New center in Bellingham offers medical services, restrooms, laundry for homeless people
Whatcom County officials unveiled the new Way Station on Tuesday, a $12.6 million center designed to provide medical care for homeless people — along with restrooms, showers and laundry facilities for those living on the streets.
One wing of the center at 1500 N. State St. downtown has 16 beds for patients who were discharged from the hospital but are suffering from an injury or illness that’s too severe for someone living on the streets.
Patients could include someone with pneumonia, a recent amputation or a wound that needs regular cleaning, said Rachel Lucy, director of community health for PeaceHealth, which is operating the medical respite wing of the Way Station in partnership with the Opportunity Council.
It’s scheduled to open later this month.
At a dedication event Tuesday, Chuck Prosper, CEO of PeaceHealth Northwest, told several dozen local officials that the organization’s social justice mission drove its participation in the project.
“We know that it’s just not right to discharge that patient back to (living in) their car. That’s what (the Way Station) is for,” Prosper said.
A second wing of the Way Station is operated by Unity Care NW and offers restrooms, showers and washers and dryers, along with counseling and routine medical care.
“There are a lot of folks who are living in their cars who are working. They need a place to get ready,” Don Cook, the Way Station’s health and hygiene manager, told The Bellingham Herald in an interview. Case managers will be available to help people while they are waiting for showers or their laundry, he said.
Rachel Herman, medical operations manager for Unity Care NW, told The Herald that their services provide a measure of dignity for people on the edges of society.
“Accessing services in general can be really difficult,” Herman said. “Being able to come to a place where there is no judgment, we’re there to serve the patient, to meet them where they’re at. Whatever their circumstances, we can provide a safe place for them to take a shower, get laundry done and if they have a need for services like medical care, counseling services, if they’re in that point in their life where they’re interested in help for their addiction, we have it all here. There’s no need to go down the street or find transportation, get a referral somewhere — we have all that here.”
Operating expenses are expected to be about $1.2 million for each side of the Way Station, and Unity Care NW has a federal grant to fund the first three years of operation.
While services for unhoused people operate on the first floor, upstairs office space will be occupied by several Bellingham and Whatcom County social services programs, including the Homeless Outreach Team, the Alternative Response Team of unarmed 911 responders, and the GRACE and LEAD programs that integrate law enforcement and service providers.
A combination of local, state and federal funding, along with private donations, got the project off the ground. The building once housed the Whatcom County Department of Health and Community Services, along with the Office of the Medical Examiner.
Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu told The Herald the idea for the Way Station gelled in discussions about what to do with the building that the Health Department was vacating. The idea of “repurposing” took shape with inspiration from a similar program in Seattle.
“These kinds of facilities are not very common in small communities” and Bellingham’s is the only one in Washington outside Seattle, Sidhu said.
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, an Everett Democrat whose 2nd Congressional District includes Bellingham, told the crowd that the Way Station is “an important milestone” for a community where homelessness is rising amid a housing shortage and rising rents. He secured a $2 million federal grant to help with constructions.
“Congress can do a lot to help our local communities when our local communities help define what needs to be done,” Larsen said.
Representatives from Whatcom County’s 42nd District legislative delegation secured $4 million in state funding for the project, said state Sen. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham.
“When (the Opportunity Council) toward the end of project and folks at Unity Care and PeaceHealth and some other coalitions they came to us in the Legislature and they’re like, ‘ We have this great idea that’s going to save you money, that’s going to better serve people and that’s going to protect the most vulnerable in our community. How do you say no to that?” Shewmake told the crowd.
“I just think this speaks to our community. I just think this speaks to our values of caring for one another, making sure that we’re not sending someone off to the street when (the hospital) just spent a whole bunch of money getting them fixed up and then we’re sending them off to have a bad time again. That doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make financial sense. It doesn’t make humanitarian sense,” she said.
This story was originally published October 10, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
