Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I am a 31-year South Whidbey resident. I run a 36-year non-profit meal program in Seattle that serves 2 million meals annually. I offer my credentials to underscore my deep roots on this Island that I love - and my long commitment to supporting those who struggle with food and housing insecurity.

I recently read that it is a sellers’ market on Whidbey and that the median price range for a house is $650K to $760K. Rentals are an average of $1,466 for 900 square feet of living space, with one bedroom, a tiny bathroom and a kitchenette. No animals allowed.

By comparison:

• Seattle minimum wage: $20.76

• Seattle living wage (single, no children): $30.83

• Whidbey minimum wage: $16.66

• Whidbey living wage (single, no children): $23.69

We have outpriced our children and their children, who still want to call Whidbey their home. Our elders struggle to afford the cost of living on the Island that has been their home for decades. We do not have a homeless crisis, because Whidbey IS their home - we have a housing and shelter crisis.

Too often, it is assumed that if a person is unsheltered they must be an addict, an alcoholic, uneducated, lazy, unemployed, or beyond help. After 36 years of working with people struggling with poverty, I know these beliefs are inaccurate, unfair, biased, uneducated, judgmental, uninformed and harmful.

Nobody wakes up one day and says, “I can’t wait to live on a park bench”. The stories and reasons are myriad, and heartbreakingly graphic and real.

Yes, there are those who have substance use disorder. Others self-medicate to manage untreated trauma or mental health challenges. There are veterans and victims of domestic violence with PTSD, those who are brilliant but did not have the funding for continued education, young adults who have out-aged foster care without support, those who only receive minimum wage even though they deserve more, and those broken by a system that has failed them.

They are children, youth, young adults, middle aged, and elders. They are all of us, and a part of us.

They are part of our community, yet we literally turn our backs on the young man living on a bench in Freeland, or the person sleeping in the doorway in Langley. The elderly woman pushing a shopping cart in Oak Harbor with all of her belongings, or the veteran experiencing a PTSD mental health crisis in Coupeville, released from the hospital, with no home to go to. The children who have to sleep in their Mom’s car, do you know who they are? The veteran that has PTSD, the physically and mentally abused woman, do you recognize them?

The Whidbey Homeless Coalition operates:

• The Haven, which shelters and feeds 30 people each night.

• The House of Hope in Langley, which can shelter four small families, up to 15 people.

I write this with incredulity. For the entirety of Whidbey, an Island that has a population of 70,000 people, we have emergency shelter for up to 45 people. Let that sink in…

Now, due to decreased trickle-down federal support to our State and County, the Whidbey Homeless Coalition is in financial crisis. They may be forced to close. This would be devastating for the entire Island community. This affects us all.

Up and down the Island, there are hundreds of people living unsheltered in Clinton, Langley, Freeland, Greenbank, Coupeville, and Oak Harbor. With decreased funding Whidbey Homeless Coalition needs our collective generous support. The cost of shelter - including power, water, transportation, job placement, counseling, and nutrient dense meals, is high. However, the cost of doing nothing is higher.

Providing shelter for a growing population of Island residents that live unsheltered is not just a humanitarian concern, it is a preventative safety measure. Shelter and food security is an issue that affects us all.

Standing in solidarity with the Whidbey Homeless Coalition, the organization that I lead has helped with funding and we hope to assist in raising the $100,000 needed to cover the Coalition’s current deficit.

Support for Whidbey’s homeless shelters—and the long-term goal of building more affordable housing—is critical to the health and well-being of our Island.

Donations via website: whidbeyhomeless.org/donate or via checks:

WHC

P.O. Box 453

Langley, WA, 98260

Thank you in advance for your care, your support, and your generosity.

 
Beverly Graham       
CEO          
OSL Serves              
www.oslserves.org