Bellevue Shelter at YMCA gives young adults a break from street
"I get up, whenever, like, I can't sleep anymore, because you know, it's like you get to a point where you get so cold you can't go back to sleep," he said, taking a drag from a cigarette and leaning against the back of the bus shelter.
Will, who said he's from Kirkland, has been homeless about eight months. He said his father kicked him out of the house last year. He then went to live with his mother but said his stepfather kicked him out, too, when he turned 18.
Will is one of about 200 homeless young people on the Eastside on any given night. The estimate is based on the number who go to shelters in Seattle and say they're from the Eastside, said Bill Goldsmith of the King County Department of Community and Human Services. The actual number is likely higher, said Goldsmith, since many homeless youth choose not to go to shelters.
Unlike the street kids on The Ave in Seattle's University District, the homeless young people of the Eastside aren't easy to spot. Anti-loitering laws keep them moving and make finding places to sleep difficult. Some spend nights in their cars or crash on friends' couches. Others make homes out of abandoned houses.
Last month, another option opened up: The Landing, a one-night-a-week shelter for 18- to 23-year-olds at the Bellevue YMCA. Besides a bed for the night, the program offers homeless young adults a place to shower, do laundry, grab a bite to eat and find an open ear.
Before The Landing, the only shelters on the Eastside were for pregnant women, teens younger than 18 and men 18 and older. Street people who didn't fall into those categories had to go to Seattle shelters or find alternatives, said Jaida Mangold of Friends of Youth, the nonprofit Redmond agency working with the YMCA on this project
Young men often resist going to men's shelters, Mangold said, because they're not comfortable with the older men who also use them.
The Landing is the brainchild of Troi Coram, program manager for Friends of Youth's Emergency Shelters and Street Outreach Program and a longtime activist for at-risk young people.
"The homeless population is one of the most vulnerable in our society," Coram said. "It's almost impossible to get an education or a job when you're worrying about where you're going to sleep at night.
"We continued to hear that there was nothing on the Eastside for homeless young adults, and yet there was a growing need. In the midst of great affluence, it can be hard to accept that we have youth sleeping under bridges," she said.
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"If we have to take them from one community and provide them with services in another community," she said, "you just don't have any support. If we can keep them in this community and provide services, we have a better ability to get them hooked up in a stable, safe living environment."
The shelter opens at 9 p.m. Wednesdays, an hour before the YMCA closes. Volunteers set up cots and blankets in the children's room, down the hall from the teen and senior center where the young people can grab a snack, listen to music, watch TV and talk with Friends of Youth workers about their options: returning home, going into transitional housing, continuing their education and finding jobs.
"Most of these kids don't know there are gobs of resources out there for them: clothing for interviews, writing résumés, all of that," said Cheri Pamer, a YMCA employee and shelter volunteer.
That only a few young people have used the shelter on the five nights it's been open doesn't surprise or discourage volunteers.
These homeless young people "have to build up a trust, and word has to get out that we don't have any ulterior motive except to provide shelter to some adults who need it," said Collette Hill, another YMCA worker and volunteer.
"We're not here to check their background; we're not here to interrogate them. We want them to be someplace safe where they can get a good night's rest and get some resources to better their situation."
To ensure the safety of volunteers and guests, bags are checked for weapons and drugs. A volunteer or Friends of Youth worker sits outside the room where the homeless sleep in case there are problems.
"That's another part of keeping the young adults safe," McBride said. "They want to know that their cot mates or someone across the room doesn't have guns and isn't using drugs."
While the response from the homeless young-adult population has been cautious, volunteers have seen enthusiastic support for the program from the community.
"A lot of Y members started hearing that we're doing this, and they've been bringing blankets, towels, personal-hygiene items, food," Pamer said.
They're also donating their time. The Landing is staffed by six to seven people every Wednesday night, including one Friends of Youth worker who oversees the operation, two case managers from Friends of Youth, and three to four volunteers from Friends and the YMCA.
Startup expenses and building costs are being taken care of by the YMCA, said Trish Coleman, the center's administrative director. And they're talking to a local grocery about getting donated food.
The shelter will be evaluated after 90 days, Coleman said, to see if the program is meeting its goal and what needs to be adjusted.
"Nobody's in this for the short term," Pamer said.
Angela Lo can be reached at 206-464-3206 or alo@seattletimes.com.