Post-prison housing, especially for sex offenders, is rare in Clark County and often run

Surrounding Vancouver’s largest homeless camp sit seven shabby houses built about a century ago. The paint is peeling. The lawn is dead. Windows are damaged. In some of the rooms, floors are warped, ceilings are graying, and dark grime clings to corners and cracks.

For decades, these buildings have been go-to locations for the Washington State Department of Corrections and local homelessness nonprofits looking to house sex offenders and people with other challenging criminal backgrounds in Clark County.

Residents cycle in and out — many moving to the nearby homeless camp after they can no longer pay monthly rent, which has ranged between $700 and $1,450 in the past, according to Department of Corrections records obtained by The Columbian.

Some residents say that major issues with the bu