PORT ANGELES — Like one of its clients, Serenity House has found shelter — from its creditors.
An equity loan from Sound Bank will allow the agency that fights homelessness to meet unpaid bills of $455,000, according to Kim Leach, Serenity House executive director.
The loan was processed Monday, she said, and money to creditors had begun to flow on Wednesday.
On Monday, the agency also received $30,000 from the Medina Foundation of Seattle to fund its HUB and DreamU financial and employment programs.
And the agency has applied for $262,000 from funds Clallam County commissioners allocated in April in the wake of the Serenity House crisis (see related report).
The equity loan is secured by real property at 577 W. Washington St., Sequim, the former Kite Girl Plaza the agency bought in May 2014 to relocate its Sequim thrift store in a building that formerly housed Swain’s Outdoor.
The property, renamed Serenity Square, includes three structures; it was valued at its sale at $1.1 million.
The equity financing will be repaid with savings from reduced staffing, Leach said, and perhaps from the sale of property near downtown Port Angeles, including a building at 535 E. First St. that once was Aggie’s Motel, and the former Street Outreach Shelter, 505 E. Second St.
The Feb. 17 closure of that overnight haven for acutely homeless people revealed Serenity House’s financial plight, caused officials said by carrying on with programs while state and federal grants disappeared in the recession.
A collapsed sewer was the immediate cause for the shelter’s shutdown. The agency lacked the more than $40,000 needed to repair it.
Since then, the Salvation Army has taken over providing overnight shelter to the homeless while it works on installing a sprinkler system required by the city of Port Angeles.
Leach announced the equity loan during the 2015 Clallam Forum on Homelessness last month.
During that meeting of representatives of agencies that combat homelessness, one of Serenity House’s creditors asked when he would get his money.
Steven Triggs said he held four months of promissory notes for rent owed him at 1015 15th St.
“They owe me about $1,600 in back rent,” Triggs told Peninsula Daily News.
“Kim [Leach] walked into a big mess to start with. I don’t blame her for this, but I don’t want to be ignored either.”
Triggs said Wednesday he had received the money from Leach that afternoon.
Leach came close to tears at the Homelessness Forum and again when she spoke by telephone with the PDN.
“I try to tell people that it’s not OK that we owe them money,” Leach said.
“To me it’s just awful; it’s just awful for the county; it’s just awful for the employees.”
During the dearth in funds, Serenity House moved its single women residents from their own quarters into a building they share with men.
The agency also closed its offices in the old Aggie’s building and moved them across First Street.
“Everything’s coming together,” Leach told the PDN.
“The loan pays that debt so we can rebuild our relationships with the landlords and the merchants that we depend on for repairs.”
Selling some of the property could depend on city of Port Angeles approval to separate two lots on Second Street from the tract occupied by the Port Angeles thrift store, 502 E. First St.
The agency also trimmed salaries by $25,000 a month, Leach said, but hopes to restore staffing.
“Our outcomes are so high because we have good, solid staffing levels to meet the needs of clients. That’s where our success is.”
Clallam County’s figures from the annual federal Point in Time census of homeless people, Leach said, showed a 10-year reduction in homelessness of 86 percent.
“Where there once were 50 people on the street, now there are six,” she said, but added that 37 percent of people who lack secure, safe shelter are children.
“If you’re looking at the face of homelessness, it’s not the scruffy middle-aged man who’s walking around talking to himself. It’s an 8-year-old who’s trying to remain in school.”
Some of that need will be met by the Medina Foundation grant to Serenity House’s HUB and DreamU programs.
HUB and DreamU participants typically are younger than 30 and have pre-school children. They are homeless or at risk of losing their homes, and are studying to boost their job and money management skills.
HUB is a collaboration among Serenity House, state agencies, Peninsula College, Kitsap Community Services, and Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP).
DreamU clients are 17 to 24 years old who struggle with limited job opportunities.
For more information about Serenity House, call 360-452-7224 or email serenity@olypen.com.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladaily news.com.
