Blast from the Past:

Columbian, The (Vancouver, WA)

November 17, 1997
HOMELESS MEN SLEEP, THANKS TO BOY S HARD WORK
Author: Columbian editorial writer
Section: B section
Page: 8
Estimated printed pages: 2
Article Text:
Imagine spending 300 hours Sheetrocking, sanding and painting walls in the heat of summer.
Now, imagine doing it for free.
Brad Brockbank, a 17-year-old Prairie High School student, had spent months searching for an Eagle Scout project. Nothing felt right. Most possibilities, like building trails or stacking goods at the food bank, felt ordinary and overdone.
Then he heard about Share Houses plan to create a temporary homeless shelter to replace the one destroyed by arson last December. They said they had no labor, and I said, Heres your man. And then I ran home and told my mom I had my project.
The project became an Olympic-sized event: transforming an empty rectangular building into a mens shelter with rooms and a hallway. The slabs of donated wallboard had to be pieced together. The mud could never be too thick or thin. The sanding, Brad said, was endless.
Other than a few odd jobs with his grandfather, he had few construction skills prior to the project. Now I feel like Icould go Sheetrock a skyscraper,he said.
The shelter opened Nov. 3, barely in time for cold nights. Two men stayed that first night; now all 38 beds are full.
About 150 homeless people live in the downtown Vancouver area. Nearly all have local roots, said outreach worker Gina Warren. Some live out of their cars, some have mental or physical disabilities, and some do odd jobs, trying to save rent money. Most lack warm clothes, blankets or sleeping bags.
Brad could have flipped burgers and saved money for a nice car this summer. He could have followed the example of the many adults who dismiss homeless people as vagrants and obstacles to downtown redevelopment. But he and many others in his church and the community did not. As a result, 38 men have temporary refuge from rain, snow, ice and that special form of bitter cold that has little to do with the seasons.
Susan Nielsen, for the editorial board
Copyright (c) 1997 The Columbian Publishing Co., P.O. Box 180, Vancouver, WA 98666.
Record Number: 1997321036