As temperatures drop closer to freezing, city and county officials are planning more shelter options to help increasing numbers of homeless people during the winter.
Two winter shelters, providing a total of 95 additional beds, will be operated by nonprofit Road2Home and the YWCA this year, with joint funding from the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County.
Two severe weather shelters will also be activated on cold nights, run by Ferndale Community Services and the county.
The City of Bellingham’s proposal on the Road2Home facility noted a “gap” in the amount of shelter capacity expected this year, prompting the need for these facilities. The 2023 Point in Time homeless count estimated 1,059 homeless people in the county, with 348 reported as unsheltered. It was the highest number recorded since the census began in 2008.
The two new shelters supplement Lighthouse Mission Ministries Base Camp on Cornwall Avenue, reported to be at capacity. It can house up to 200 adults overnight. The point-in-time count, conducted on just one night in January, is a limited snapshot of homelessness, and historically underestimates the actual number.
The city’s winter shelter plans have been changing every year, due to capacity issues from agencies and nonprofits, Tara Sundin, community and economic development manager in the city’s planning department, said at an October city council meeting. These programs, especially severe weather shelters, are “stressful” to operate, resulting in operators often backing out after a year, she said.
The Road2Home-operated 45-bed winter shelter will be located at 1355 Civic Field Way in the Civic Field locker rooms. The cost to operate the shelter, open from Dec. 1 to Feb. 29, is $500,000. The county and city will split the cost, with the county’s portion coming from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, and the city paying with a combination of ARPA dollars and money from the affordable housing sales tax fund.
The facility will be open from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. every night for residents on a first-come, first-served basis.
The county will also be funding an YWCA-operated shelter, with a to-be-determined location, said Chris D’Onofrio, program supervisor at Whatcom Health and Community Services. No location or plan has been solidified yet, but D’Onofrio said the county hopes it will be a 40-bed shelter will be for only single women and women with children.
Severe weather shelters
Severe weather shelters will also be operating in Ferndale and Bellingham.
Severe weather shelters are different from winter shelters in that they are only open when the weather crosses a certain threshold. In Whatcom County, the overnight low must be 28 degrees or below, or 2 inches of precipitation must have fallen when freezing temperatures are reached.
Ferndale Community Services will be operating its severe weather shelter again this year, with funding from the county health department. The shelter will be open from Nov. 1 to March 31, only during severe weather events, at the United Church of Ferndale. On days it’s open, it will operate from 5:30 p.m. to 8 a.m., with check-in by 8 p.m.
Whatcom County will be operating its own severe weather shelter in Bellingham, at 810 N. State St. The county leased the space from State Street Creamery, LLC from Nov. 1 to March 15 of next year for $50,000. The funding is from ARPA funds, from the designated homeless services category.
The space will be able to serve 45 people, is located on a bus line, and will be open from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. on nights it is in service.
At the county council finance committee meeting on Oct. 24, Ann Beck of Whatcom County Health and Community Services said the cost was “a bit pricier than we would like.” Beck noted that this is the last year the county will have ARPA funding to pay for programs like this.
D’Onofrio said at an Oct. 16 city council meeting that there was no interest from organizations in operating a severe weather shelter, so the county decided to operate it themselves.
Beck said the county is still looking for volunteers to get the shelter fully staffed.
This article was updated on Oct. 31 at 4:56 p.m. to add additional info about the potential YWCA winter shelter.
