— By Dave Haviland/
For The Daily World —
As snow and wind bring people indoors this weekend, more of Aberdeen’s most vulnerable are flocking to the cold weather shelter to stay safe and warm overnight.
The Coastal Community Action Program (CCAP) cold weather shelter has been available from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. every night since November. On Thursday night, footprints in the snowy parking lot led to the front door of the former “middle Swanson’s” on Aberdeen Avenue. Once a grocery store, and for a short time, home to a collection of indoor shops, it’s now a cold weather shelter for homeless people.
The building can host more than 30 comfortably. The limit is 55, with social-distancing considerations. The cots are available every night on a first-come, first-served basis to adults age 18 or older. Bill Mullikin, the shelter programs manager, said they usually see between 10 to 25 people on a regular basis.
Thursday night, the lot held about a dozen cars, and several people pushing carts covered in a blue tarp.
Inside, a man who called himself Fog, shared his story. “I’ll be in my office over there,” he said while checking in, pointing to a single cot surrounded by a box outline of blue tape on the floor marking social distancing rules. His was the farthest-right square at the end.
Fog, who noted that he’s Patrick to his mother, moved to the area from Raymond about two years ago. He said his alcoholism aided in the loss of his income, marriage, and family connections. He’s been working on his sobriety and staying at the overnight shelter for the past couple of years. He said he appreciates the added availability this season, even though he doesn’t always stay there. Last year, a cold shelter in Aberdeen was open less predictably, depending on the weather and availability of volunteers.
“I have a space at the TASL,” he said, referring to the Temporary Alternative Shelter Location (TASL), a tent camp behind city hall in Aberdeen. “It’s good to know that this place is here, because the weather can be fickle here in Grays Harbor.” Fog says his experience there is “a whole other story.” Fog says he enjoys his homelessness. He spends most of his days “diggling about” as he puts it. He explains, “if you see something, say in a Dumpster or garbage that you want, but there’s a bunch of household garbage on top that you don’t want, you dig for it and then you wiggle [it] to get it out.”
Fog said he has family at the TASL, and most of his days at least include a visit to the site. He can usually be heard singing at the Gateway Plaza. He says with a smile, “I do a little bit for tips, but mostly being a musician I’m an ego-monster and I like to just force my art on everyone else if I can.” He also says with a smile that he can usually make enough money to get by and help out his friends.
Mullikin, the Shelter Programs Manager for Coastal Community Action Program, volunteered for several years when the cold weather shelter was not as well-funded, but the county’s funding meant hiring him as staff. Mullikin said this year, with the help of Curtis Steinhauer, Housing Coordinator for Grays Harbor County, they were able to fund the site every night from November to March first. A budget proposal last July submitted to the county commissioners was approved for funding of just over $80,000 to cover the shelter costs. Another $50,000 in federal CARES Act funding is going to the program.
“This year, several things happened” to bring the shelter together, Steinhauer said. They received the Emergency Solutions Grant which used CARES Act funding to help with the Aberdeen and Westport cold weather shelters for this winter. “Emergency shelters are expensive because of the staffing required,” he said, adding that Mullikin and his team were able to build a staffing model for the emergency shelter, which was key in procuring funding.
A lease agreement of the 55,000-square-foot space was reached with the Swanson family for $5,000 monthly.
Steinhauer said the county staff is grateful to Eric Veloni for helping make that happen.
