BREMERTON — Kitsap Rescue Mission is on a mission: “assist the homeless getting out of homelessness.”

According to Executive Director Walt Le Couteur, doing so is their primary objective.

To that end, KRM hosts six mobile meal sites throughout Bremerton; opens each day for the homeless population to get off their feet, read, puzzle and generally be safe; and helps connect anyone who wants it to case managers who can help them work through any issues that may be keeping them homeless. The Mission also joined the Salvation Army this year in taking over the emergency overnight shelter.

With their main location at 810 Sixth St. in Bremerton, the shelter is at a central downtown location. Their day room opens at 9 a.m. and “provides a place to come in out of the climate, have a cup of coffee, sit down, relax, read the paper, do puzzles,” Le Couteur said.

“The purpose of this building, long term, is to expand all of those programs beyond where they are right now,” he said. “We’re looking at having 30 men and 10 single women upstairs in our long-term recovery program. We’re looking at housing 40 to 50 in the overnight shelter down here, and again in the day room.

“We’ll have full laundry and kitchen facilities, and we’re looking at expanding our meal program.”’

But right now, the main goal is keeping their overnight shelter open seven days a week, something that requires volunteers.

“We provide an overnight emergency shelter for up to 20 people, and we’re looking to expand that to 25,” Le Couteur said, “but because we have no sprinkler system in here, we have to keep an awake presence. So we require two volunteers in three different shifts.”

The emergency overnight shelter opened in February in conjunction with the Salvation Army’s emergency overnight shelter.

“When we were at the peak of what we were doing, we were housing 60 to 65 people every night between the two shelters,” Le Couteur said. “They closed in March because they’re just a winter shelter, and we decided to stay open so that we have that available.”

But recently, Kitsap Rescue Mission has lost some volunteers for various personal reasons. Over this last weekend, Le Couteur said they had to stay closed overnight due to lack of volunteers.

Le Couteur said it’s very important for the community as a whole to keep overnight shelters open.

“It’s important for a couple of reasons,” he said. “First of all, we get them off the street, and nobody in town likes them on the street. Second of all, it provides a place for security and safety. One of the biggest problems with the homeless is being harassed by the police because they’re sleeping in some place they shouldn’t be, or being harassed by local residents or being harassed by other homeless people.

“None of that goes on in here. When they’re here, they’re safe and secure. And the other important point is connecting them with other services in town that are available to get them out of that homeless situation.”

Sarah Palmer, the dayroom and overnight manager, said, “It’s not that it’s hard work for our volunteers. It’s, you know, they have jobs and they have things in their life that they’re busy with, so even if we could just get a little bit of their time, I’m tremendously grateful, because that’s how we run.

“We couldn’t do it without them.”

Palmer is one of only four paid employees of the Mission; everyone else keeping the place going is a volunteer. She said she has faith the community can help keep the shelter open. She pointed out a recent fundraiser for Port Orchard’s St. Vincent de Paul, a thrift store that helps the homeless, that earned around $100,000.

“If a community can come together to raise $100,000 for a place that helps homeless people, I’m almost certain that we can come together to keep this shelter alive. We’re just really in need of volunteers. Badly. I can’t stress that enough.”

Up to 20 people can spend the night in Kitsap Rescue Mission’s overnight shelter. Photo provided by Kitsap Rescue Mission

The mission is specifically looking for volunteers for the overnight shifts. The first shift is from 6:45-11 p.m., and involves checking people in, getting them their showers and to bed. The second shift, from 10:45 p.m. to 3 a.m., is basically just “to make sure the building doesn’t burn down around them,” Le Couteur said. The third shift is from 2:45-7 a.m., and involves waking everyone up and getting them out so the room can be reset for the day room.

“For the overnight shelter, there’s not a whole lot of work to do other than maintaining the place and making sure everyone’s safe and secure,” Le Couteur said.

Anyone can volunteer, Le Couteur said. There is some training to go through, including “Rescue 101,” which is basic training, and separate training for the overnight shift. There will be a training session 5 p.m. Friday, April 22, at the 810 Sixth St. location in Bremerton. Volunteer applications are available on the website at www.kitsaprescue.org or at the shelter itself.

“Right now, because we have dire need, (training is) probably going to be an every-week type thing until we have enough volunteers, because right now, we’re running on a day-to-day basis,” Palmer said.

Palmer said that volunteering at a homeless shelter really takes “having a heart for the homeless.”

“It’s just really rewarding in a sense,” she said. “I used to be a volunteer here before I got the position. Although these people are facing probably the hardest times of their life, to be that source of information, to let them know you can come here and we have different resources for you, even if you just need to get off your feet, we’re here — it’s just, it’s very rewarding.”

Le Couteur said, “There is a human sense of helping another individual, and that probably is the biggest reward that comes out of that.

“I think all of us have ingrained in us a desire to help other people, and so this is a big opportunity in a very, very controlled environment, so it’s safe for the volunteers as well … It’s a very save environment to come in and help our fellow human beings. That really is the crux of what it is.”

To learn more about Kitsap Rescue Mission’s programs or to volunteer in any capacity, visit www.kitsaprescue.org or call 360-373-3428.