The City of Poulsbo, in partnership with several local nonprofits will be helping local residents with COVID-19 related needs during the outbreak through the “Poulsbo Cares” initiative.
According to the City of Poulsbo, the initiative has three main goals:
- Helping residents who are unable to leave their homes to shop for groceries due to COVID-19 risk;
- Providing free meals twice daily to anyone struggling financially during the outbreak; and
- Offering meals, showers, laundry and internet for people who are homeless or transient
Partners along with the City of Poulsbo include Poulsbo Fishline, Gateway Fellowship and Empact Northwest. Services for homeless individuals will also be provided with support from the Kitsap County Department of Human Services.
“We’re really concerned about isolated seniors, people without homes, and people who have taken a financial hit from the stay at home order,” said Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson. “Poulsbo Cares is a community effort to help our friends and neighbors.”
The city’s Department of Housing, Health and Human Services will be maintaining a Poulsbo Cares HELP line (360-517-5037) for anyone looking to access services.
“One of the best things about Poulsbo Cares is its army of volunteers,” said Kim Hendrickson, who heads up Poulsbo’s Housing, Health and Human Services Department.
Between the city and Empact Northwest, we have over 70 people who have signed up to volunteer in Poulsbo. There are people making Trader Joe’s runs, people transporting food from Fishline to Gateway, people chopping vegetables in the Gateway kitchen, and people sewing masks for other volunteers. My biggest challenge, at the moment, is to keep everyone engaged since we may not have enough work for all these wonderful people.”
The Poulsbo Cares HELP line is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Assistance can also be requested online through Empact Northwest at empactnorthwest.org/covid.html.
