Homeless families and children have become a concern for many people in the Maple Valley area.

Councilwoman Linda Johnson raised the issue at the City Council meeting Monday. She discussed the possibility of some homeless youths living under a portable at Tahoma Middle School.

Kevin Patterson, spokesman for the Tahoma School District, said the district maintenance supervisor looked at the portable near the transportation center and found no signs of anyone living near or under the building.

Patterson said although the story of youths living under the portable appears not to be true, homeless families are an issue in the Tahoma School District.

“I’d be surprised if any school district doesn’t have some homeless population,” Patterson said. “We had a family living in a station wagon.”

Patterson said homeless families are not necessarily living in cars, but may be living with other families in an apartment or other residence.

Janet Pennacchi, a Maple Valley resident who founded Team Tahoma in January 2008, said the homeless population in the area came up at the first meeting.

Team Tahoma is a group of volunteers who try to identify the needs in the community and find services to match.

Pennacchi said before the first meeting of Team Tahoma, “a friend told me kids were going through the dumpster at Lake Wilderness. That’s when I found out it (homelessness) really is problem.”

Pennacchi said she believes, “We may need a committee to come together and find out what is really going on. We need a group specifically for that reason. From what I’ve heard it is only going to get worse with this economy, and there is so much need and so much we can do.”

Pennacchi has committed herself to helping people in the community with Team Tahoma.

“I believe you first have to see the problem and acknowledge it is there,” Pennacchi said. “Then chip away at it. We have a great community here and people want to help.”