As recently reported in The Columbian, a housing hotline provided by Council for the Homeless in Clark County gets on average 130 to 180 calls a day. A small team with lived experiences that include homelessness and housing insecurity answers callers’ requests for help seven days a week. They share resources such as shelters with available space for the night or the locations of warming or cooling centers activated during extreme weather events. Some callers may also be facing eviction or homelessness for the first time or are trying to escape situations of domestic violence.
According to supervisor Guy Hardy, the demand for the hotline’s services remains high amid the recent decline in federal housing assistance. President Trump’s budget request for the fiscal year starting on Oct. 1 slashes the Housing and Urban Development agency’s budget by more than 40%. In addition to cuts to rental assistance, it seeks to replace money allocated for housing vouchers with state block grants and impose two-year limits for people in public housing.
Hardy and Sunny Wonder, chief operating officer at Council for the Homeless, join us to talk about the housing hotline and what its calls reveal about the housing and homelessness crisis in Clark County and the region.
Note: The following transcript was transcribed digitally and validated for accuracy, readability and formatting by an OPB volunteer.
Dave Miller: From the Gert Boyle Studio at OPB, this is Think Out Loud. I’m Dave Miller. If you are experiencing homelessness in Clark County or at risk of becoming homeless, there is a number to call. As recently reported in The Columbian, the Council for the Homeless in Clark County operates a housing hotline. It gets a lot of calls, anywhere from 130 to 180 every day. Guy Hardy manages the hotline. Sunny Wonder is the chief operating officer at Council for the Homeless. They both join me now. It’s great to have both of you on the show.
Sunny Wonder: Thank you. Glad to be here.
Guy Hardy: Thanks for having us.
Miller: Sunny, first – how long has the nonprofit had this hotline?
Wonder: The Council for the Homeless was an agency that was created back in 1989 by the Vancouver Housing Authority, the city of Vancouver, as well as Clark County. Early on, Clark County, the city of Vancouver and the Housing Authority recognized the need for responding to homelessness in the community. Admittedly, back in 1989, homelessness looked a lot different, but it was originally created and was the Shelter Clearinghouse. So it really was meant to take the burden off of folks and make sure that we collectively, the service providers, were the ones that were doing the work. So folks were able to connect to shelters by calling a hotline number. Again, it was called the Shelter Clearinghouse at that time.
Miller: How has it evolved over time, this hotline?
Hardy: I got on board at the tail end of the COVID in 2020. It was directed automatically, because of COVID, through the hotline phones. So that was more promoted. Usually, there was some in-person action before then, but with the availability of phones for folks nowadays, it just makes more sense to make that line more available to everybody.
Miller: What was it like to be … Were you answering the phone during the COVID pandemic?
Hardy: I was, yeah.
Miller: What was it like?
Hardy: It was pretty wild with the volume of folks calling in. At that particular time, we did have a lot more resources to help folks directly, right then and there. It was all day, every day, busy right from start of the day to the end of the day.
Miller: My understanding is that you used to work as a 9-1-1 operator. Are there similarities?
Hardy: Yeah, there are some parallels in that you’re hearing some very vulnerable stories and speaking in crisis. But like the biggest one I make is that working at 911, you’re the first first responder for emergency services, and that’s kind of how I feel about our hotline. We’re the first first responders for the homeless community.
Miller: Can you give us a sense for the range of the reasons people are calling you?
Hardy: Yeah, it could be folks who are literally living out on the streets. It could be people who have jobs sleeping in their vehicles, people that are facing evictions for the first time. And with the housing crisis the way it is right now, that’s picking up more and more. We get a lot of folks who are fleeing DV [domestic violence] looking for resources as well.
Miller: All different situations you’ve just described for which I suppose the interventions, response or services could be different. But let’s say, for example, that you said that people facing potential eviction is on the rise now. If that’s what somebody calls about – “I’m afraid I’m not gonna be able to make rent this month and I’ve already heard from my landlord that I have no more chances” – where do you even start?
Hardy: [I start by] just having a candid conversation about the situation and what they’re facing, trying to see what kind of resources they’ve already reached out to and what they have available to them. And then just helping them maybe navigate the system by suggesting some legal services that would be available to them. But having the conversation is the best starting point. You learn a lot about it and figure out ways to direct them.
Miller: Sunny, it seems like one of the key points here is that the hotline is only going to work if you have a really good sense for the services that are available for people in all kinds of different circumstances. How do you, as a nonprofit, stay on top of all of that?
Wonder: That’s a great question and I think it is ever evolving. One of the pieces is that we are in regular communication. On our website, we have our Clark County Resource Guide, and it is this resource that service providers use and are regularly asking about. We’re meant to be that entry point into the system, so it is this constant evolving need to figure out what the new resources are. We’re regularly having conversations. If we meet someone in the community, it is, “hey, I want to connect with you to understand what that looks like.”
One of the challenges that we have, as you noted at the start of this conversation, is we receive a lot of calls. When we are sharing a resource that’s really important to us, we’re finding a balance between [whether] they are prepared for the level of need that is coming their way. So if it is a resource that can handle the capacity of five folks a day, we want to be really careful and thoughtful about who we’re sending to them. So that’s that evolving balance of making sure that we understand that. A lot of folks reach out and say, “we’ve run out of this resource and folks are calling us, please don’t share this information out,” because it’s been used up so quickly, for example.
Miller: And then might they call the next day and say, “OK, actually we can see three new clients today, so we’re available again?”
Wonder: Yes. So it is really that moment by moment kind of information tracking. Often, as a system, we’re a relatively small community, but making sure that we’re understanding who is doing what and, again, if new resources come up that we’re having conversations. Often, Guy and I will be having a conversation on, “Hey, if we share this information out, we want to make sure we’re thoughtful with it. Are you prepared for that?” And absolutely, they might send us an email and say, “hey, we can take a few more folks” or “we’ll reach out when we’re able to take on more.”
Miller: What about something like a domestic violence shelter? I mean, is there a backend way for you to know that they have spots, say, for a mom and two kids, or do you have to just call them up to find that out?
Wonder: So we do operate our Homeless Management Information System. It is a system in which we work very hard to ensure that we’re only collecting information that we need to collect. That is getting an accurate capture of folks experiencing homelessness. It’s really important that we’re not duplicating services. So that is one way in which we’re able to send referrals. Shelters can open up referral spots in that system and then we can send a referral over. It makes it a little bit simpler.
With domestic violence, it’s really important that we’re being very, very careful with privacy. I will say we work very closely with our partners on the local nonprofit that is providing services, the local YWCA. And we wouldn’t necessarily have that information because it’s really important that we’re not also seeing that information. So it does look a little bit different depending on the population that is being served. But they are fantastic about sharing that out with us and when they do have openings.
Miller: And Guy, can you directly connect callers to these services? Or, in the end, for the most part, are you saying, “OK, before we say goodbye, get a pen and paper, and I’m gonna give you these numbers to call?” I guess I’m just wondering how much you can directly connect people to the services they most need, as opposed to saying, “here are the numbers, good luck?”
Hardy: Right. There’s a little bit of combination of both, depending on the situation. But, we’re happy to make connections for people. We can’t obviously do the follow-up work with them and see the other side of it. But a lot of it is, “You have something to write with? I’m gonna give you this information. Here’s who to ask for. These are the best times to call or go into the office.” And then, maybe follow up with that agency and maybe give them a heads up even.
Miller: So you might do that to say, “hey, I talked to somebody and they may call you?”
Hardy: Yeah, and sometimes we work with some outreach workers as well, in the community. That’s a big help. Like I personally will do that if I’m reaching out for shelter for somebody. I’m trying to track somebody down, which with some cleanups in the city, it gets a little harder to find people. And they’re a big help with that too.
Miller: Oh, someone might say, this is where I’ve been living, on this corner, this encampment. If they volunteer that, then you could send an outreach person there, but by the time the outreach person comes, they may have been swept or moved along?
Hardy: That happens more frequently than we’d like, that’s true.
Miller: Do you ever feel sort of powerless? You’re getting these stories of trauma and people who are suffering. You’re relatively limited in what you can offer and provide. I’m wondering how you handle that?
Hardy: Yeah, that does come up. There is a certain non-closure and the lack of resources, you can feel powerless to it. But you take these small little victories, and the things that you do know about and hear about … just show up in different ways.
Miller: What’s a small victory?
Hardy: I share an example that some of our participants or former participants will call into the office and tell us they got housed finally. Or in some community event – I always love going to those – they’ll come up and talk to me, and we’ll reconnect, and they’ll share their story of being housed. And those are nice little victories. And then also, you might hear from an outreach worker, whether it be one of our own or another one out in the community, that touches base with you to share some information and update information. Yeah, it’s nice.
Miller: I didn’t do my due diligence. I didn’t even write down what the phone number is. Can you tell us what it is?
Hardy: Yeah, it’s 360-695-9677.
Miller: Sunny, with 911, we’ve had a number of conversations over the years about major efforts to reduce wait times. That, obviously, can be a matter of life and death, say, if someone’s having a heart attack. What kinds of wait times do you provide to people? I mean, how long might somebody have to wait before they can talk to a limited number of folks on the other end of the hotline?
Wonder: This is something that we’ve always been working on. How do we make sure that folks in crisis get answers, transparency of the information we can provide, as quickly as possible. The reality is when our hotline opens, that’s when folks are going to call in. So we’ve created this kind of manufactured timeline of when folks are able to call in. So a few things that we have done is we actually have hotline hours that are Monday through Friday 9 [a.m.] to 8 p.m. Then Saturday and Sunday, as well as holidays, 11 [a.m.] to 5 [p.m.].
So we are trying to provide a broader amount of hours, because the reality is homelessness doesn’t stop at 5 p.m. and it doesn’t begin at 9 a.m. So we’re really trying to expand the hours so that folks don’t feel that sense of crisis of “I have to call right at 9 a.m.” With hotline wait times in the morning time, it does increase and I’ll let Guy speak to that. But we are looking at other opportunities and ways to increase access, whether it is through our outreach providers or through providing some measure of like chat features or having text capacity. So those are things that we’re working to expand accessibility for folks who, for any reason, aren’t able to call in. They will, again, be more accessible for folks who are in crisis.
Hardy: And things kick off at 9 o’clock sharp. We’ve done some pre-recordings on our queue to indicate whether or not we have certain services available. That seems to help the hold times quite a bit. Previously, folks seeking rental assistance and facing eviction would be on hold for quite some time just to hear we didn’t have anything to offer.
So yeah, we’re always working on ways to improve. But a phone call could take one minute or 20 minutes. We’re not rushing folks through. We have a full staff of six that are taking all these calls, that are wonderful and they do great work. We give folks the time they need to …
Miller: President Trump’s budget request for the fiscal year is going to start in just days at this point. It would slash the Housing and Urban Development agency’s budget by more than 40%. Guy, where would you see the effects of those cuts, if they do happen, in Clark County?
Hardy: Oh, that’s a good question. I would defer to Sunny on that one. I’m more in the work there.
Miller: Sunny, what are you preparing for right now?
Wonder: So there are a lot of unknowns, honestly, of wanting to prepare and not knowing exactly what it will look like. The reality is we know that the cuts are going to be significant. Funding that Council for the Homeless receives … and most agencies and a lot of nonprofits in Clark County are going to operate off of a fiscal year, so from July 1 to June. So there is funding where we have contracts in place and anticipate that there wouldn’t be an immediate impact. That doesn’t mean that the kind of support system that is connected to the homeless response system isn’t going to have an impact.
So for example, SNAP benefits – we have people who are both housed and unhoused who are receiving those benefits. If they are no longer receiving those benefits, our community is going to be impacted. There are folks that receive energy assistance, and that is how they remain housed because they don’t have to cover those costs.
So I think it is really important and that is the goal, as both a community and as an agency, that we’re having those conversations. The reality is not just housing is going to be impacted, permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, any of those programs that we operate, but also the impact of any time we cut a really important service, more people are going to be experiencing homelessness or stretched thinner.
Miller: They’re all connected threads of the safety net. I can imagine this hotline serving as a kind of reverse survey where, as people are asking for help, they’re giving you real-time information about their needs. Does it give you insight into services to provide going forward, the information you’re getting from these calls?
Wonder: I think that it is really important that data isn’t the only story that is being told and yet it is crucial that we pay attention. What are the stories that are being told and are we tracking that broader picture of, what are the services? Do we need to pivot? So COVID was this moment, for many nonprofits, to say, “where are we pivoting?” We have to do it very, very quickly and we have to respond very quickly. I would absolutely anticipate that we’re going to have to, again, go through that process. It’s been hard because it’s been a little difficult to predict. We know there’s going to be an impact and we don’t know exactly what it’ll look like. So that has been a bit of a new experience to try to again predict the unpredictable.
And it has been very important to see that rental assistance calls are continuing to be incredibly high. Our rental assistance to stay housed is not matching that level. How do we get creative? What are the partnerships we need to develop? Do we need to go further upstream to provide intervention, education, mediation services, to prevent people from slipping to this point.
Miller: Sunny and Guy, thanks very much.
Wonder: Thank you.
Hardy: Thank you.
Miller: Sunny Wonder is the chief operating officer of the Council for the Homeless in Clark County. Guy Hardy is the manager of the nonprofit’s housing hotline. That number again is 360-695-9677.
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