PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County commissioners will review contracts with six social service agencies totalling $300,000 for “rapid rehousing,” renting motel and hotel rooms and similar services for the homeless population.
Commissioners will consider the contracts during their work session at 9 a.m. in the commissioners’ meeting room of the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles. They are set to take action on the contracts at next week’s regular session, set for 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 23.
The Clallam County Health and Human Services Department received the money from the state Department of Commerce for “hotel leasing and rapid re-housing,” according to a memo provided to the commissioners.
The Commerce Department is using state document recording fee funds to pay for the grants. Recording fees are charged by a government agency for registering or recording the purchase or sale of a piece of real estate so it becomes a matter of public record.
The grant money covers renting hotel and motel rooms (from individual rooms to blocks of rooms to entire buildings), repair of room damage beyond regular wear and tear, rent assistance for people experiencing homelessness (rapid rehousing), housing outreach and associated costs.
The money must be spent between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023.
Here are contracts the commissioners will consider:
• A $35,775 contract with Serenity House of Clallam County would pay for hotel stays for families with children when the shelter is at capacity and those needing quarantine space for contagious diseases after leaving the hospital.
• An $80,145 contract with First Step Family Support Center would pay for single-night hotel rooms, weekly hotel rooms, deposits needed for rapid rehousing and rental assistance.
• A $75,050 contract with Reflections Counseling Services Group would pay for rapid rehousing funds to be allocated for emergency hotel lodging, move-in assistance (including deposits, first and last months’ rent, application fees), costs associated with moving into Oxford Housing and outreach.
• A $41,200 contract with Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic would pay for rapid rehousing needs such as Oxford House deposits, first month’s rent, application fees associated with housing, hotel leasing/emergency stays and outreach.
• A $59,250 contract with Olympic Community Action Program would pay for housing unhoused persons or families in hotel/motel rooms in Sequim until housing becomes available, outreach and associated costs.
• An $8,580 contract with The Answer for Youth (TAFY) would pay for stop-gap measures to cover the immediate needs of those at imminent risk of homelessness, such as emergency rent payments, emergency car repair to maintain employment and emergency utility payments.
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached by email at brian.gawley@soundpublishing.com.
