Washington Department of Licensing joints outreach event for the homeless to issued ID cards

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

Thrive 2 Survive keeps thriving, and this past weekend, the outreach event brought in a new partner to help low-income and the homeless.

The Washington Department of Licensing had a busy section of the quarterly Thrive 2 Survive event, renewing drivers licenses and other identification cards for those in need.

“As you know, it’s impossible to do anything these days without identification,” said Gigi Zenk, outreach manager for the Department of Licensing. “You can’t rent an apartment or get a bank account, just critical services. We know we have to be where the people are. We really love this model. The folks who organized this did an amazing job.”

There were dozens of services available Saturday at the latest Thrive 2 Survive event, including the Council for the Homeless and the Washington Department of Social and Health Services.

The Council for the Homeless gave those in need payments to have their identification issued. DSHS helped those in need come up with the proper paperwork, when needed, such as a birth certificate.

Thrive 2 Survive opened at 9 a.m. on Saturday, and by 9:45 a.m., there was a long line just for the licensing area.

Of course, that gave those in need plenty of time to visit other resources. Again, dozens of services were provided, all in one spot at Living Hope Church.

There were employment services, mental health assessment, wireless services, banks, veterans assistance, volunteer lawyers, several recovery-based organizations, the Clark County Food Bank, and more. Plus food, clothing, and hygiene supplies. 

The Humane Society of Southwest Washington was there to support those in need and their pets. Professionals from The Barbers gave free haircuts, too.

Dozens of volunteers associated with PeaceHealth were on hand to help folks get to the proper table to meet their needs.

Thrive 2 Survive is the brainchild of Charles Hanset, who is coming up on six years in recovery. His mission, along with Recovery Cafe, is to bring hot food, resources, and essentials to the houseless community but also to make a connection with those in need. 

“It’s a health and wellness clinic, really,” Hanset said. “An event for our unhoused community to come and get on-demand services the same day and at the same place.”

He thanked Living Hope Church for being the home for Thrive 2 Survive.

“The why we do it is the human connection,” Hanset said. “Somebody did it for me.”

Thrive 2 Survive works with many partners to bring their services to one spot every three months or so. The next Thrive 2 Survive will be in July.

New to Thrive was the presence of the Department of Licensing. The Mobile Licensing Issuance is new to the DOL, Zenk said. They had their first mobile licensing event in Spokane recently and signed up more than 400 people. They had another event in Seattle. Now, Vancouver.

“We’ve been booked,” she said. “There is a great demand for it. I talked to some folks who are here to get their very first ID. Some are here to get a driver’s license replacement. There are different needs.”

She said the department has been looking at new ways to expand.

“The pandemic gave us a lot of ideas of what was possible,” Zenk said. “We were able to determine we could still do this, and it could still be secure.”

Zenk was also impressed with the organization and the size of Thrive 2 Survive.

“It’s good to have a fair like this with all the resources all in one place,” she said. “I go to a lot of these events. This was really thought out, well done.”