Local governments and homeless-service organizations are joining forces to open daytime and overnight cold-weather shelters in Bellingham and Ferndale this winter.
Road2Home, which runs the Gardenview Village tiny home community off Lakeway Drive, will open an overnight shelter with room for some 40 individuals in the Civic Field locker rooms when the nighttime temperature is forecast to reach 28 degrees or lower. The overnight shelter also would be activated at temperatures as high as 32 degrees if at least 2 inches of snow are expected.
Whatcom County Community Health and Human Services Manager Ann Beck told the County Council Sept. 27 that contracting with a nonprofit should result in smoother planning and operation of the temporary shelter. Road2Home will have paid, on-call staff available to set up the shelter with 24–48 hours’ notice, Beck said.
The nonprofit will be better prepared than the county staff who often scrambled last winter to open the cold-weather shelter at Civic Field.
“The contract is starting sooner rather than later,” Beck said. “They’re going to be able to start recruiting volunteers, getting trainings in place, buying the supplies that are needed.”
The county will pay Road2Home less than $25,000, so the council was not required to approve the contract.
Homeless-outreach teams and county Emergency Medical Services will distribute flyers announcing shelter openings. Details also will be available through the county’s night-by-night shelter hotline, (360) 788-7983.
In addition, Christ the King Community Church will partner with Lighthouse Mission Ministries this winter to provide overflow space for Lighthouse Mission’s Base Camp shelter. The church will provide 40 beds for men at 1013 W. Holly St., December through February. This will open up more space for women at Base Camp, 1530 Cornwall Ave., which consistently operates near its 200-person capacity, according to a Bellingham City Council memo.
The city will spend about $25,000 to support a day-use warming room for 40 people in the downtown library at 210 Central Ave. Road2Home will operate the daytime warming center when the high temperature is forecast to be no more than 28 degrees.
The county also will help cover the costs of a 12-person cold-weather shelter Ferndale Community Services will operate at United Church of Ferndale, 2034 Washington St. The Ferndale agency will have enough county and state funding to pay for three part-time staff, said Kate Bishop, community resource navigator for Ferndale Community Services.
County funding comes from a federal Emergency Solutions Grant. The Housing and Urban Development grant program was intended to support homeless services. City money for the day-use center will come from its general fund.
