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Page A-16 - Mason County Journal - Thursday, June 5, 2014
TEEN HOMELESSNESS IN MASON COUNTY
How can we help?
Some suggest expanding
HOSTprogram a solution
By GORDON WEEKS
gordon@masoncoun com
How can homeless teens in Shel-
ton be served better?
The consensus: a roof over their
heads is essential.
%Ve need housing options for
teens who are not living with their
parent or guardian," said Gail
Straus, who works with homeless
students as the director of federal
programs and Early Childhood
Education with the Shelton School
District. "Although we have the
HOST program, a supervised teen
shelter with sleeping and shower
facilities is needed."
The HOST program supports
homeless youths between the ages
of 18 and 21 by providing tempo-
rary housing, monthly stipends,
case management and job shadow
opportunities.
Homeless teens would also be
better served with a daytime drop-
in place in Shelton, Straus said.
%Ve need a teen center that
would not only serve homeless
teens, but also teens who are at-
risk," she said. "I envision a center
that would be a place where adult
mentor support and tutoring could
be provided, but would also offer
healthy and safe recreation options
(such as) art classes, a climbing
wall, support groups, etc."
And, "We need adult mentors to
help teens who have dropped out or
are at risk of dropping out of school
reconnect with the school system,"
Straus said.
Toby Kevin, a member of the
Community Lifeline board of di-
rectors, recommends channeling
efforts into Shelten School District
programs.
"They could use a lot more re-
sources to serve the needs of the
300 or so homeless kids the system
is aware of," he said. 'orking in
concert with CHOICE Alterna-
tive School, they can get kids back
in school, and/or keep them there,
which in turn can put them in the
situation where they can be more
productive and eventually afford
housing. All of these can use more
resources: ftmds, overt leadership
by city and county government, and
simply more volunteers."
Kevin added, "Programs like
Youth Empowerment Strategies
are just scratching the surface and
are getting lukewarm support from
all but a few in government. These
programs need funds, volunteers
and help with organization and
business management."
As for the HOST program, "Any-
one can volunteer for this, assuming
they have space and other circum-
stances that allow it," he said.
Jerry Eckenrode, owner of KMAS
Radio in Shelton, agrees.
"There are existing programs like
HOST in the community that work.
How do we build on the programs
that are working?" she asked.
City of Shelten officials can also
step up, Eckenrode said.
"The city could better serve the
homeless teens by demonstrating
leadership through recognizing
homeless teens are a problem in the
city of Shelton," she said. "Then be-
gin to address the problem by em-
ploying city, business, community
and teen leaders -- both homeless
and teen leaders in school -- to
identify the causes of the homeless
situation and seek potential resolu-
tions."
Teen homelessness "is a problem
locally as well as nationally," said
Lt. Les Watson, interim police chief
for the city of Shelton.
"We have organizations here that
help in ways within their means,
but unfortunately the issue per-
sists," he said. "My first thoughts
on this are to back up for a second
and take a look back in time to what
precipitated the situation of home-
lessness."
He added, "Educating our kids to
the importance of focusing on their
future at an early age, I think, is
imperative. There are kids whose
circumstances put them at a great
disadvantage no matter their choic-
es -- that's certhJnly sad -- but oth-
ers who made bad choices along the
way that contribute significantly to
their situation of homelessness."
Cat Ross, executive director of
North Mason Resource in Belfair,
stresses that Mason County's home-
lessness challenges are not confined
to Shelton.
"Here in the north part of the
county, a shelter would help," she
said. 'qNe have 97 homeless stu-
dents in the North Mason School
District. Shelton has its own home-
less and a great teen program (with)
HOST homes. If we could expand
this program to help our teens in
the north end, it would be great."
Money isn't available to create a
HOST office in North Mason, Ross
said.
"HOST homes would expand
if there was money to pay a living
wage for those that help the teens,"
she said. "Plus incentive money, as
many of these students need ad-
ditional items most teens take for
granted."
Homeless: Student graduates CHOICE
continued from page A-15
job interview.
"I was really lost... After time, I
got used to it," he said.
He ate at the soup kitchen and
the community meals offered by
Community Lifeline, and stole food
from a Shelten grocery stere. He
was banned from a coffeehouse for
using its bathroom; he used the re-
strooms at the armory building un-
til it closed.
Dowty found shelter from the
storms at the Starbuck's section in
Safeway, and inside the Shelton
Civic Center. He said police cut
holes in his tent behind Les Schwab,
to let the rain in.
Shelton needs "a place to go
during the day when it's cold out,"
Dowty said. The city also needs no-
income and low-income housing,
housing programs for young people,
and someone to organize one drop-
in site that would offer all the re-
sources, he said.
After a year of homelessness,
Dowty said his family decided to
help him. They found a downtown
apartment and paid the down pay-
ment, while HOST helped pay his
rent.
Dowty said his first night in his
own home was "extremely quiet."
He rolled out his sleeping bag and
slept on the floor.
Two months ago, Dowty was
talking about plans to return to
CHOICE Alternative School to com-
Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
Despite being homeless off and
on since she was 12, KeAndra
Radchenko graduated from
CHOICE Alternative School in
February. She told her stow
as the student speaker at the
graduation ceremony. At 18,
she remains homeless.
plete his GED, and perhaps contin-
ue his education to become a history
teacher.
Instead, he lost his apartment,
and is homeless again.
KeANDRA
Radchenko said her mother
used methamphetamine and other
drugs, leaving her to fend for her
two younger sisters and herself.
"I was the one who was feeding
them and cleaning them," she said.
When Radchenko was 12, she
and a friend ran away to Olympia; a
year later, they were wandering the
streets of downtown Seattle.
The two girls begged for money
on the streets, and were often ha-
rassed, Radchenko said. An old
homeless man showed the girls
where they could sleep: inside the
pedestrian bridge to the ferry ter-
minal.
As for Radchenko's family, "They
just thought I was being a rebellious
teenager," she said. She added, "I
didn't want to rat out my morn."
When Radchenko turned 16, her
father persuaded her to go back to
school. He died later that year of cir-
rhosis of the liver.
"My dad was like my idol," Rad-
chenko said. "He was my every-
thing."
Radchenko focused her energies
on school. She sometimes slept at
her grandmotheFs house, and for a
spell at a friend's apartment. Some
nights, she and Pippins slept inside
a heater-less car on the streets of
Shelton.
Radchenko recalls one specific
low point: sitting shoeless in the
car, with its hole in the floor, out
of gasoline and money. Parked on
downtown streets at night, passer-
bys knock on the window and ask,
"Are you OK in there?"
For income, Radchenko receives
$50 a month from HOST. Both she
and Pippins were on the community
committee that launched the pro-
gram; both serve as Youth in Action
youth leaders.
The community needs to "step
up" to help homeless teens, Rad-
chenko said.
"If Shelton helps us, we can help
Shelton."
BYTHE
NUMBERS
For the 2012-2013 school year
2,92
percent of K-12 students statewide
were homeless as defined by the
federal McKinney-Vento Act
percent of Shelton
School District students
who were is homeless
13.66
percent of Shelton
School District seniors who
were homeless
47°3
percent increase in
homeless students in Washington
during the past five years
30,609
students identified as homeless in
Washington in 2012-2013, an 11.8
percent increase from the previous
year, and the sixth consecutive
year of statewide increases
Student
homelessness
defined
The federal McKinney-Vinto Act defines
a student as homeless if he or she lacks
a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime
residence. This definition includes
children and youth living in shelters,
transitional housing, cars, campgrounds,
motels, and sharing the housing of
others temporarily due to loss of
housing, economic hardship
or similar reasons.
• Source: Washington state Office of
Superintendent of Public Instruction
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