Official tasked with cleaning up homeless encampments allegedly used Seattle funds to fuel meth habit

Mike Mathias, a formerly homeless meth addict who ran the self-created Anything Helps non-profit, stepped down from his role amid "…allegations of mistreatment towards people who had been living at the encampment."

The King County Regional Homelessness Authority confirmed that they are investigating "serious allegations" and that housing voucher referrals for the group have been frozen.

Though Seattle Public Schools and Mathias pledged last month to clear the encampment before the end of the year, both have missed multiple deadlines until now.

After demands from parents, teachers and neighbors to clear the encampment following crime, rodent infestation and more attribute to the campers, Seattle Public Schools contracted with Mathias of a new non-profit called Anything Helps.

According to documents obtained by The Post Millennial, Mathias is being accused of using funds from the non-profit to purchase meth for personal use. The documents citing multiple witnesses who claimed Mathias spent "large cash amounts" to purchase drugs for campers and himself. Additionally, "Despite multiple requests to produce receipts, Mr. Mathias cannot account for all Anything Helps funds. And that funds were unaccounted for."

The documents also state that Mathias was "…pressuring women at the camp to 'hit' or 'slam' him with meth."

One woman claimed that Mathias told her that her Emergency Housing Voucher would be rescinded/canceled and that he could get her evicted from her temporary housing if she did not agree to his requests.

Neighbors have regularly recorded drug dealers and prostitutes working the encampment, fueling the drug problem onsite. They have also photographed city vehicles bringing drug paraphernalia to the encampment.

The documents also claim that Mathias harassed the women to change their stories, "…disabling Anything Helps team email and application access, 'firing' unpaid staff after they came forward with the allegations, verbal abuse of and threats toward staff, and having staff banned from all sites."

He also allegedly made attempts to restrict access to shelter for the campers.

When he was appointed, Mathias told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, that he would not be receiving any money for his efforts and that he turned down funding. However, that claim ran contrary to Seattle Public Schools, which told parents and neighbors that the district was giving $5,000 for Mathias to begin his work. Donations have also been coming into the fledgling organization.

Many asked why a new organization was needed when billions of dollars have been spent on Seattle’s existing homeless assistance organizations.

A June 2021 email obtained by The Post Millennial show that Seattle School Board introduced Matthias as a solution to removing the encampment after the suggestion came from one of the campers themselves. In an email to a neighbor Director Liza Rankin wrote, "...I was recently contacted by a member of the camp to meet with a volunteer coordinator with connections to housing opportunities and support for compassionate removal."

Rankin added that "Despite what you (or the Seattle Times Editorial Board) may think, the work to solve this issue has been constant and ongoing, and I am very grateful that we now have a Superintendent and Deputy committed to addressing it." However, at that time the encampment was still growing and violence was occurring regularly."

In it unclear if Rankin or the Seattle School Board did their research on Matthias before appointing him to the position.

A simple background check would have revealed that that Mathias has an extensive criminal past as well as addiction and mental health challenges.

In 2017, Mathias attacked a couple in a vehicle in a road rage incident. After berating the couple, and attacking their vehicle in the parking lot of a Target, they drove away, at which point Mathias followed them and at another intersection exited his vehicle and damaged the couple's car.

Mathias has admitted to causing damage to the vehicle and said that he has been dealing with anger and impulse management issues. According to police documents, Mathias disclosed that he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD) and a Bipolar Disorder when he was younger and had stopped taking his medications for it.

Mathias also admitted that he had substance abuse problems and that he completed an in-patient rehabilitation program for his addiction to methamphetamines. He told responding officers that he had been clean for about a month but was still struggling with his behavior issues.

In 2018 Mathias was caught shoplifting from Target. At the time he admitted to the crimes and to having stolen from the location before. Retail theft is a regular crime committed by those in Seattle with mental health issues and those funding a drug habit.

At the time of his appointment, neighbors were skeptical and called him a "grifter," equating him to just a new face in the corrupt Seattle "homeless industrial complex.

District officials previously waffled between refusing to remove the encampment and claiming that the campers were on city property, not the district's.

In emails sent by neighbors and employees to The Post Millennial, Seattle School Board Chair Chandra Hampson and Director Zachary DeWolf demanded Mayor Jenny Durkan not allow the encampments to be removed from school grounds.