On Boise streets, the sick and aging live in the cold. What outreach workers see

On a hazy December morning, with temperatures in the mid-30s, four outreach workers knocked on the doors and windows of multiple RVs and cars on the streets of Boise. They had coffee and breakfast to offer the people living there.

The workers were from CATCH, or Charitable Assistance to Community’s Homeless, a nonprofit that works to house people experiencing homelessness in Ada and Canyon counties. As many working Idahoans are priced out of the rental housing market in the Boise area, some pockets of the city are becoming areas that outreach workers frequent, especially on cold winter days.

“I see a big part of our job as making connections with people,” said Connor O’Hora, outreach program specialist for CATCH and one of the four. “A lot of that relationship-building is finding out a little bit about what’s important to people and what their challenges are out here.”

He watched as two other outreach workers knocked on one car door near the CATCH office on Americana Boulevard, not far from the Interfaith Sanctuary homeless shelter and the Corpus Christi House day shelter.

“They’re just gonna knock, they’re gonna say hello and they’re gonna offer what they can,” O’Hora said.

The four outreach workers are consistently outside, O’Hora said. CATCH says the outreach team contacts an average of 117 people each month. There are over 1,300 homeless households in the Treasure Valley.

‘Being out in this weather’ is dangerous

In recent years, the Boise area has seen extreme temperatures in the winter and summer. The area saw the coldest March day in the city since 1993 and near-historic levels of 100-degree days earlier this year.

Such temperatures are dangerous for people living on the streets, O’Hora said.

“A lot of our population are individuals who have pretty serious medical conditions, and we have a really aging population, so those are all factors that make being out in this weather really dangerous,” he said.

Several places offering daytime warming space during cold weather. They are the Idaho Harm Reduction Project, Treasure Valley YMCA, Boise Public Library, Cathedral of the Rockies and Corpus Christi House.

Interfaith Sanctuary and the Boise Rescue Mission shelter provide daytime warming spaces too. They have increased their capacity for more people this year.

The Boise Public Library is also an important warming and programming resource for unhoused people, O’Hora said. Outreach workers visit different Boise libraries each week to assist homeless people there.

“...Our facilities welcome those who are in search of warmth and need to escape the winter elements,” said Ashley Hammond, mental health coordinator for the Boise Public Library, in a news release.

‘It’s very slow going’ building rapport

But not everyone on the streets takes advantage of the warming shelters. That is why CATCH workers spend so much time outside, “meeting people where they are,” O’Hora said.

Sometimes outreach workers will spend years talking to someone living in an RV or car before that person is comfortable enough to seek help beyond the food and other small resources the workers provide.

“It’s very slow going with a large portion of the individuals that we work with,” he said.

Many people won’t seek shelter at Interfaith or the Rescue Mission. O’Hora said people with mental health challenges or who are new to homelessness may feel uncomfortable in a shelter.

“For people who have had traumatic experiences in or out of shelter, those (places) are not the most inviting environments, and they can be really difficult to be in,” O’Hora said. “Factors like that are rarely taken into account, and that’s unfortunate.”

Boise police contact homeless people

O’Hora drove up to the Boise Bench and circled an area near Irving and Orchard streets where people live in RVs and cars. That Wednesday, there weren’t many parked along the usual loop. O’Hora said police often ticket people and tell them to move after business owners or neighbors complain.

“There used to be RVs all along here,” O’Hora said, as he pulled his truck over near Irving Street. Now, O’Hora said, Boise police are more attentive to that area and to ticketing the vehicles.

“I think a lot of how homelessness is dealt with is very complaint-based,” O’Hora said. “And so the squeaky wheel gets greased.”

Before 2018, Boise police were ticketing homeless people for sleeping on the streets, even if there was no other place for them to go. In 2018, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Boise could not prosecute people for sleeping on the streets if they don’t have a place to stay. That amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, the court said.

Today, Boise police try to address the needs of each homeless person before addressing camping as a criminal issue, said Hayley Williams, spokesperson for Boise police. Sometimes officers encounter people living in their cars or camping on the street in their normal patrol duties, and other times they are called by community members, she said.

“Whenever BPD comes into contact with someone sleeping outside or in a vehicle, they will give them information about local resources, offer to drive them places, and make sure they know all of their options,” Williams said in an email.

“If officers come across a location where someone used to be sleeping or find a vehicle that is abandoned or illegally parked but shows signs that someone might be living there, officers will leave information explaining how long the occupants have to move those belongings as well as local resources like CATCH.”

According to the Boise police policy and procedures manual, officers can’t ticket homeless people for camping if there is no space in the city’s homeless shelters.

“If an individual cannot utilize available space because the space does not allow for or is not suitable to meet the individual’s disability needs, or the individual has exceeded the maximum allowable stay, then the space cannot be considered available,” the manual reads. “However, if the individual cannot utilize the space due to voluntary actions such as intoxication, drug use or unruly behavior, the space shall still be considered available.”

How to help

Two days a week, CATCH opens its office for walk-ins by people can seeking help.

“We’ve tried to focus on being as accessible as possible,” O’Hora said.

The homeless outreach team at CATCH accepts donations of winter items like warm socks, gloves, hats, scarves, hand warmers, sleeping bags, waterproof coats, and long johns. Donors can bring items to CATCH’s Boise office at 503 S. Americana Blvd. during regular business hours.

You can also donate money to CATCH through its website, catchidaho.org/donate.

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