City Working On Long Term Plan For Homeless

The homeless camp in Yakima is set to close on November 16 according to a plan released by the city this week. The city council on Tuesday talked about the possibility of creating a program to buy bus tickets and send some people to other areas where they have family. Larry Matson Director of the Yakima Valley Conference of Governments says they're working on a five year plan to deal with local homelessness. He says the plan calls for "working with local governments, the business community and service providers to get some new energy and creativity and new approaches to solving the problem." Cold weather shelters will open in November and many people now living in the homeless camp across from the Yakima Police Department will take advantage of the overnight shelters. Yakima City Council woman Kathy Coffee says there's been no final decision on a proposal to purchase bus tickets to send people to areas where they have family members. The council will talk further about the issue at the next meeting set for October 4.