County Forest
Festival takes
to the street
PAGE A-3
Mason County
Thursda3 June 5, 2014 - Week 23 - The Voice of Mason County since 1886 -- $1
North Mason
School Board
terminates
Theler lease
Public "won't notice any
difference" in operation
By NATALIE JOHNSON
natalie@masoncounty, com
After months of financial
turmoil at the Mary E. The-
ler Community Center, the
North Mason School District
terminated the organization's
lease of the center and wet-
lands.
The center and wetlands
will remain open to the pub -
lic, said North Mason School
District Superintendent Da-
vid Peterson.
see THELER, page A-13
I i--
INSIDE TODAY
Opinion . Page A-4
Journal of Record Page A-17
Living Page A-19
Business News Page A-21
Obituaries Page A-22
Belfair Herald Page A-25
Sports Page B-I
Classifieds Page B-8
Legals Page B-9
Crossword Page B-12
Sudoku Page B-12
8 IIII!! !I!!II!!I!I!I!II II
TEEN HOMELESSNESS IN MASON COUNTY
'No place to go'
Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
Three faces of Shelton homelessness: Jesse Dowty, KeAndra Radchenko and Brenden Pippins began living on the
streets, in the woods, in cars, and on the couches of friends and relatives several years ago. All remain homeless.
Sheton youths 'thrown
into extreme circumstances"
By GORDON WEEKS
gordon@masoncounty, com
crowded house, but they might have to return to sleep-
ing in their car on the streets of downtown Shelton.
"There's no place to go," Pippins said. "You get in
trouble for staying in the parks, you get in trouble for
staying in the woods, you get in trouble for staying on
the benches. We can't hang around anywhere without
being harassed."
qCCe just can't afford you'
S
helton teenager Brenden Pippins
found nighttime shelter from the
rain huddled inside cardboard
recycling bins behind Evergreen
Landscaping and Fred Meyer.
Homeless at 18, Jesse Dowty occasionally slept in a
tent in the trees behind Les Schwab on Olympic High-
way North. "It was freezing cold, and loud," he said.
"It's a two-minute walk from the freeway."
KeAndra Radchenko's mother was addicted to meth
and other drugs, forcing her as a child to clean and feed
her two younger sisters. Radchenko ran away to the
streets of Olympia at 12 and downtown Seattle a year
later before returning to on-and-off homelessness in
Shelton at 16.
In February, Radchenko earned her high school di-
ploma at CHOICE Alternative School's midyear gradu-
ation ceremony. As the graduating class speaker, she
eloquently shared her struggles. Today, she owns a di-
ploma, but has no home.
Radchenko and Pippins -- partners for three years--
recently spent a few days sleeping at her grandmother's
The Shelton School District tracks homeless youths to
receive federal money for programs to serve them. For the
2012-2013 school year, the district counted 374 homeless
children and youths, 9 percent of the district's students.
Thirty-eight were high school juniors, and 62 high
school seniors. Wayne Massie, superintendent of the
Shelton School District, says students often say they've
been kicked out of their houses.
"You get that feeling it's, 'Gosh, we just can't afford
you anymore. You're on your own,' "Massie said.
The problem is national: a record 1.1 million stu-
dents attending public schools in the United States
were homeless in 2013, according to the U.S. Depart-
ment of Education. The number of homeless students
increased 10 percent from 2012 to 2013, from 1,065,794
to 1,168,354. Forty-three states reported increases.
Of the 374 homeless students attending Shelton
schools in 2012-2013:
• Eighty-seven lived in shelters.
• Fifty were "unsheltered," which means they lived
in abandoned buildings, campgrounds, vehicles, parks,
temporary trailers, FEMA shelters, bus stations, sub-
standard or inadequate housing, or on the "street."
see HOMELESS, page A-14
