Homeless outreach coordinator responds to allegations of drugs, misuse of funds

SEATTLE — The man who led the effort to clear out a homeless camp near a school in Bitter Lake is now confronting allegations he used public money to buy drugs and also pressured homeless women to help him.

Mike Mathias said the stories are mostly lies but his accusers have a very different perspective to share.

The encampment at Broadview Thomson K-8 made headlines for months as parents raised safety concerns about the encampment being right next to students. It was finally cleared early this week and the people living in tents were relocated to tiny homes or hotel shelters.

The accusations of drugs and misappropriated public money is just the latest twist in the ongoing controversy surrounding the camp.

Mathias is the man Seattle Public Schools hired earlier this year to relocate dozens of campers. Originally his non-profit called Anything Helps was just him, but over time other volunteers joined in the effort. Now some of those volunteers, as well as a few of the homeless people who got assistance have come forward claiming Mathias took advantage of his position.

Adriana Krieger was living out of a tent with her husband when she said Mathias offered to let her shower at his home, since the encampment had no running water.

“He brought me to his home and that was the first time he asked me to hit him which means to shoot him up,” Krieger said.

Because Mathias was helping her out of homelessness she said she reluctantly agreed, even though it made her uncomfortable. Krieger said Mathias came back at least seven more times asking her to inject him with drugs.

However, Mathias insists it only happened that first time, and it was a mistake.

“The only thing that's true is that in July I did accept the offer of an administrative shot of methamphetamine,” he said.

The school district set aside $20,000 to reimburse Mathias for expenses. Jen Moon, a volunteer who joined Anything Helps, said some of that money was diverted to drugs. Moon also claims that Mathias got some of the homeless women involved in purchasing methamphetamine.

“They took him to the bank machine where he pulled out his Anything Helps bank card, got money, and either they took the money to somebody selling it, or he took the money to somebody selling it,” Moon said.

However the school district is not aware of any funding that is unaccounted for, and the money was transferred in two lump payments. According to Mathias, that $20,000 hasn’t even been spent.

“That money is still sitting in the bank account waiting for application fees for permanent housing,” Mathias said.

Mathias has been fairly open about his own struggles with addiction and the criminal justice system. For a time he’s also been homeless, but he denies nearly all of the allegations that have been brought forward except for the one instance of asking for help to inject drugs.

A spokesperson for Seattle Public Schools said, "we are aware of the allegations about mr. mathias, and they are concerning...We will assess the situation to determine if we need to do any investigating."

Currently no investigations are underway, either by the school district, the police or the King County Regional Homeless Authority, although the KCRHA did freeze the housing vouchers earmarked for Anything Helps until the accusations are sorted out.

Mathias has stepped down from his position as executive director at Anything Helps while all this gets sorted out. He hopes to return to this work and continue helping the homeless.

“It's been really hard to deal with this,” he said. “It has a direct impact on the people we're serving which is the most upsetting part."