Editor,

During a panel discussion on homelessness last week, the question was asked why a church hasn’t yet opened a shelter.

In Oak Harbor, we’ve seen homeless persons on our streets for some time and the situation looks like it is getting worse. We will have a better idea of the number of homeless when Island County conducts their Point-in-Time Count on Jan. 26.

During last year’s Point-in-Time, the county counted 222 homeless, 153 of them unsheltered. This count also showed 38 percent of the county’s unsheltered are in the Oak Harbor area.

What we didn’t have until just recently are some hard facts about homelessness from the Island County Housing Support Center which opened its doors last August. Their task is to account for persons that are homeless and at risk of being homeless in our county — many that are just one paycheck away from being unsheltered.

From Aug. 8 through Dec. 31, the support center registered 285 households — a household is defined as a family, two adults that live together, or a single adult. Of the 285 households, the county was able to find housing for eight and referred 102 to other supportive services such as Opportunity Council. That leaves 175 households on the county’s “housing interest list” of which 63 are households with children.

We have a crisis here on Whidbey. In spite of apathy, a not-in-my-backyard attitude, those that think we are attracting the homeless with services, and a city unwilling to supply more basic services to our homeless, a group of volunteers came forward with a plan. Part of that plan is asking local churches to open their doors as temporary shelters. We are hoping this will happen soon, but it isn’t enough.

I ask you to own these facts about our community, to volunteer your time and resources, to put pressure on our city leaders and to attend the next Community Conversation on Homelessness 1 p.m. on Feb. 7 at the Oak Harbor First United Methodist Church. If you don’t have the time, you can donate money to the Whidbey Homeless Coalition through Peoples Bank. The nonprofit organization is working as fast and as effectively as they can to help North Whidbey open a shelter. Yes, it is only a Band-Aid to the larger issue of why we have homelessness but I know we, as a community, can do better than this.

Mary Williford

Oak Harbor