On the third Thursday of January, housing and homelessness service providers from across Lewis County unite.
Held for the first time in person since 2019, a vendor fair at the Blue Pavilion in the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds welcomes homeless and housed individuals alike who may be strapped for certain resources such as food, socks, toothbrushes or even just human connection, said Holly Renner, a child care provider at Gather Church in Centralia.
The fair is held the same week as the county and the state’s “Point in Time Count,” which is a census for the homeless population. The census lasts five days and determines where people were sleeping on the night of Jan. 26. Volunteers and workers interview individuals to determine their level of safety, shelter, housing history, length of time spent homeless, income, health, age, substance use, veteran status, pets, criminal history, family members and any other potential risk factors. This data is used by the Department of Commerce and local agencies for the rest of the year on a multitude of projects.
Meja Handlen, director of Lewis County Public Health & Social Services, said the services fair lightens the load on census workers, allowing them to interview people on where they’ll sleep that night.
Before the event began at 10 a.m. on Thursday, she told the vendors: “We’re here to serve people who really are our community members and are really valued,” adding the goal was to give them not just resources, but “hope.”
After wrapping up around 2 p.m., Handlen said there were 157 attendees who were living at various levels of sheltered. For reference, the point in time count from 2019 saw 161 individuals, 2020 saw 142 and 2022 saw 120. The census did not take place in 2021.
This year’s data will not be finalized until May, but a rough estimate may be available in late February, Handlen told The Chronicle.
The census has been going on since about 2003. And while it is a requirement across the state, the project’s roots are right here in Lewis County.
Ruth Gutierrez, director of the Lewis County Housing Resource Center, was working with her partner at the time as a consultant for the Housing Authority in Thurston County. When the state Department of Commerce wanted to start more in-depth data collection on the homeless population of Washington, they went to her.
In 2009, Gutierrez helped establish the vendor fair, “Project Homeless Service Connect,” which is now run by the county.
“This was my first time having a table,” she said, later adding, “I’ve been doing this gig for a long time. … I’m not taking credit for the whole (thing) — there were multiple numbers of people involved in developing the census.”
As someone involved in housing services since the 1990s, Gutierrez said there are certainly times she feels disappointed or frustrated. But, over time, she’s learned to celebrate every victory her clients share. What seems small to someone who’s housed, she said, may be huge for a client.
“I like to hear people’s stories,” Gutierrez said. “You have to have a passion — some sort of passion. And you have to have an understanding that people aren’t all the same.”
Likewise for Renner, who has been participating in the services fair since it was established, many of the clients coming through on Thursday were people she recognized and knew had been homeless since 2009, at least.
But she had no doubt the event was helpful nonetheless.
While services have varied depending on availability, she said, over the years the event has offered haircuts, clothes, meals and even vaccinations for pets.
“For a lot of people on the streets or even housed, their pets are another comfort,” Renner said. “It would be like losing a person if they lost their pet, so that’s very important to us.”
And whether it’s a pet-saving shot or simply a free pen that someone is walking away with, Renner said, “These are people coming in just to know that they're loved and valued and somebody does care about them.”
