As homelessness trends up, 'it's really important to hear their stories'
EVERETT — David Goodman squeezed out a wet cotton glove in the Silver Lake neighborhood Tuesday morning, as he stood beside a tarp-covered shopping cart holding his belongings.
Goodman, 39, has two jobs. He picks up shifts at a local fast food restaurant and a grocery store. It’s been about three years since he’s had a permanent place to live, he said, as members of Snohomish County’s crew conducted the point-in-time count, an annual census of the unhoused population.
Last year, almost 250 volunteers, county staffers and staff at partnering agencies worked to count the population, finding 1,285 people in 1,028 households were homeless in Snohomish County, an increase of 101 residents, 8.5%, from 2022. It was the highest total since 2012.
Apartments are expensive, Goodman said. Not to mention landlords want a recent rental history, which Goodman doesn’t have. And many unhoused people, he said, simply do not trust the system.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/as-homelessness-trends-up-its-really-important-to-hear-their-stories/