YAKIMA, Wash. -- Cesar Cardenas sat on a sofa Monday afternoon at Rod’s House in Yakima, looking out a nearby window. He was there for a meal — Monday’s offerings included spaghetti, burritos, vegetables and cake.
He wasn’t alone, as just under two dozen other young people had signed upduring the first half of Monday’s three-hour afternoon session.
Like them, Cardenas doesn’t have a home. Most days he is “out and about” hunting a place to rest, he said. The 20-year-old’s sole income is from fixing up bicycles, and that generates only about $10 to $15 per bike.
“I’ve been (in Yakima) since January; I came from California,” Cardenas said. “(Rod’s House) has pretty much been helping me since I got here. I really don’t have a stable living situation right now — they help me out with what they can ... If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know where I’d be right now.”
About the only stability Cardenas has is the assistance received from Rod’s House, the Yakima resource center for homeless youths.
The organization is one of several groups and school agencies working to address the younger homeless population, which advocates say is often overlooked.
Homeless youths usually don’t fit the typical description of a homeless person sleeping in public areas, pushing a cart, living in a tent city. The state superintendent’s office categorizes students under four categories: sheltered, unsheltered, doubled-up, and hotels or motels.
This week, the Yakima School District gave a glimpse at its unofficial homeless student count for last school year. Theresa Laffey, Yakima schools’ Student and Family Center executive director, said 686 of 846 homeless students were doubling-up, also known as couch surfing, in households. These students may have a roof over their head, but moving to and from a home is not considered stable.
Most homeless students in the Yakima Valley fall under the doubled-up category, according to the state’s homeless data.
Several school districts in the Valley have large numbers of students who qualify as homeless students, according to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The biggest district, Yakima, has the largest number of homeless students, though not the largest percentage. According to the most recent official data available, Yakima had 745 homeless students in 2014-15, or under 5 percent of the overall enrollment.
In terms of percentage, some of the smaller districts in the Yakima Valley stood out. Mt. Adams reported 121 homeless students in 2014-15, or under 13 percent of its overall enrollment. About 11 percent or 104 of Mabton’s students were homeless that same school year.
In Sunnyside, 402 students or 6 percent of the district’s enrollment were classified as homeless in 2014-15.
“We don’t see the students out in the streets,” said Lorenzo Garza, the district’s family and community engagement director. “They’re not visual, but we do know they’re there.
“Number-wise, it is a big concern. When we count 400, that is a cause for concern. The number count is increasing.”
Recent additions to the Sunnyside list are three children of a 36-year-old mother, who would only give her last name, Paniagua. She and her children were evicted from the Valley Commons apartments in Sunnyside in early September. Since then, the four have been living in a hotel, paying about $55 nightly for a room. The three children are elementary, middle and high school age, she said.
The hotel stay may have ended, though, as Paniagua said she can no longer afford lodging.
“Today (Tuesday) I had to leave because I have no money no more,” she said. “My status right now, I’m probably going to have to ask my sister if I can stay with her, just until I can get money again.”
Dora Garcia Barreras, a migrant recruiter with Sunnyside School District, said Paniagua isn’t unusual. Barreras helps anywhere from two to five families per week. It can get challenging, as homeless families become an additional responsibility to handle along with migrant recruitment.
“It’s just two of us,” she said. “We share amongst each other what families we’ve been helping. It can vary — every week is not the same. I go do home visits, every visit is a different scenario.
“I try to set aside an hour (per home), but sometimes it goes over because parents start sharing.”
Sunnyside gets about $5,000 annually for homeless services, Garza said. That money primarily is used for buying clothes and school supplies, and paying for transportation so students can get to and from school, if necessary.
Given the Valley’s large percentage of Latino families, the Latino community may be of some assistance — at least in giving students a reasonable place to stay.
“I grew up in that culture as well,” Laffey said. “They kind of protect ... when we call them if it’s a homeless situation, they’ll say, ‘Oh no, they’re just living with me for a while until mom takes them back.’
“You wouldn’t believe how many parents come in here saying the tio or tia (uncle or aunt) are raising the kids.”
Garcia Barreras grew up in a Mexican household, so she identifies and relates with a family’s reluctance to ask for assistance.
“In the culture of the Mexicanos, it’s not saying we’re ashamed or too proud,” she said. “It’s just the way we’re raised. We’re not the type to ask for handouts. Our parents have taught us to value why we’re here, to work for what we want.”
Several organizations in the Yakima Valley have stepped up to help homeless youth and students as they try to find stability, get a job and get off the streets.
Rod’s House opened in 2009. The two-story home averages about 38 13- to 24-year-olds daily, said Executive Director Joe Willis.
From 3-6 p.m., visitors can eat hot meals, do laundry, seek guidance on clinics or medical services or figure out long-term housing. They cannot stay at the house overnight, though.
Eighteen-year-old Brad, who would only give his first name, said he has been coming to Rod’s House since he was 16. He couch surfs with friends in order to not be “walking down the streets 24/7.”
Rod’s House helped Brad numerous ways over the years, such as finding a temporary job working for a local retailer. The job could generate about $2,600 for 12 weeks.
“(Rod’s House) helped me get an ID, helped me get into counseling; they helped me get food in my stomach,” he said. “They have given me stuff I never had.”
Miranda Graham, meanwhile, found a one-bedroom apartment for herself, her husband and her 1-year-old son, Cyrus. The 21-year-old considers herself fortunate, as she has heard many stories through Rod’s House.
“I hear kids talking, younger than me, about sleeping (on) benches,” she said. “(Coming here) this is their only meal.” She, too, faced childhood challenges, as she recalled moving in and out of Yakima hotels, growing up in a broken home and with a drug- addicted parent.
Most of the children and young adults who show up are in their respective situations because they come from broken homes, and not because they were rebellious as many would believe, Willis said.
“So many of them really are awesome kids and are so similar to any other teenagers. They’re just really a victim of the circumstances,” said program coordinator and Jesuit volunteer Sean DeClue. “So many of them come from backgrounds where they don’t have parents that can support them, their parents may be abusive, they may be victims of sexual violence, their parents may be involved in drugs.
“They just don’t have stable families and backgrounds.”
