Mike Pyles is 49 years old, but his life of homelessness is only four years old.

He said after being diagnosed with renal cell cancer in 2004, his right kidney and three ribs were removed due to the growth of a large tumor, which was taken out as well. About $230,000 in medical bills and no health insurance forced him to liquidate everything he owned worth $500 or more.

“Medical bills wiped me out,” he said.

Pyles said his kidney cancer is currently in remission, but the financial impacts led to his homelessness.

A story like this motivates people like Gail de Hoog, housing specialist at the Whatcom County Health Department, to end homelessness in Bellingham.

“We cannot continue to take the fact of people being homeless as a norm,” she said.  

In the 2010 Point in Time Count for Whatcom County, 1,334 homeless individuals were counted, de Hoog said.

This count is conducted every year so Whatcom County can attempt to count the number of homeless people in the community. In order to receive federal funds, de Hoog said the count is required by the Washington State Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an organization aimed toward increasing home ownership and access to affordable housing free from discrimination.

De Hoog said even though this gives a good point of reference for the number of homeless people in Bellingham, it is not an accurate measure of the issue because not every homeless person attends the events where the counting is conducted.

Fifty-year-old Darren Leazer said he has been homeless his entire life, running away from home when he was 12 years old. Injuries from a motorcycle accident when he was 17 have prevented him from working, he said.

At the time, he said he had no health insurance and was unable to pay for the medical attention he needed. He said he has been crippled ever since.

He said his tent and sleeping bag were stolen earlier in the week, so he has had to sleep at the Lighthouse Mission Ministries for the time being.

Hans Erchinger-Davis, Director of the Men’s Ministries Programs at the Lighthouse Mission Ministries, said an average of 150 people sleep at the Mission every night. He said 40 mats are laid out on the chapel floor and different dormitories are available across the street for the homeless to sleep in.

Erchinger-Davis said the Mission serves about 350 meals to about 60 to 80 people a day.

Fifty-two-year-old Ed Conlisk said he voluntarily became homeless 36 years ago because he was young and independent.

“Back in the day it was fun and I was free-spirited,” he said. “I had no worries.”

Conlisk said he came to Bellingham about two months ago by hopping on a freight train in Seattle. He said he has been riding on freight trains for 26 years to get from place to place.

Currently tired of being homeless, Conlisk said he is starting to become too old for his lifestyle and being homeless isn’t what it used to be.

“[Then], you could lay your backpack down and two weeks later come back it would still be there,” he said. “But now you can hardly turn your back.”

De Hoog said the Project Homeless Connect event is important in connecting the community to the issue of homelessness and the fact the homeless aren’t much different than anyone else.

Rebecca Rayner, projects and events coordinator at the Whatcom Volunteer Center, said she was part of planning and running the Project Homeless Connect annual event on March 4. She said the one-day event consisted of more than 50 services donated by different providers to the homeless, and anyone was welcome to volunteer and help out.

“It’s about hospitality,” Rayner said. “It makes the guests feel welcome and makes them feel like people.”

According to the Whatcom Volunteer Center’s Web site, attendants can obtain medical and vision screening, dental, mental health services and Department of Social and Health Services, Washington State ID cards, housing information, haircuts and pet care.

This annual event contributes to Whatcom County’s 10-year plan to end homelessness. Each county in the state is required to have a plan as part of the Homeless Housing and Assistance Act passed in 2005, de Hoog said.

“It is a privilege to have contact with those who are suffering and to expose something that is unacceptable,” she said.

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