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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 2021)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, AuguST 28, 2021 Homeless: Liaisons know the places their clientele haunt Continued from Page A1 The homeless liaisons — born of a recommenda- tion from Astoria’s home- lessness solutions task force and inspired by similar out- reach in other cities — were launched in spring. They work to connect the local homeless population with services that can assist them: food access, medical care, drug treatment, transportation, legal services, aid for veterans, places to get clean — all bending toward housing as the ultimate goal. They also introduce them to the state Department of Human Services, Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare and The Harbor, an organization that advocates for people who have faced sexual assault and domestic violence. According to Clatsop Community Action, since April the pair have logged about 2,000 miles in Paul’s blue Subaru Outback, which is packed with bottled water, snacks from the Astoria Food Pantry, spare blankets and clothing such as socks and underwear. The liaisons have reached out to about 90 peo- ple, many of them repeatedly. The average is about 14 con- tacts per day, Paul said. They’ve helped get seven people into the Merwyn, and a veteran into housing near the Astoria Aquatic Center, according to Viviana Mat- thews, the executive direc- tor of Clatsop Community Action. Matthews said at a May forum that the county had more than 1,000 people expe- riencing homelessness in 2020. “We’re talking about 1,000 people who are stay- ing in a place not meant for human habitation,” which includes streets, shelters and vehicles, she said. Home visits Paul said that having rela- tionships already in place from her warming center days made her new job “1,000 per- cent” easier. The liaisons know the Photos by Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian ABOVE: Cheryl Paul, left, and Jodi Anderson, right, check in with Bruce Zinzer at the Merwyn Apartments. Zinzer recently moved into an apartment with the help of the homeless liaisons. LEFT: A man sleeps on the ground at the Garden of Surging Waves. ‘I HAd ENOugH ARROgANCE, I guESS, TO THINK THAT I COuLd PuLL IT OFF ANd STAy THAT WAy FOR A WHILE — ANd dId FOR ABOuT A yEAR OR SO.’ Bruce Zinzer | a 71-year-old who recently moved into a fourth-floor studio apartment at the Merwyn. A long-retired claims adjustor, Zinzer had been living in his Lincoln Navigator, getting by on Social Security, camping at places like Saddle Mountain and across the river in Washington state places their clientele haunt — not just the high-profile hangouts, like Ninth Street Park and the Garden of Surg- ing Waves downtown, where a rising homeless presence has attracted attention, but the doorways where they take cover. “It is a home visit, but their home is outside,” Anderson said. Paul often knows who’s around by seeing a cart and its contents, or clothing and bedding left behind. She rec- ognized a woman from a dis- tance by the pink shoes she was wearing; they had come from Paul’s car. After the pair visited the Riverwalk, they drove through Astoria looking for two young women who have been strug- gling on the street, have even been beaten up. The liaisons wanted to see if anything was obviously wrong, if they were passed out on the sidewalk somewhere, but the women weren’t in their usual spots outside bars, banks or other establishments. En route to Seaside, the liaisons scoped out Warren- ton’s Premarq Center, but no one was there, nor was anyone at the restrooms behind the Seaside Carousel Mall. For many of the liaison’s regulars, it was simply too early. At one point, Paul and Anderson drove by the restrooms near the Seaside Chamber of Commerce. A group sheltering beneath the restrooms’ overhang was still tucked in; one of them lay within an improvised tent, an orange tarp draped over a bicycle. At a couple of sites — such as where avenues D and E meet behind Safeway — the liaisons left black trash bags, giving the people who dwell in the abutting thicket a means to pick up after themselves. At a homeless hotspot on Avenue E, where a sign reads, “No loitering or soliciting,” they handed out water and bus passes. A young woman asked for Q-tips; Paul said she would bring some next time. On Necanicum Drive, where people living out of trailers and campers park on either side of the road, Paul gave one woman who needs legal advice a card for the Ore- gon Law Center. When Paul knocked on another woman’s trailer door, she was greeted with a firm, “Go away!” Early in the job, the Seaside Police Department asked the liaisons to try persuading the nomads there to move along. For a time, they had accomplished it, but now the street is fill- ing up again, mostly with new arrivals. Some would-be encoun- ters have the potential to be problematic. There is, for example, a homeless camp near the Sea- side Depot on Alder Mill Ave- nue. Paul and Anderson have been advised by both Clatsop Community Action and Sea- side police not to enter with- out a police request or a police escort. And some people just give off a bad vibe. “I’m not going to approach them,” Paul said. ‘I had all my arrogance burned out of me’ Back in Astoria, they brought a shell-pink bath towel to Bruce Zinzer, a 71-year-old they recently helped move into a fourth-floor studio apartment at the Merwyn. A long-retired claims adjustor, Zinzer had been living in his Lincoln Navigator, getting by on Social Security, camping at places like Saddle Mountain and across the river in Wash- ington state. “I had enough arrogance, I guess, to think that I could pull it off and stay that way for a while — and did for about a year or so,” he said. But he ended up at the Astoria Warming Center. He had spent a handful of nights in the rain, exposed to the ele- ments. “It majorly sucked,” he said. He had slept behind the American Legion, then in a restroom. “Wow, what a pathetic life,” he marveled. “That’s when it started adding up to me,” he said. “I mean, it really didn’t take much to con- vince me that maybe I ought to get an apartment again.” “Anyway,” he added, “I had all my arrogance burned out of me.” The liaisons helped him narrow down housing options, fill out his lease and apply for deposit and utility assistance, brought him kitchenware and other provisions — every tool they could provide to make sure he stays housed. “You made the entire tran- sition possible, and way, way easier,” he told Paul and Anderson. Zinzer has enough street- level experience to know how much needs to be done to take even slight steps toward sta- bility — all while looking daily for a secure place to eat, use the bathroom and sleep undisturbed. And all amid a pandemic. “I would have been overwhelmed,” he told the liaisons. Just outside the Merwyn, the liaisons checked in with a man who suffers from Hun- tington’s disease, a brain disor- der. And they observed a guy sleeping in the sun in a cor- ner of the Garden of Surging Waves; he’s been on their outer radar, but Paul said it might be time to make overtures. Later in the week, the liai- sons found out what became of the man living in the bushes near Safeway. He is scheduled to move into his new apartment on Wednesday. 1981-2021 For 40 years Providence Seaside Hospital has been honored to be your partner in health. As we celebrate this milestone, we’re proud to continue our Mission of caring for all people, especially the underserved. We invest in the health of our North Coast communities and partner to support the needs of our neighbors because we care. Whether responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, partnering to protect people in crisis or providing transportation to medical appointments, Providence Seaside is always here for you. In 2020, we continued our tradition of compassion and dedication to our communities with Providence Seaside Hospital investing more than $16.2 million to improve community health. These targeted investments include $820,000 in community health services and $2.7 million in free and low-cost care. As we celebrate our 40th anniversary, we thank you for choosing Providence. Mostly, we thank you for being our friends and neighbors. We invite you to learn more about how we give back to the North Coast by visiting Providence.org/cares.
