The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Wahkiakum County is a nice place to live. It’s so nice that people are having a hard time finding affordable housing. They are having a hard time finding any housing at all for that matter.

“We have a huge problem,” Wahkiakum Health and Human Services Director Sue Cameron said. “There is nowhere for people to live. It doesn’t matter if they are professionals who have come here for work or people that want to return to the community to be near their family. There is nothing for them.”

“It even took me three months to find a place to live when I moved here,” Cameron added.

According to Sandy Wirkkala, a realtor and licensed property manager, there are currently no rental properties available. Right now, there are only 23 properties for sale at Cathlamet Realty West, where she is a realtor.

Another realtor, Kay Cochran, of Lower Columbia Realty, said that they had a lower inventory than usual.

“Buyers are frustrated that they can’t find what they want,” Cochran said.

Any given day an individual might post a need for housing on the Cathlamet Buy and Sell page on Facebook. Even more rarely, a landlord might post an opening. The response is immediate and considerable, and only the landlord and the new renter are pleased when it is over.

Recently, Wirkkala was contacted by a young man who wanted to return to the area to be near his family while he raised his own. He’d found a local job, but he could not find a place for his family to live.

Cameron recalled one woman who had traveled across the country to work in the county. The closest place she could find was in Aberdeen. But Cameron acknowledged that this woman was a special case. She had seven dogs. Still, the commute got to be too much and the woman moved on.

Cameron is quick to point out that when housing is available, it’s not affordable.

Some of the one bedroom apartments in Cathlamet start at $400 when they are available, according to Community Outreach Coordinator Carole Glowacki.

That’s the low end.

“They are always full,” Glowacki said.

Right now, she has 15 families on a waiting list, hoping to get into affordable housing.

“Even if we have housing vouchers there is nowhere for them to spend them,” Glowacki said. “These people are living with family or friends, couch-surfing.”

“It’s tough in this community,” she said. “Some people are under-employed, some are unemployed. Some are single moms. They get some assistance from the state but it’s not enough to cover rent. It’s supposed to pay your rent and utilities, put gas in your car so you can get your kids to the doctor. It isn’t enough.”

Sometimes renters who thought they were secure come looking for her when their landlord decides to sell the house.

“The market is so crazy,” Glowacki said. “Houses aren’t staying on the market. People that have been renting suddenly find out they have 30 days to move out and they have nowhere to go.”

She’s not happy about it, but she admits she has encouraged people to consider moving to Longview.

“What are your natural resources?” she’ll ask. Who are the family, friends, or people that you can stay with? What is your motivation for staying in Cathlamet?”

“It’s horrible that I’m trying to send people out,” Glowacki said. “We need housing here. We need affordable housing.”

Unfortunately for the 15 families currently on her waiting list, there may be some landlords in the county who won’t take state money because they equate poverty with a lack of respect for property.

“We need landlords on board to help us out,” Glowacki said. “Our goal is to prevent homelessness. Without landlords backing us, we can’t do it.”