Port Angeles council hears homeless issues

Published 1:30 am Thursday, March 19, 2026

PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles City Council heard the last set of presentations from organizations that work with the homeless during their meeting this week.

The presentations were given during Tuesday night’s regular city council meeting. The council plans to have a workshop April 7 on homelessness encampments. The presentations have been heard as an effort to understand as much of the situation as possible.

Peninsula Housing Authority Executive Director Sarah Martinez kicked off the presentations by explaining her organization is a public housing authority that serves both Clallam and Jefferson counties. Housing authorities were created as part of the federal housing act of 1937, Martinez said.

“What the federal government wanted to do was provide the funding and the regulation, but they didn’t want to own the land, build the buildings or sign the leases,” she said. “So they gave power to states to create housing authorities within specific jurisdictions, cities and counties.”

The housing authority is now regulated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and is most commonly associated with administering Section 8 housing subsidies. Housing authorities across the country give vouchers to low-income households to rent from private landlords, so the housing authority pays a subsidy and the voucher holder pays the remaining portion of rent.

Peninsula Housing Authority also owns and manages properties.

“We play a critical role in the housing continuum, but we are not a frontline service provider to those who are experiencing homelessness or immediate crisis,” Martinez said.

Peninsula Housing Authority has more than 550 owned or managed properties across Clallam County. Most serve people who are at or below 80 percent of area median income (AMI) as defined by HUD. The organization also has programs that work with people who do not have any income.

The organization is working on developing new low-income housing. There is a project at the corner of East Seventh Street and Gales in the East Urban Growth Area which will be 24 units for people at or below 60 percent of AMI. The home is to begin construction on this project by October and start leasing units by fall 2027.

There’s also a seven-unit mutual self help build in the same neighborhood that the organization is hoping to get started within the next 30 days.

The city council then heard from Serenity House Executive Director Sharon Maggard, who said the organization is the “coordinated entry point for homeless in Clallam County.” It serves from Blyn to Neah Bay and owns three permanent supportive housing projects with two in Port Angeles and the third in Sequim.

Serenity House also has 10 transitional houses. The agency serves 4,700 people in Clallam County every year.

It offers rental subsidies, eviction prevention, hands out essential needs and operates a 24/7 shelter. It also provides laundry and shower services as well as clothing.

The Serenity House thrift store provides about 10 percent of the agency’s income and also provides all of the clothing and setup costs for people who are moving into permanent supportive housing.

During the point-in-time count, the unofficial number was at 337 while last year it was 331.

Most of the unhoused people Serenity Houses sees are between 25 and 54 years old, but in the past year, a trend of people 55 or older has started. They make up about 30 percent of the shelter population now, Maggard said.

One challenge Serenity Houses faces is federal changes.

“In December, HUD came down with a ruling that they wanted us to change permanent supportive housing to temporary housing,” Maggard said. “That concerns me a great deal because everybody that’s going to be reclassified to temporary housing then ends up with a status of being homeless, because temporary housing still means that you are homeless.”

One thing the city of Port Angeles could do for Serenity House, Maggard said, would be if the city covered the shelter’s utilities, which run about $75,000 a year.

The Answer for Youth (TAFY) Executive Director Susan Hillgren created the agency 17 years ago.

Every day, TAFY puts shoes on feet, clothes on backs, food in bellies and gives people a safe place to store their things, she said. The agency also provides friendship.

Hillgren is the only paid employee, and she has about 40 volunteers who help provide services.

The agency celebrates holidays and birthdays with people and hides 3,000 eggs in the tree park at Easter. For many people, TAFY is their family, Hillgren said.

TAFY has housing for three men, sometimes four, who are in outpatient treatment. They are required to attend meetings and help out at least 15 hours a week.

The agency has a greenhouse and makes moss baskets every year as a fundraiser.

“We just beautify the city with those,” Hillgren said.

TAFY also supports children going to camp, playing sports and taking music lessons. It has helped someone pay for a bachelor’s degree, bought people cars and helped others get into homes.

Future plans for TAFY include having a place for rummage sales to handle all of the donations it receives and also getting a tiny house set up for a woman to live in.

The homeless need to be seen, heard, valued and helped, Hillgren said.

Although most of the presentations were from organizations that deal with the homeless, Port Angeles Waterfront District Executive Director Sam Grello spoke to the council about the concerns of business owners in the waterfront district.

The waterfront district has 176 buildings in it, and more than 150 of them are 50 years or older. There are more than 250 businesses.

A big concern downtown is the perception of personal safety, Grello said. People will avoid areas they perceive to be high risk.

When it comes to people camping downtown, business owners have had to deal with an increase in trash buildup, fires built against the sides of their buildings and have had to clean up human excrement, Grello said. They also have seen an increase in drug use and trash from that usage.

Grello suggested the city conduct a community safety audit to measure personal safety across demographics.

The Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic (OPCC) has worked closely with the city since 2017, CEO Scott Brandon said.

“Last year, we served more than a thousand people across the county,” he said. “Most of them within or just around Port Angeles.”

OPCC had 8,877 non-medical encounters with people in the community and gave out 1,546 referrals to services from those encounters. More than 75 percent connected to services, Brandon said.

Since a lot of services are not available in this community, OPCC has transported people to other areas for services such as long-term inpatient treatment, he said.

One barrier homeless people face is a lack of documentation, COO Helen Kenoyer said. Without documentation such as IDs or Social Security cards, it’s difficult to get into housing or receive other services.

First United Methodist Church also presented to the council. The church hosts Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and other support groups weekly and also offers a nutritious meal every Friday. The church also is working with TAFY on its tiny home project by offering space for the tiny home in its parking lot.

The church has a clothes closet which is open for two hours every week and serves between 35 to 40 people, sometimes up to 50 each week.

Viola Ware, director of housing and community development at Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP), gave the last presentation.

“We spend about $50,000 a month to prevent homelessness, and we’ve gotten very creative, even if that means helping a little old lady clean her apartment,” Ware said.

One problem that’s becoming more prevalent among the homeless is that of dementia, Ware said.

Dementia moves people out of housing, and then they can’t receive medical care and sometimes commit crimes due to the condition, Ware said.

That issue will take a coordinated effort between counties, cities and medical providers to address, she said.

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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.