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Residents, providers urge more local services for people experiencing homelessness and offer pet-care solution for treatment access
Summary
Multiple speakers at council’s citizen comments described enforcement impacts on people living outdoors, barriers to treatment for those with pets, and a local nonprofit’s effort to house pets while owners enter recovery. Samaritan Healthcare clarified it does not charge for Narcan distribution.
Several Moses Lake residents and service providers told the city council on July 8 that people experiencing homelessness face enforcement and access barriers and described local efforts to help people enter treatment.
"It's been nothing but constant harassment with the new city ordinances," said Steven Glaesman, a resident who said he has been sleeping in vehicles since the closure of a sleep center and described difficulty accessing services and one recent ticketing incident he viewed as unequal enforcement. He urged creation of a designated area for people sleeping in vehicles to reduce repeated enforcement contact.
Tina McKay, who described herself as formerly homeless and now the founder of a nonprofit called Rough Recovery, said she opened a small facility in Cashmere to house pets for people seeking inpatient drug or mental-health treatment. "For some people...that's all they have is their dog," McKay said. She said her program has taken in six people into treatment so far but is at capacity much of the time and turned down multiple requests from Moses Lake and other counties because of space limits.
Joseph Moriarty, a local outreach organizer, said Lighthouse Ministries in Wenatchee had offered to assist Moses Lake with outreach and services for people who travel to Wenatchee seeking help.
Other commenters addressed harm reduction and healthcare access. Matt Pollock thanked the council for declining to adopt a proposed Narcan policy at an earlier meeting. Pamela Ackerman, speaking as an individual (not on behalf of Samaritan Healthcare), clarified that Samaritan "does not bill anyone for Narcan" and that the organization will prepare Narcan upon request through its pharmacy at no charge.
Speakers called for more coordinated options for people who are homeless, including solutions that allow people to keep pets while entering treatment, and asked the city and local organizations to expand outreach and resources.
