Battling Houselessness
Gorge woman struggles to avoid houselessness
WAGAP helps her get back on her feet
Bingen, Washington (Updated March 27, 2024) - Houselessness can happen to anyone at any age. Just ask Teri Hounslow.
Following a divorce, Teri kept houselessness at bay—well, kind of. She had been running a campsite with her husband before that job and their marriage dissolved. Then, at over 60 years old, she found herself without a place to stay.
“Since 2015, I’ve been struggling with not becoming houseless,” Teri said. She did her best to stay positive, with some support from her family, friends, and church. “Each year, I figured it out,” she added.
A community member offered her a temporary stay at their guest house, which helped her rebound. But it wasn’t permanent, and her new social security income didn’t stretch far. Over the years, she was resourceful. She worked again as a camp host, house-sat when possible, rented rooms when she could find them, spent a lot of time in the Gorge as a wandering camper, and utilized the Bingen emergency shelter, Guided Path, at one point when winter set in and it was too cold to camp.
“Everywhere I live, I make it a home, even if it’s a little trailer,” Teri said, referring to a little 4’x8’ tool trailer that she used to get by when she didn’t have a rental to stay in. She altered it to have a peaked roof and added a bed and a little kitchen. “The Gorge is special. I hung out where the fishermen were for a whole summer,” she said.
Later, she got a bigger camper and parked it at her church. “I was living like a Gypsy for a while,” Teri said. Some of her favorite memories during this period were living in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, where she had space to roam and time alone. “It was really good for my soul not to offend anyone,” she said.
Eventually, an opportunity came that she was excited about. A family member had an investment house open in The Dalles, and she could pay for the rent by setting up a small daycare. Just when she felt her feet were under her again, COVID-19 hit the world, and all five children in her daycare left. Her business failed, and when she couldn’t pay the rent anymore. The house went up for sale.
“That’s when I really ended up homeless between 2020 and 2023,” Teri said.”So many people crashed and burned during COVID, and family businesses disappeared.”
Teri doesn’t blame anyone for her circumstances. She says she rolled as best as she could with each change. She tried using a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) voucher in Oregon but could not find a single landlord who would accept it. Her voucher expired, and a deep depression set in. She returned to the Washington side of the Gorge to try to be closer to her family again. But she was still not able to find a new home.
At the beginning of 2023, she was helping out at her local church in White Salmon. She met a woman in the parking lot, and they began talking. Hounslow mentioned that her HUD voucher had expired. The woman suggested she contact Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP) for new options and support. She hadn’t realized that WAGAP operates the Guided Path, where she had stayed in 2019. She knew she needed some help, so she went to the office in Bingen.
“WAGAP saved my life,” Teri said. She is extremely grateful for her Community Health Worker (CHW), Kelsi Stahl, who helped her get back on track. “Kelsi called me every week for a year. She had so many suggestions…and I followed them all.”
Stahl is on the Pathways Health Connect team. Her job is to link clients with the many community resources available through WAGAP, like housing, food banks, and energy assistance, and local partners offering mental and physical healthcare and more.
Clients are responsible for doing the work. They receive referrals and applications, but the client must follow through. Stahl said Teri has had amazing success.
“Teri's always kept showing up. Even when things get really hard, she's reaching for hope and silver linings,” Stahl said. “Her attitude is instrumental in her success in making the most of these resources.”
First, she followed the recommendations for treating her depression. She got a diagnosis and treatment plan, which she immediately followed. That qualified her for the Community Behavioral Health Rental Assistance (CBRA) program. She filled out her application and began looking for housing, and within a week, she found a landlord in Goldendale who would accept the program.
Her goal was to transition to Skamania County, where she would be closer to family. Recently, as her one-year lease expired, she connected with a landlord who was willing to work with the program. She is now able to rent a room in a home with several acres where she can roam, feed chickens, and tend a garden. She pays a share of the rent, and CBRA covers the rest, including utilities.
Teri now has easy access to her mental health provider and the local Stevenson WAGAP office, which includes the food bank, housing department, and energy assistance programs. “Now, I live day to day,” Teri said. “You never know what’s going to happen in life. There are no guarantees.” She appreciates her new stability and hopes sharing her experience will encourage others to reach out for local community resources when needed.
For low-income community members in Skamania and Klickitat counties needing assistance, WAGAP can be reached by phone at (509) 493-2662 or toll-free at (800) 755-1192. Offices in Stevenson, Bingen, and Goldendale are open Monday through Thursday. Office hours and contact information can be found at https://www.wagap.org/contact.