‘Housing is health’: As Colville phases out homeless camp, students and organizations are stepping up to get people sheltered

High schoolers from Upper Columbia Academy in Spangle traveled to Colville to help offer a fresh start for those in need as the city prepares to close its homeless camp.

On Sunday morning, more than 30 high school students volunteered at Bridges of Hope, a new transitional housing facility in Colville that will help up to 10 men transitioning out of homelessness or recovery. The Astor Avenue house, donated by former prisoners’ rights nonprofit the November Coalition, is part of a project by Shelley and Barry Bacon, co-founders of Hope Street Restoration who hope it will offer a pathway out of the homeless camp.

“We don’t think you can talk about ending homelessness without talking about housing,” Barry said. “We have to have housing. And nobody’s been building affordable, entry-level housing for a long time in this area.”

Colville city officials announced last year that all individuals at the homeless camp must be completely moved out by October 2025.

The decision aligns with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from July, which determined that laws prohibiting the homeless from camping on public property do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

‘Your school helped me’

Before the Bacons sectioned off the students across the house project, Richard Smith, who works at Hope Street, stood in front of them and shared a personal story that changed the trajectory of his life.

Last year, Smith suffered an aortic dissection.

“I got a new scar for the rest of my life,” he said.

Prior to this incident, Smith had been living out of his truck for months. He made his way to Colville with the intention of selling his car and having someone take him to Colville National Forest to end his life.

That’s when he met Teresa Lang, director of the Hope Street Rest Stop, and eventually Shelley and Barry Bacon.

“(Barry) said to me, one day, ‘Hey, man, where are you sleeping?’ I said, ‘In my truck.’ He said, ‘No, you’re not. You’re gonna sleep here,’ ” Smith said. “Maybe a month later, I woke up one day to go volunteer with (Lang) at Hope Street, and I had this pain in my chest.”

After doctors diagnosed him with an aortic dissection due to untreated high blood pressure, he was airlifted to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

While he was in the hospital, a previous group of students from Upper Columbia Academy helped restore a cabin for him, ensuring he would have a place to rest and recover once he was discharged.

“Your school helped me, and I appreciate that. Housing is health,” Smith told a group of students.

Eden Wiltison, a junior at Upper Columbia Academy, said growing up, she witnessed family members in and out of rehab facilities and on the street. So when Smith shared his story, she felt inspired by his bravery.

“It really touched me, because I felt like God led me here,” Wiltison said. “It’s just really touching that I could help someone that has dealt with the same thing as my family.”

Noelle Haeger, also a junior, said her grandma Gayle Haeger is a manager for the Better Living Center in Spokane, where they give food to homeless people and people in need.

Having heard Smith’s story only makes her feel more connected to the project and their work.

“It made me really excited, because it connects with me and because I get to help out with that too, and I really enjoy it,” Haeger said.

By the end of the restoration of the Bridges of Hope project, the Bacons hope to provide a community kitchen, art and music areas, multiple bathrooms and rooms, and a quiet area for men to live in as they transition out of homelessness and into sober living.

Their next project, Patrick’s Place, will follow the same concept, but will be designed for women to help continue reducing homelessness in the area. Bridges of Hope is reserved for men based on the need in the community.

“We think that creating a pathway out of homelessness, addiction, recurring incarceration, untreated mental illness is the best strategy. We want to solve the problem, rather than just putting a fence around it or sending them out of town,” Barry Bacon said.

Ironing out a plan

Because of the decision to close the homeless camp, Colville Mayor Jack Smith said the city will need to repay an estimated $50,000 to $60,000 of a loan from Stevens County. The city had planned to allocate around $80,000 total for up to 10 years.

The loan covered hiring a facility manager and miscellaneous expenses for the homeless camp.

“The total amount is prorated out based on time served on the original 10-year commitment,” Mayor Smith said. “… We have most of that set aside in a contingency fund prepared just in case things developed this way.”

The town’s rough timeline began on Jan. 1, when it stopped accepting new residents into the lot. Mayor Smith said they still plan to begin moving individuals out in April, with the goal of having everyone out by October.

But he said that after everybody in the homeless camp received a flyer with resources and the timeline on first-departure notices for April, most of the people who had been living at the homeless camp left.

“We’re already down to only 13 people left in the camp, from a high of 42 in the summer, because people essentially are understanding that the camp is going to close, and many of them are just taking it upon themselves, just to leave,” Mayor Smith said.

Barry Bacon and Mayor Smith said they have kept tabs on people who remained in the area – many have applied for housing, others have entered treatment facilities and some have been incarcerated.

Mayor Smith estimates that about 5% have stayed in Colville. He emphasized that by upping their policing in and around the city, there hasn’t been an appreciable increase in the amount of homeless people.

However, Barry Bacon argues that there are multiple homeless people in Colville.

“They have to stay under the radar, because the intention is that at some point there are going to be consequences to living in public space,” he said. “That’s the difficult part of the conversation. There are still hundreds of people in Stevens County who are homeless, and sending them off is not a good strategy.

“This is their home.”

Barry Bacon said that Catholic Charities’ new apartments in Colville have helped provide additional housing for people in the area, but there are still many more who need a place to live in Stevens County.

The Bacons have been working alongside other organizations, such as Rural Resources, Tri-County Health District, NEW Alliance and Northeast and Heartland Medical Center, in creating strategies for next steps for people who are homeless and in need.

Cruze Thompson, housing director of Rural Resources, said the nonprofit that helps people in northeastern Washington is working to refer people from the homeless camp to local food banks and other organizations, such as Hope Street, while also assisting with housing as the camp nears its closure.

However, due to concerns about the next contract for their rental program, Rural Resources anticipates a significant budget cut ahead.

Thompson said they won’t know for sure until the first or second week of May but hope to continue to assist however they can.

“We currently have about 100 households on our rental assistance programs for Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing, and I believe if the cuts occur, it’ll be unlikely that we’ll be able to add additional people onto either of those programs,” Thompson said. “… But we’re not going to know until the state budget closes and then the Department of Commerce gets their allocation and their calculations for their grantees.”

In addition, Alaina Kowitz, communications and outreach manager for Rural Resources, said a portion of the organization’s Housing department’s funding comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which saw less money come in than expected under the federal funding bill passed on Friday.

“(The Department of Government Efficiency) has also called for deep cuts within HUD … which would increase delays in funding and processing,” she said in an email.

Barry Bacon said they have been holding housing coalition meetings with Rural Resources, other nonprofit organizations and Smith to work toward a more clear solution. Despite some progress, they have yet to find it.

“We’re talking with the leadership in the community and leadership in the county about the strategy, and what we’re finding is that it appears there isn’t a clear strategy,” Barry Bacon said. “We’re trying to create one by bringing as many like-minded organizations together.”