Homeless Youth of Bellingham

In the April 2010 Point in Time Count for Whatcom County, about 1,334 homeless individuals were counted. About 515 of them, or 39 percent, are under the age of 18.
An individual counted may be part of a family household, or may be an unaccompanied individual. Gail de Hoog, housing specialist at the Whatcom County Health Department, said the Point in Time Count is a census of homeless people conducted every year by Whatcom County in order to receive federal funds.
She said the count is required by the Washington State Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an organization aimed toward increasing access to affordable housing free from discrimination.

Youth in Numbers
According to the count, 230 homeless persons are 16 to 21 years old and at least 55 homeless youth, age zero to 17, are unaccompanied. The median age of all homeless persons is 20, while the median age of unaccompanied homeless persons is 34.
Whatcom County’s count information, http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/health/, states that youth may become homeless due to family problems, economic problems and residential instability.
Some youth become homeless with their families, while others leave home because of physical and sexual abuse, strained relationships, neglect from parents, addiction of a family member, or their own chemical addiction, according to the count information.
Twenty-two-year old Cole McLaughlin said he has lived in Happy Valley for a year, but has never encountered homeless youth in the neighborhood.
“Just because you don’t see these homeless people, doesn’t mean they aren’t out there,” McLaughlin said.
He said he thinks it would be hard to face others his age who were doing a lot better, especially being close to a university with a lot of students around.

Some Tell their Story
Patrick Brown, 18, is from Bellingham and said he has been homeless since he was 15 years old. He said he started doing crystal methamphetamine at this age and his mom kicked him out of the house.
“At age 16 I was clean,” Brown said. “But then I got into psychedelics [drugs] and Mary Jane [marijuana].”
Brown said he is part of a group with six other homeless individuals he considers family. He said they call themselves “Juggalos” and each member is firm about being there for those that are part of the group.
Patrick “JP” Dangell, 21, is also part of the Juggalo group and has been homeless since he was 14 years old. Dangell did not say how he became homeless.
Brown said he is close with Dangell and they have been homeless together for four years. Brown calls Dangell the “Senior Juggalo.”
Dangell sometimes wears face paint like a clown.
“It scares the public away,” he said. “We can just be ourselves and do what we want, whenever we want.”
He said the members of the group teach each other to be true to themselves and to live life to the fullest.
Hue Beattie, 63, said he has lived in Happy Valley since 1973 and has encountered one homeless woman in her 40s living out of her car.
Beattie said he thinks homeless people would be in downtown Bellingham rather than residential areas because there is more to do and more people to talk to.
As far as homeless youth, “That’s a topic I’ve never really thought about,” he said.

Helping the Youth
Since the young people that are homeless tend to be more hypersensitive and reserved about the matter, de Hoog said the department doesn’t know enough about these individuals to help them.
De Hoog said there a lot of young people that have nowhere to go. It is important to focus on and figure out housing for young people, de Hoog said.
“They are the future and they are the ones going to have babies,” she said.
The Northwest Youth Services is a non-profit organization that aids youth and young adults in Whatcom and Skagit County, according to its website http://www.nwys.org/. The organization provides programs and resources to help runaway, homeless, abused, neglected and other at-risk youth and young adults.
Cathy Beaty has been part of Northwest Youth Services for 14 ½ years and is now the Teen Court coordinator for the organization. She said Teen Court is a court for youth, age 18 and younger, to receive consequences for their actions without convictions or criminal records.
Beaty said the organization’s primary program is housing, transitional and permanent. Transitional living helps ages 18-21 subsidize their monthly costs, while permanent housing is more independent and helps ages 18-25 who have bad credit or criminal history, she said.
“We help them with the little stuff too – balancing checkbooks, how to cook and preparing them for job interviews,” Beaty said.