Vancouver closes Sound Wall camp, reports shelter exits and $4.85 million in county funding for shelter project

Vancouver city staff said an emergency order has closed the site known as the Sound Wall Camp and summarized March operations, including cleanups, shelter activity and progress moving people into housing, and announced Clark County will provide $4,850,000 toward the city's bridal shelter project.

Jamie, a city staff member presenting the monthly operational situation report, told council: "The first new emergency order for a while, is the closure of the property that, was kind of known as the Sound Wall Camp, which was about an acre and a quarter." The report said the city's website lists the properties and totals closed to camping.

The presentation gave March and year-to-date service metrics. Staff reported 11 deaths among people experiencing homelessness since the homeless memorial in December, six of them in March; the March totals included three overdoses and one suicide. Fire-department emergency-service counts were said to be similar to the same period in 2024; staff reported roughly 1,934 emergency responses for the first quarter and 708 other year-to-date calls (figures from the transcript). For March, 11.7% of total events were identified as directly related to unsheltered homelessness, and those events accounted for an estimated 19.7% of patrol time, up from the prior month.

City staff described large-scale cleanups tied to the Sound Wall Camp decommissioning: "In just March, we removed 30 tons of solid waste, with just the large scale cleanups, and then another almost 10 with Sheila and her, small crew. Year to date, almost 100 tons of solid waste have been removed from public property," Jamie said. Staff also said they continue to distribute naloxone kits and provide overdose-response education.

On shelter operations, staff said the winter shelter closed after serving two nightly winter-shelter locations and a total of 210 individuals; 18 people moved from the winter shelters into housing. Additional referrals and transitions were reported: 24 people were referred to year-round shelter, and across all sites 15 people moved into housing in March. Jamie said five of those moves were part of a pilot project involving the safe stays, VHA (as cited in the transcript), and partners; about 20 more people have been approved through that pilot and were expected to move into housing in the next month.

Safe Park activity was reported separately: 91 individuals used the Safe Park in March (73 adults, 14 children); four of those were included in the other transition totals and moved into housing, and three moved into other local shelter options. The Red Cross visited Safe Park residents living in RVs and provided smoke detectors, the report said.

Staff said the bridal shelter project completed phase 1 and has moved to design development (phase 2), with an updated budget expected in May. Jamie announced Clark County has committed $4,850,000 for the bridal shelter project drawn from opioid-settlement funds and mental-health sales-tax funds and thanked county officials and local partners.

Councilors asked for follow-up information. Councilor Perez asked whether the city will monitor people who leave shelter for long-term housing stability: "For the folks that are moving out or have transitioned into to housing, for example, the veteran that you're talking about, are we monitoring, their stability into that housing 1 year from now, 2 years from now, and adding additional support or help when needed?" Jamie said exits to housing are tracked in HMIS (the Homeless Management Information System) and agreed to work with the Council for the Homeless and shelter providers to try to pull reports that show how many remain housed and how many reenter the system; staff said some placements (for example, recovery housing) may be classified differently in HMIS and will require additional checking.

Councilor Fox asked about Safe Park operations and procurement. Jamie said Live Love is the interim operator on a roughly three-month contract and that the city recently closed the RFP for a long-term operator; proposals are expected to be reviewed in the coming weeks. Jamie said the RFP update focuses mainly on logistical contract language, such as property ownership responsibilities, rather than program outcomes.

Staff highlighted training and community programs: parking-enforcement and Hart team members received training on de-escalation and violent-encounter response coordinated by risk management; the Humane Society has supported shelter sites and created volunteer opportunities for residents who want to work with pets; and community court reported new referrals, graduations and several people who obtained temporary housing.

On data and reporting follow-ups, Jamie said she could not commit to monthly stability reports but would check with the Council for the Homeless to determine a realistic quarterly reporting cadence and what data are available from the point when Safe Stays began.

Council did not take formal votes during the presentation. Staff noted next steps: review of RFP proposals for a permanent Safe Park operator, design development and budget update for the bridal shelter project in May, and staff follow-up to try to produce periodic exit-to-housing stability reports in coordination with HMIS and partner agencies.

Ending: Council recessed for a short break and continued the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.