Bellingham wants to shelter homeless women in this spot this winter
The city wants to turn a building at Civic Stadium into an overnight shelter for up to 40 women and possibly children who are homeless this winter, officials announced Tuesday, Aug. 27.
The temporary shelter would operate from late November until the end of February in a building that’s now a locker room.
The building has restrooms, showers and adequate space, Rick Sepler, Planning and Community Development director, told the Bellingham City Council on Monday.
The stadium, which is used by schools and the community for a number of sporting events, is at 1445 Puget St. in the Puget Neighborhood.
The city of Bellingham already has contracted with the Opportunity Council to run the 40-bed shelter even as it planned to apply for a permit to use the building in such a capacity.
The nonprofit operates the Whatcom Homeless Service Center.
It’s expected to cost the city $80,000 for staff, services and supplies, according to the news release.
The city is stepping in because Fountain Community Church, after doing so for three years, said it could no longer host a winter shelter for women in Bellingham.
In June, Mayor Kelli Linville sent out a letter for a replacement but didn’t get a viable lead, according to the city.
“We are concerned about having adequate capacity this winter for those who are unsheltered,” Sepler said to the City Council.
Bellingham officials expect more people will seek a place to sleep when it’s cold than can be accommodated by Lighthouse Mission Ministries and other shelter providers.
“Hundreds of our neighbors are experiencing homelessness in our community, and we need warm, safe places for shelter this coming winter,” Linville said in the release.
About 700 people are homeless in Whatcom County, according to the most recent annual census.
“We do absolutely recognize that we have the need for shelter, especially in the winter months,” City Council member Dan Hammill said.
As for the building that is the proposed site for the shelter, the locker room in it is used from June through August by the Bellingham Bells baseball team, according to Vanessa Blackburn, city spokeswoman.
“Other sports teams use it in the spring and fall, but it is generally unused during the winter months from November through February,” Blackburn told The Bellingham Herald. “The stadium also has two additional locker rooms available for use.”
Winter shelter
Other details of the proposed temporary shelter include:
▪ It will operate from about 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., seven days per week.
▪ Shelter residents can’t stay there during the day, unless there’s a weather emergency.
▪ The proposed shelter will be for women and, should it be needed, women with children.
“We are not certain that mothers with kids will be placed in this shelter. Families with children have more resources available to them, including motel vouchers and other family-specific shelter spaces,” Blackburn explained to The Bellingham Herald.
She said the city already has a contract with the Opportunity Council to put families into motels during the winter, which is its “primary strategy.”
“The biggest need we have in our community is more space for single adults,” Blackburn added. “In the event of extenuating circumstances, we have one separate room where a woman with a child/children could stay until other accommodations are made.”
Also yet to be decided is whether there will be age restrictions on children allowed into the shelter, according to Blackburn.
▪ The Opportunity Council and trained staff will manage the proposed shelter. Volunteers also will help.
▪ People seeking shelter there will first be screened in another location.
Why Civic?
Blackburn explained why the city picked the Civic building and, in response to a reader’s question, about why it didn’t also consider the former Regal Sehome 3 movie theater building to shelter the homeless.
This is her discussion of the Civic decision:
▪ ”Staff explored a number of other city-owned sites as well and none were as well suited as Civic Stadium.”
▪ “The primary reason the Civic Stadium locker room building is being considered is that we have control of the space, and it was not in use during these winter months.”
▪ ”The second reason is that it already has all the necessary amenities: potable (safe to drink) water, toilets, showers, heating and outdoor lighting.”
▪ ”It is also accessible to those with mobility limitations.”
▪ ”The building will not require any major conversion to operate the women’s shelter. Former shelter operators, Lighthouse Mission Ministries, the mayor and city staff believe it’s a very good solution and are grateful we have it.”
As for the old Sehome theater site at 3300 Fielding Ave. near the Sehome Village shopping center, that closed in 2012 and Church Holdings Northwest @ Sehome LLC in Lynden bought the property that same year.
“The city approached the owners of the Sehome site years ago and they were not interested in selling or leasing,” Blackburn said. “The city cannot compel other organizations or entities to use their property for any specific purpose.”
It also was one of a number of sites that was considered back when the city was looking for a site to put a year-round emergency shelter for up to 200 homeless people.
This story was originally published August 28, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
