EDITOR’S NOTE A comment by Becca Korby, Healthy Families of Clallam County director, has been corrected.
PORT ANGELES — Clallam County is being asked to lend a hand to agencies that help the homeless.
The three commissioners agreed Tuesday to schedule a work session in the near future to discuss ways to fund cash-strapped shelter providers that are seeing an increased demand.
Commissioners said they would likely employ the Homelessness Task Force to make recommendations to fund agencies that are working to implement a county-adopted plan to end homelessness.
Representatives of the Shelter Providers Network, Serenity House, Salvation Army of Port Angeles and Healthy Families of Clallam County asked for county support in the public comment period of Tuesday’s board meeting.
The commissioners, who have decided this year to spend down a portion of the general fund reserves in ways that help the community, were amenable to the request.
“I agree that the problem is not getting any better,” Commissioner Mike Chapman told Martha Ireland, Shelter Providers Network coordinator.
“To any of you who thinks there isn’t a problem, meet me at the fountain,” Chapman continued.
“Let me know, and I’ll meet you at the fountain at 9 o’clock at night, and I’ll take you on a walk, anytime.”
Chapman has said he often meets homeless people on his walks past the Conrad Dyar Memorial Fountain and other Port Angeles spots.
“Valley Creek estuary at 7 o’clock on Saturday morning, you’d be surprised who comes wandering out of the trees down there, and the campgrounds and encampments and underneath some of the facilities,” Chapman said.
“The Olympic Discovery Trail early in the morning, people come walking out of the hills.
“So it’s here,” he added. “It’s not getting better.”
Need growing
Ireland, a former county commissioner, said the need for homeless services has increased as state and federal funding has been cut.
“Every part of our community is affected by this,” Ireland told the board.
In a formal letter, the Shelter Providers Network asked commissioners to allocate an unspecified amount of money that would be directed to the Homelessness Task Force.
The task force would then issue a request for proposals from organizations that help the homeless.
Commissioner Bill Peach said he liked the idea of using the task force because it involves the public.
He asked Ireland how long it would take the advisory panel to bring its recommendations back to the board.
“It should be a pretty fast turnaround,” Ireland said.
“We actually would hope that the money could be allocated to be used in the community in the last six months of this year. So July through December is what the letter will ask for.”
More in shelters
Although the one-day point-in-time homeless count Jan. 29 showed a 31 percent reduction in the number of unsheltered individuals, Serenity House of Clallam County Executive Director Kim Leach said more and more people are staying in shelters.
“If shelters lose capacity, the numbers of literally homeless will go up,” Leach said.
At least 85 children are living in Serenity House family programs or transitional housing, she added.
“For the first time in the last two years, our family shelters have been filled with literally homeless families — families that are on the street or in their car, with children,” Leach said.
“The commissioners’ office has been very supportive of ending homelessness in Clallam County, and we just encourage you to continue to do that.”
Salvation Army
Damon Hopkins, administrative assistant at the Salvation Army in Port Angeles, said that emergency shelter houses 16 to 18 people a night.
The Salvation Army serves breakfast seven days a week and lunch five days a week, and provides cots and blankets for the homeless.
Two paid staffers are required to be on site, Hopkins said.
“The Salvation Army stepped up to help the community when funding at Serenity House had decreased,” Peach said.
Becca Korby, Healthy Families of Clallam County director, said domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women.
Homelessness and domestic violence, Korby said, are “threatening community health on many levels, not just physical health but emotional health, mental health, spiritual and financial health.”
Commissioners said they would schedule a work session on funding homeless agencies next week or the week after.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
