SEQUIM — At least once a week, youths in Sequim in need of a hot meal, friendly faces and housing resources have a place to go.
Serenity House of Clallam County is working with a handful of community volunteers to operate a youth drop-in center at its Sequim Housing Resource Center along West Washington Street near the Serenity House Thrift Store.
The Safe Harbor drop-in center at 583 W. Washington St., Suite A, is set to launch with an open house from noon to 2 p.m. today.
“This is something that’s really exciting for us in the Sequim area,” said Viola Ware, Serenity House program director of coordinated intake and youth and young adult services.
The center’s hours are restricted to Wednesday afternoons from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., but if more volunteers get involved, the hours will expand, said Kim Leach, Serenity House of Clallam County executive director.
On days that Safe Harbor isn’t open but the Housing Resource Center is, Serenity House officials have the ability to assist youth with such services as obtaining bus passes, replacing identifications or financial assistance for placement exams or the General Educational Development (GED) test.
Safe Harbor is a complementary service to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula’s Sequim unit, Leach said.
Unlike the Boys & Girls Clubs, however, Safe Harbor is directly related to housing and aimed at ages 17-24.
“But anyone younger that comes in won’t be turned away,” Ware added.
Life skills classes will coincide with the hours of Safe Harbor. Teens at the drop-in center are welcome to participate but aren’t required to do so, Ware said.
The classes range from developing soft skills such as self-esteem to learning how to rent a place, find a job and keep it.
“We’re just hoping they’ll [youth] come in, play games, read a book, talk to us and, if they need housing, then we can help connect them with the right resources,” said Cecilia Eckerson, Safe Harbor volunteer.
Safe Harbor is the brainchild of Eckerson and fellow volunteer Gail Lucas, who have been working to help homeless or at-risk youths in Sequim.
Together with help from a couple of other community volunteers and in partnership with Serenity House, Eckerson and Lucas spearheaded the youth drop-in center.
At the center, youth can have hot beverages and meals, access resources, use the center’s computers or simply read books and relax.
If needed, Eckerson said, she hopes the drop-in center will be a place youths can gain the tools and encouragement to change their lifestyle.
“I want to interact with them and get to know them,” she said.
To help gather more insight into the needs of homeless and at-risk youths and young adults, Ware recently released the “Youth and Young Adult Community Needs Assessment” on April 20.
The three-page assessment “splits information into quantitative data — such as rate your need for food one through five — and it also looks at what is what we’re missing, like identifying the biggest barriers to employment,” she said.
The assessment is aimed at people age 16 to 24 countywide.
Ware is distributing copies to organizations, schools, the faith-based community and any interested individuals likely to come in contact with youths and young adults.
“I am really excited about this,” she said. “The hope is that we get a much more nuanced approach to youths’ needs in our area across the county.”
The assessment is meant to be ongoing.
“There’s no end date right now,” she said.
Instead, Ware will tabulate the data on a monthly basis.
For more information on the needs assessment or to get an electronic version, contact Ware at 360-452-7224 or vware.serenity@gmail.com.
For more information about the center, call the Sequim Housing Resource Center at 360-477-4918 or Serenity House of Clallam County at 360-452-7224.
________
Alana Linderoth 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 her at alinderoth@sequimgazette.com.
