The City of Fife uses ARPA funds to help residents find a way out of homelessness.

By Laura Furr Americas

In March 2021, an estimated 300 unhoused individuals were living in Fife’s parks and along its streets—close to a staggering 3% of the population in the community of only 11,000.

“Fife has more of a hurdle than neighboring cities because we have so much vacant land that’s owned by the Washington State Department of Transportation,” explains Fife Parks, Recreation, and Aquatics Director Megan Jendrick. “When the pandemic hit, a lot of the public lands started filling up with the homeless in the area.”

So, when then-City Manager Hyun Kim tasked Jendrick and Human Resources Director Beth Brooks with finding a solution, they knew that while it felt “overwhelming,” it was a vital need in the community, and they vowed to get it done.

“Everyone identified homelessness as an issue and didn’t want to pass the buck to somebody else,” Jendrick says. “The easy thing to do would have been to hire an outside company or a nonprofit to come in.”

Instead, Fife took a hands-on approach. To get started, Jendrick and Brooks kept things simple. They went out to the parks and began conversations with the individuals living there, eventually bringing bimonthly meals to the encampments to continue the conversation and build trust. In late October 2021, the city tapped into its $2.8 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allotment and created Fife’s Jobs Program to provide shelter, food, hygiene, work, and job training for the city’s houseless population.

Since it launched, the program has spent $180,000 in ARPA funds to develop a housing village for participants, located on land outside the police and public works departments. The village started with temporary tents and now consists of 10 tiny homes (built by Everett-based Pallet), each about 64 square feet. There are also three ADA-compliant units and a double restroom and shower unit. The city aims to build a more permanent village in 2023 with a full kitchen setup and onsite plumbing. Participants work about 16 hours a week for the city doing landscaping and event setup. They also receive job training and earn credentials—such as a food handlers’ certificate—to provide an entrée into stable careers.

"For the past five years, we’ve been dealing with this problem one way or another.”

Fife spent the additional $350,000 in ARPA funds on staffing costs for the program, which includes participants’ paychecks and skill-based wage increases. So far, the city has worked with 20 individuals directly through the program. In addition, it has served hundreds of others with the help of a newly hired community navigator and case manager who provides other resources during open office hours, including referrals to addiction services, if needed. As a result, multiple residents have overcome addiction issues and have been placed in permanent housing. Other efforts like the development of a hotel or low-income housing for the purpose of housing homeless individuals are also underway using ARPA funds.

Jendrick attributes their success in part to bringing the issue of homelessness in house, which has allowed them to “[meet] people where they are” and be creative as the program has evolved.

“Not everyone is coming in at the same place,” she adds. “We’ve been able to be nimble.”

For more information: cityoffife.org