SEQUIM — Peninsula Behavioral Health officials are getting ready to open the doors to their first transitional house in Sequim for five adults.
Staff and community members celebrated the future opening with a Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting on Oct. 16 in the refurbished space.
“The more we can do to support people to get people into housing, the more likely they are to be independent,” said Wendy Sisk, CEO for Peninsula Behavioral Health (PBH).
“Housing is health care.”
As of last week, three of the five spaces had been reserved for individuals who do not have housing or have been couch surfing, Sisk said.
In some cases for the agency’s transitional housing, individuals were living with family members who have aged out of the ability to provide support, she said.
The Sequim house, formerly PBH’s Sequim office, will provide transitional supportive living for five adults who have higher needs for support with independent living, development director Tracy Sheldon said via email.
The home was funded with $250,000 from Clallam County per Substitute House Bill 4106 that allows jurisdictions to impose a local state-shared sales and use tax for affordable/supportive housing projects.
Sequim’s home is the agency’s fourth transitional supportive home, and its house and property is owned by PBH.
Once open next month, it will bring space up to 17 rooms for transitional housing through the agency along with 35-40 spaces in its long-term apartments.
Apartments have a waitlist of more than 150 people, Sisk said, while transitional housing placement is based on recommendations through clinical teams.
Transitional housing’s tenure is by definition for no more than two years, she said.
This new home is the only planned house in Sequim, she said, as they have a 36-unit permanent apartment housing project being built in Port Angeles that will take at least a year to complete.
“We don’t expect a lot more action while we’re working through building that complex,” Sisk said.
In the house
At the transitional homes, Sheldon said PBH staff are on site most of the day. Clients’ daily living will include working with case managers and peer support to make a plan to brush their teeth, do laundry and dishes, take cooking classes and more.
“We also are working to make sure residents are supporting one another and being good neighbors,” Sisk said.
“We very rarely have complaints from neighbors because staff are in there most days, if not all days.
“The goal is to get them to be independent.”
One of the benefits of a transitional house is that it can help clients with rental and credit history, so they can be in a better position to apply and be successful when permanent housing does come up, Sisk said.
There are no specific requirements for income or homeless status to live in the agency’s transitional houses, PBH staff said.
Tenants pay monthly rent and the homes are available exclusively for PBH clients on a month-to-month lease term, Sheldon wrote.
Sisk said it varies how clients pay rent, but many receive disability payments due to mental illness.
“If someone doesn’t have income, we will provide them assistance while we help them get into supportive programs,” she said.
Clients have serious mental illnesses, such as severe depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or other illnesses, staff report.
“They’re more likely to be a victim of a crime than to commit one,” Sisk said.
“They’re not going to ruin our neighborhoods.
“There’s a lot of fear about mental illness, but it’s not contagious. They’re reasonable and valuable people in our community.”
________
Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
