SEASIDE, Ore — A coastal homeless camp hidden behind a Seaside recycling center is a shell of what it once was. The aftermath of the recent atmospheric rivers is not only seen but felt.
“Water was running right through my tent, and I have nothing again,” said Carrie Covey who’s camped at the site for several months. The city has allowed people to camp there for the past few years.
“All the trash floats so it floated towards the river into the bushes and everywhere,” added Robert who also camps there and was raking up some of that trash Tuesday morning. “Everybody’s getting soaked all the time,” he said.
With the rainstorms in Seaside come flooding and extreme high winds follow. The city is in the process of moving the homeless people a few hundred feet away to higher ground.
“As the closer they get to our facility, the worse it gets,” said Doc Shaw, who owns the auto repair shop right next to the new site.
“Nobody ever said that they were moving this here; it seems like the city has done this over and over again,” Shaw continued.
“It wouldn’t have done us much good to get input from the neighborhood because we understand the neighborhood is not going to want it, and we can understand that,” Spencer Kyle Seaside city manager said. Kyle added that they’re feeling the pressure from all sides to quickly find a solution.
“The state has required us to have a location for our homeless to locate so we’re complying with the state’s mandate," Kyle said.
He admitted that there is not enough room in the new site, the one that’s not prone to flooding for all the homeless people in Seaside. The number fluctuates between 30 and 50. Next week, the city hopes to have room for seven more tents in the new site, along with buying other land for even more tents.
“There needs to be a few more resources,” said Lindsey Morrison who runs a local nonprofit. Morrisson believes the city desperately needs a permanent overnight warming center but there is not enough funding.
“You can’t count on them to be open when a storm comes,” she said of the current warming center model.
“The only place that’s consistent would be erecting their own tent in our campsite,” added Kyle.
It’s an answer people like Shaw are tired of hearing.
“Some customers went away because they’re worried about what’s happening, so I’m losing business. When are we going to stop just throwing something at it and start looking for the right fix?” Shaw said.
Almost everyone involved from the neighbors to the homeless people call this situation a mess, but unfortunately, it all comes down to money. The city of Seaside and the nonprofits that help people experiencing homelessness there don’t have enough.
KGW is told the city is reviewing a proposal to the state to get more funding for a warming center and that a hotel is in the process of being turned into transitional housing. However, like most things when it comes to housing, that will all take time.
What is also taking time are the 15 tiny homes meant for homeless people. Back in October, the city manager told KGW they were waiting on the nonprofit that’s running that project to submit their building plans. KGW asked the city manager for an update Tuesday, and he said they’re still waiting on those plans.