parent ma conceal their ituation. For that and other reaon, the’re challenging to count. ome neighor never notice them. And the’re often far from ig-cit media.
Their numer are urpriingl high in ditrict that might e thought of a uuran and affluent. The Lake Wahington chool Ditrict, erving Kirkland, Redmond and a good chunk of ammamih, reported 296 homele tudent lat ear. Mukilteo, on the hore of Puget ound, with a median houehold income of $91,095, had 227. dmond tallied 600.
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3/1/2018 The hidden homeless: families in the suburbs | The Seattle Times
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“We’ve literall got ue dropping kid at tent and car,” aid Deie Joce Jakala, pokewoman for the dmond chool Ditrict.
ome in the communit didn’t have a clue — and till ma not.
Kim Gorne, of dmond, recalled when he aw local mom on Faceook collecting food for kid. “We had no idea,” Gorne aid aout dmond’ homele tudent.
Gorne founded a nonprofit group, Wahington Kid in Tranition. It provided lat ear 15,000 mall ag of food, 15 week of motel ta for familie and “emergenc cloet” for 16 chool tocked with hgiene kit, ock and nack.
“We’re not olving the prolem,” Gorne aid. “Our goal i to make the kid fit in. We don’t want them to feel the tand out.”
chool official are quick to note that the Mukilteo and dmond ditrict are not a affluent a their nameake citie.
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3/1/2018 The hidden homeless: families in the suburbs | The Seattle Times
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The Mukilteo ditrict reache into verett, where Weer live. “We erve everthing around Paine Field and outh verett,” aid ditrict pokeman And Muntz. “We’re drawing more generall from a lot of apartment complexe and lower- income area.”
The dmond ditrict prawl to rier, Lnnwood, Mountlake Terrace and part of unincorporated nohomih Count.
Nonethele, the ditrict’ numer of homele tudent ha nearl douled ince 2007- 2008. tatewide, the trend ha climed a imilar path. A little over 3 percent of all tudent were homele at ome point lat ear. Mot were minoritie.
ome elieve we’re undercounting.
THOMA WILURN / TH ATTL TIM
Homele tudent chool ditrict
There were 35,511 Wahington tudent who were homele at ome point in the 2014- 15 chool ear. That' nearl doule the total in 2007-08. elect a ditrict to ee the numer and percentage of homele in each ditrict.
ource: Office of the uperintendent of Pulic Intruction
Percentage of homele tudent
0% 10%
+ -
Leaflet | © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CartoDB
3/1/2018 The hidden homeless: families in the suburbs | The Seattle Times
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A quiet truggle
Anita Harri ha een a chool nure for 25 ear in the Mukilteo ditrict. he tend to know which kid are homele efore almot anone ele.
The tudent tr to hide it. You ma recall how cruel kid can e aout fahion and hgiene.
It’ not unuual, though, for a teacher to notice omething, mae a hint dropped into a writing aignment. Then the teacher will contact Harri.
“In ever chool, there are familie in tranition that tr to keep it confidential and onl tell a elect few,” aid Harri, aed at Kamiak High chool.
Thi reticence i one reaon ome official think the count of homele tudent i low.
The reaon for the homelene he encounter are man, Harri aid. ome parent have mental-health or utance-aue iue. ome move awa looking for work and their kid remain ehind to finih chool, taing with friend, famil or at a helter. ome kid don’t feel afe at home.
ut motl, he ee economic mifortune. omeone loe a jo, or ha a ick kid, and get evicted. When ou’re making minimum wage, firt-month’ rent and a ecurit depoit ecome real otacle.
“I knew one famil, two adult, nine kid in a uuran and the’d park at Wal-Mart overnight and did that for a couple week efore we were ale to get them in a houe with one edroom,” he aid.
3/1/2018 The hidden homeless: families in the suburbs | The Seattle Times
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Imagine what it’ like for the kid.
“The lack of tailit make it o hard. It affect everthing ou do,” aid arah Pederen, a chool upport advocate at Mariner High chool in verett. “If ou’re taing in a one-edroom motel with famil ou have no privac or pace of our own.”
Thee kid, Pederen aid, “are not talking aout their everda life like all the other kid, the’re not talking aout friend the had over and what the did in the houe lat night — it’ prett limited.”
Recover, upport Weer grew up in nohomih and ultan, worked at oeing and warehoue. He developed an addiction to methamphetamine.
In late 2012 he hit a low point. verda ue ecame uch a priorit — and a cotl one. He lot hi rental home. Hi marriage diolved.
He lept in hi car a couple night. He taed in a friend’ motor home for eight month. In 2013 he moved into emergenc helter at Houing Hope in verett, founded the North nohomih Count Council of Churche.
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3/1/2018 The hidden homeless: families in the suburbs | The Seattle Times
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He ought treatment for hi addiction. “I knew it wa necear. The kid needed me,” he aid.
He gained cutod lat Augut of all four of hi children. The kid are thriving at chool, he aid. He get help from famil, and Operation chool ell in verett ha given the kid an allowance to pick out new clothe.
Houing Hope ha connected Weer with a cae manager, a well a legal ervice and ervice for the lind, according to an agenc pokewoman. The group ha alo worked with Weer on updating hi réumé, college readine and career opportunitie.
Hi plan i to appl thi ummer for a federal houing voucher o he can move hi famil into more permanent houing. ecaue he’ dialed low viion, imilar to lindne, Weer receive tate aitance including food tamp. He lat worked in 2013.
“I’m intending to e full elf-ufficient,” he aid. The tate Department of ervice for the lind will pa for college tudie, he aid. He want to get an online degree in computer cience, tarting a earl a thi fall.
ehind the numer How accurate i the count of homele tudent?
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3/1/2018 The hidden homeless: families in the suburbs | The Seattle Times
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It’ important to ditinguih the chool figure from the etter-known tatewide Point in Time count, and King Count’ contriution to it, called the One Night Count.
Thoe tallie involve an annual one-da urve of helter, and volunteer couting out allewa, underpae, food ank and event hoted for the homele.
Lat ear’ count put Wahington’ homele population at 19,418. King Count accounted for 52?percent of the total.
chool, contrat, count tudent a homele if the were at an point in an academic ear.
Another difference: The Point in Time count relie on the federal Department of Houing and Uran Development (HUD) definition of homelene. That exclude oung people who are couch-urfing or douled up — which mean haring the houing of other.
The U.. Department of ducation’ roader definition include douling-up and couch urfing. That’ ued the tate Office of uperintendent of Pulic Intruction (OPI), keeper of the homele-tudent data.
The douling-up categor dominate the tate numer, accounting for 73 percent of lat ear’ homele tudent. The remaining tudent were unheltered, or taing in helter or motel.
Nate Olon, pokeman for OPI, ha theorie a to wh there’ o much douling-up.
helter can plit familie and place o a oung a 12 in adult male helter, he aid. Familie ma opt intead to rel on friend and familie for a cot, couch or ed.
Service is not available everywhere. Restrictions apply.
3/1/2018 The hidden homeless: families in the suburbs | The Seattle Times
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And, the numer of helter ed ma have not kept pace with the need, he aid. That could explain wh the numer of unheltered tudent and thoe taing in motel ha increaed at much greater rate — 56 percent and 73 percent, repectivel, ince 2007- 2008 — than the 9?percent increae in tudent leeping in helter.
ven with the douled-up outh, an accurate count can till e difficult. If kid aren’t enrolled in chool the won’t e counted OPI.
All of thi lead ome who focu on outh homelene to conclude, a the Raike Foundation did in a recent report, that “all data are an undercount.”
Communit read to help
People in the Mukilteo ditrict tend to e generou, aid Harri, the chool nure.
Agencie like Clothe for Kid in Lnnwood and the Aitance League of verett, which provide clothe through Operation chool ell, have een ver helpful, aid Pederen, the chool-upport advocate.
If citizen want to contriute, Harri aid, the can donate new or gentl ued clothe to the two group or donate houehold upplie to the Aitance League, which can ell them in it thrift tore and ue the proceed to u new clothe.
In dmond, a group of preteen girl put on a fahion how lat month, raiing $6,000 for Wahington Kid in Tranition. When Gorne founded the group, he noted, he wa following up on the charit of local chool-u driver pending their own mone to u food for tudent.
“We have a ver giving population if the know the need,” aid Harri. “ut I think kid are homele and we don’t even know aout it.”
3/1/2018 The hidden homeless: families in the suburbs | The Seattle Times
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/the-hidden-homeless-families-in-the-suburbs/ 11/12
o Young: 206-464-2174 or oung@eattletime.comNew reearcher Mioko Wolf contriuted to thi report.
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