Ellensburg City Hall Open House
Community Open House on March 28 to Learn About Ellensburg and Kittitas County’s Efforts to Address Challenges of Homelessness and Establish a Year-round Sleep Center
ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Members of the public are invited to attend a community open house on March 28, 2023, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Ellensburg City Hall to learn more about collaborative community efforts to address the challenges of homelessness, behavioral health, and build a sleep center—a year-round overnight shelter—in Ellensburg. Participants will hear from law enforcement and other community leaders about the benefits and challenges of operating a sleep center facility. Social service providers will share information about their services, collaboration across agencies and the challenges still facing the community.
Date: March 28, 2023
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Location: Ellensburg City Hall, 501 N. Anderson, Ellensburg, WA 98926 Participants: Local Law Enforcement, City of Ellensburg, Kittitas County, HopeSource, Comprehensive, Kittitas County Public Health, Kittitas County Health Network, and others.
An Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness was established in January 2022 to explore services and needs to ensure the growing concerns around the increase in people experiencing homelessness in our community were addressed. An important gap identified was a lack of year-round overnight shelter facilities to allow enforcement of public camping regulations and provide better access to services. The Committee recommended construction of an overnight sleep center—a model used by other Central and Eastern Washington communities—to provide this shelter. Both the Kittitas County Board of County Commissioners and the Ellensburg City Council approved the concept at their respective meetings in July 2022.
The City of Ellensburg and Kittitas County are in the early stages of searching for an appropriate location for a sleep center in the Ellensburg community. Current public property inventory has been examined for shelter use and found to be inadequate. The City and
County are working together to hire a consultant to facilitate exploration of cost and location options for a sleep center facility.
Funding for the sleep center could come from a variety of sources, including the City, Kittitas County, state and/or federal grants and community support. Identifying and securing an appropriate site will be an important step in that process.
Background
Homelessness is an issue that most cities, regardless of size, have been attempting to address for many years. The federal courts have decided that cities and counties cannot remove homeless persons from camping on public property unless there is adequate overnight shelter space for those individuals.
The Kittitas Valley Ministerial Association has been operating an overnight Cold Weather Shelter in Ellensburg for the past nine years, open from November to March rotating across several local churches and managed by various non-profit agencies over the years. However, this modal is not adequate to accommodate the needs of a year-round sleep center .
In 2022, both the Ellensburg (Ord. 4895, ECC 5.70) and Kittitas County (Ord. 2022-015) adopted new policies regulating public camping.
Sleep Center Purpose and Description
Some cities, such as Walla Walla and Moses Lake, have created overnight “sleep centers” to provide such shelter space. Typically, these sleep centers are located on vacant lots with units, such as small sheds or Conestoga-style huts, which can house one to two persons depending on the situation. There are usually mobile administration and shared restroom/shower facilities onsite, as well.
In addition to providing a safe sleeping space protected from the elements, the goal of these facilities is to provide information and connections for “wrap around” services for guests to address their employment, behavioral health, and substance abuse issues. The City and its partners hope to utilize the sleep center to help transition folks experiencing homelessness to more permanent housing solutions.
Requirements for Sleep Center Property
Early plans estimate the need to house up to 25 individuals and a site would have the following features:
• Fully fenced on all sides with security lighting and cameras
• Overnight security personnel to ensure safety of guests and surrounding community • Insulated sleeping sheds (no electricity or plumbing) with windows, cots, and
sleeping pads
• Storage containers for personal property (only clothes, personal hygiene products
and similar items allowed in sheds)
• Limited check-in times (typically between 6-8 p.m.) and checkout by approximately
7 a.m.; check-in consists of ensuring no weapons or illegal drugs are brought into the facility. No admittance after check-in unless accompanied by law enforcement, and no in-and-out privileges once checked in
• Monitored use of shared restroom/shower facilities
• Ability to scale of facility if demand increased over time
Ad Hoc Committee Members
Members participated in varying degrees throughout the year including: City Councilmember and staff from various departments (City Manager’s Office, Police and Planning staff); Commissioner Osiadacz and staff; Sheriff’s Office; Kittitas County Public Health; Roslyn Councilmember Brodine; Kittitas Valley Ministerial Association; HopeSource; Kittitas County Habitat for Humanity; Kittitas Valley Health Network; Comprehensive Healthcare; and Merit Resources.
For more information, please contact the Ellensburg City Manager’s Office at 509-962-7221 or citymanager@ellensburgwa.gov.
Date and Time
Tuesday Mar 28, 2023
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM PDT
Date: March 28, 2023
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Location
Location: Ellensburg City Hall, 501 N. Anderson, Ellensburg, WA 98926 Participants: Local Law Enforcement, City of Ellensburg, Kittitas County, HopeSource, Comprehensive, Kittitas County Public Health, Kittitas County Health Network, and others.
