PORT ANGELES – Clallam County’s first one-stop Housing Resource Center could open as early as May in the Tempest Building, 535 E. First St.
The center would provide outreach, advocacy, and service-matching help to homeless individuals and families, said Melissa St. John of Serenity House of Clallam County.
St. John and other housing providers spoke to about 70 people who gathered Wednesday in Trinity Lutheran Church for the county’s annual Forum on Ending Homelessness.
“We want to extend our services,” said Tait Gray, also of Serenity House.
To do that, he said, providers can’t stay in their offices waiting for homeless people to visit.
“We have to go and find them,” he said.
Services the center would offer would include emergency housing, providing security deposits to renters, helping people get birth certificates and other identification, screening them on landlords’ behalf and clearing other barriers.
Those barriers include poor credit histories, criminal records, unemployment, and physical and mental disabilities, Gray said.
