Tonight when we go to sleep in our warm beds, there will be people in Kent who will be sleeping outside, in doorways, on benches, in cars. And tomorrow when we wake up, they will still be outside in the weather, walking the streets of Kent, looking for shelter and warmth.
The homeless are not limited to the chronic substance abuser panhandling and sleeping in doorways. They are single mothers living in cars with children. They are families in the woods praying that they will not lose their children. They are your neighbors who have lost their job and then their home, and are now couch-surfing with family and friends.
Some have mental issues that are a barrier to reaching out for help. Some are veterans, some are women who are victims of domestic violence. Homelessness is not a choice. Who would choose a lifestyle that is unhealthy, dangerous, stressful and humiliating?
The One Night Count documented 104 persons sleeping outside in Kent on Jan. 27, and the Kent School District documents 331 homeless children in the schools. We know the numbers are really much higher.
Each human being deserves a safe place to stay out of the elements. A place where basic needs can be met, where they are treated with respect and compassion and encouraged to grow. A place where food does not come from a Dumpster. Few of us can imagine true hunger and constant fear.
KentHOPE is a group of your neighbors – from social service agencies, businesses and faith communities – who think that allowing humans to live in such a manner is intolerable. We choose to do something about it and already are serving the homeless through dinners and outreach programs.
We have asked to lease the publicly-owned Kent Resource Center building at 315 E. Meeker to establish a day center, not only for shelter, but as an entry point for accessing services and resources, i.e. job-search, counseling, life skills education.
We submitted a proposal, with several other organizations, last year to lease the building. All the proposals were turned down because of lack of funding. We began to seek funding, and late last year, Union Gospel Mission offered to be our fiscal sponsor and to help us in our endeavor. We also were joined by Valley Cities, an agency that has been in Kent for many years. UGM and Valley Cities are no strangers to Kent as they both provide services in and within the downtown area.
KentHOPE and Union Gospel Mission will be completely responsible for the operational costs of the center. We are not asking the city for any money. We’re only asking to lease the building, which would continue to be the property of the city of Kent.
The city of Kent, at the last City Council meeting, announced the process to determine the use of the Kent Resource Center. Through focus groups of business people, neighborhood associations and faith communities, they will determine the feelings of the Kent community and use their input to design a call for proposal for the Kent Resource Center building.
KentHOPE will submit yet another proposal – our third in the space of under a year and await the panel’s decision at the end of June.
Fear of the stranger, the unknown in all of us, causes us to react rather than understand. Please give this matter thoughtful consideration, embrace education, join us in striving for a healthy community for all of Kent.
– Pat Gray
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