PORT ANGELES — Serenity House will open an overnight shelter beginning Thursday, the same day the Salvation Army will close its temporary shelter.
Serenity House’s Single Adult Shelter at 2321 W. 18th St. will be open for as many as 14 overnight guests each night beginning at 10 p.m. and close at 7 a.m., according to Kim Leach, executive director.
The Salvation Army shelter replaced a Serenity House shelter on East Second Street that closed in February due to a sewer line collapse and funding shortfalls.
Serenity House of Clallam County, a 501(c)(3) private nonprofit agency founded in 1982, had run short of funds, the house used for the shelter needed extensive repairs and the organization could not keep the $40,000-per-year operation open.
The Salvation Army announced Sept. 18 it would close its shelter.
Serenity House officials anticipate receiving county funding to keep its shelter open through April, when it will close unless more funding is identified.
Serenity House’s first priority is to get people out of temporary shelters and into stable, permanent housing, Leach said.
“We have dramatically increased our outreach efforts to assist the people who make up the street population to move toward housing,” Leach said.
Since overnight shelter guests are not required to be clean and sober, they will be physically separated from the residential shelter and room-and-board populations, which is a clean-and-sober facility, according to a Serenity House news release.
Registered sex offenders cannot be accommodated at the overnight shelter.
A Clallam Transit Route 26 bus stop is located near the shelter.
The last Route 26 bus to the shelter area departs The Gateway transit center in downtown Port Angeles at 7:05 p.m. nightly, and the first bus in the morning departs at about 7:15 a.m.
No early entry will be allowed for those arriving before 10 p.m.
Serenity House will not provide transportation, the release said.
Serenity House plans to hire two additional staff members to supervise the shelter overnight, the release said.
The positions are listed on WorkSource at https://fortress.wa.gov/esd/worksource. Military veterans will be given preference in hiring.
Volunteers are needed to assist staff and help out at the desk while overnight clients sleep.
