Lighthouse Mission will provide additional space for homeless during hot weather
With the upcoming heat wave arriving in Whatcom County this weekend, Lighthouse Mission Ministries will have space for up to 200 people experiencing homelessness at its downtown shelter.
The Lighthouse Mission “responding to forecasts of extreme and dangerous heat in Bellingham” will have the space at Base Camp, an emergency overnight shelter for homeless people at 1530 Cornwall Ave., according to a Mission press release.
Base Camp is air-conditioned and has ion air purifiers to help keep the air clean from viruses and other particles, the release states.
The Lighthouse Mission’s Street Connect outreach team also will hand out water and sunscreen, the release states.
“With scorching heat coming our way, Lighthouse Mission is set up to provide air-conditioned shelter and relief to our neighbors who may need it most,” Lighthouse Mission Executive Director Hans Erchinger-Davis said in a prepared statement. “As you can imagine, for our unsheltered neighbors, being out in the heat and sun all day long can have devastating effects.
“On an average day, life on the streets is already no vacation. Most folks we meet already feel hungry, exhausted, lonely, and hopeless. And as the sun comes out, those of our neighbors without shelter are particularly vulnerable for dehydration, heat exhaustion and sunburn.”
The National Weather Service updated the Excessive Heat Watch it issued for the region earlier this week to an Excessive Heat Warning, which runs from 2 p.m. Friday, June 25, until 9 p.m. Monday, June 28.
Temperatures in Bellingham are predicted to reach 85 degrees Friday, 92 Saturday, 96 Sunday and 97 Monday. It is forecast to cool to 85 degrees Tuesday and 81 Wednesday.
If temperatures reach as high as predicted this weekend, it would not only break multiple daily high temperature records records, but Bellingham’s 66-year-old record high for the month of June (93 degrees set June 9, 1955) and the nearly 12-year-old record for highest temperature ever recorded in the City of Subdued Excitement (96 degrees on July 29, 2009) also would fall, according to previous reporting in The Bellingham Herald.
The Herald has reached out to the city in regards to plans about cooling shelters.
