Food-bank funding helped dozens into temporary housing, presenter tells Sedro-Woolley council

Rebecca Larson Squinty, a guest speaker identified at the joint Sedro-Woolley City Council and Planning Commission meeting, told elected officials and commissioners that a flexible fund and hotel placements helped 68 unhoused people obtain temporary housing and connect to services.

Squinty described program outcomes she said included five homeless veterans, seven families with children, two disabled homeless seniors and at least one domestic violence survivor and child. She said many temporary placements were at local hotels and that the funding’s flexibility allowed staff to cover unusual but necessary costs such as veterinary shots required for shelter placement.

“These people are more likely to work to better their circumstances when they’re not in an immediate crisis,” Squinty said, adding that the program paid for short gaps — deposits, motel vouchers or travel — that helped clients move toward permanent housing.

Squinty and other speakers told the council the funding closed short-term gaps for people who were days or weeks away from stable housing, allowed clients to attend medical appointments rather than use the emergency room, and in at least two cases helped people who were suicidal move into housing and begin receiving long-term services. She said unit-level average flexible assistance worked out to roughly $700 per person.

Council members and others at the meeting thanked Squinty and her staff and asked follow-up questions about food supply, staffing and eligibility. Squinty said food bank stocks have tightened (from roughly six months’ supply to about six weeks) and that staffing and fuel costs complicate shelter and warming center operations. She said some winter shelter programs have eligibility rules that exclude people in active substance‑use recovery and that not every household fits available shelter models.

Officials and commissioners asked whether the program’s costs are sustainable and how deeper-subsidy needs (particularly for households at 0–30 percent of area median income) could be met. Squinty and others noted that deeply affordable housing typically requires layered subsidies beyond what local nonprofits and cities can provide alone.

Squinty closed by thanking city leaders for the funding and urging continued support for flexible, short-term interventions that connect people to longer-term services.

The presentation was made during the meeting’s guest speaker portion and followed earlier routine business and consent‑agenda votes.