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QUILCENE — Social services from juvenile probation to drug and alcohol counseling will be closer to the doorstep of south county residents when a new center opens next Tuesday.
The South County Social Services Extension Office will open the three-room complex in the same building as the South County Medical Clinic, 294843 U.S. Highway 101.
The new office will provide office space where counselors from six agencies can meet with clients, making access to social services easier.
“For residents in this area, it’s a huge bonus,” said Shirley Smith-Moore, the chairwoman of the center’s board of directors. “We’ve never had this many services in this location.”
Jefferson General Hospital, which runs the clinic, is providing the space without cost under a renewable one-year lease, Smith-Moore said. The hospital leases its space at a “low cost” from building owner and Quilcene resident Wally Pedersen, Smith-Moore said.
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