FORKS — A $50,000 donation from First Federal will help Sarge’s Place to purchase a building to be used as transitional housing for veterans in the West End.
Sarge’s Place is a veteran housing and referral project scheduled to begin operation in fall 2009.
The two story building at 260 Ash Ave. will house up to 12 qualified veterans who can stay from one night up to two years in the transitional housing portion.
The project will also house three veterans families in permanent supportive housing units as well as an on-site building caretaker unit.
“Sarge’s Place is an important addition to the West End,” said Karen McCormick, president and CEO of First Federal, who has explained that the thrift’s donation is part of a million-dollar “dividend” to worthy North Olympic Peninsula entities because First Federal is investor-owned and has no stockholders.
“Supporting our veterans is critical and we are happy to play a role in this vital service,” McCormick said.
The gift from First Federal will go toward the purchase of the building, which will cost about $199,900, Cheri Fleck, West End Outreach Services housing coordinator who is heading the effort, said.
The group will also complete a $200,000 remodeling of the building, including improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“We do anticipate that some of the people coming in will have disabilities, some mental and some physical,” Fleck said.
A common room will be available on the first level for any kind of meeting related to the people staying there.
“If they need it for [Alcoholics Anonymous] or [Narcotics Anonymous] meetings or for group counseling sessions, it will be there for whatever it is needed for,” Fleck said.
Sarge’s Place was originally slated to open in spring 2009, but the organization that is currently in the building, The Caring Place, is working on relocating to another building and might not be able to until sometime next year.
Also Sarge’s Place will be eligible for some per diem funding from the federal government, but must wait until the funding cycle begins in the spring, meaning the funds wouldn’t be allocated until end of next year, Fleck said.
That pushes the opening date to late 2009, she said.
Rent subsidies
“We are really excited about what this will do for the vets in our area,” Fleck said.
“Their rent will be subsidized, and all day there will be a case worker there who will be able to help refer them to whatever kind of services they are in need of.”
Fleck said West End Outreach first got the idea for the program when she was at a conference and heard someone talking about transitional housing for prisoners.
“I leaned over to the people there with me and told them that we needed that for veterans,” she said.
A $25,000 grant from the Ben Phillips Foundation will pay for part of the case worker’s salary, Fleck said.
“If all of our rooms are full, then we will be able to refer them to other places, in particular Serenity House [in Port Angeles].”
Homeless veterans
Fleck said having services geared toward homeless veterans on the West End is important because many of them live in the areas surrounding Forks.
“It can be very difficult to get them all the way to Port Angeles to get help that they need,” Fleck said.
“It will be really good to have this right in Forks and to have it aimed at vets directly so they can develop a camaraderie.”
In order to stay at the apartments, those applying will need to prove they are military veterans — and Sarge’s Place can help with that, Fleck said.
“But after that it is mostly first come, first served,” she said.
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More information about First Federal’s Community Dividend Program can be found at www.doinggoodfeelsgood.com.
To find out more about Sarge’s Place or to donate, contact Fleck at West End Outreach Services at 360-374-5011.
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
