Deputy David Wolner of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office will tell you he spends a majority of his workday in the woods, working as a community resource officer at the various makeshift homes of the homeless in the county.
His on-the-job encounters have ranged from foot races and wrestling matches to successful treatment referrals and sober follow-ups, but one story he holds above others are the simple yet most secret wishes found in the diary of one homeless woman.
“I want to be warm tomorrow. I want to see my child,” were a couple of those requests, wishes that serve as a reminder of the goal of putting a roof over the heads of the most unfortunate, Wolner said.
County officials hope the Pacific Building homeless shelter in South Kitsap will soon serve as a primary option for the homeless and their families. The Kitsap Department of Human Services recently announced the beginning of construction in March, and the shelter’s anticipated opening in November.
Plans to convert and create the shelter at 4459 SE Mile Hill Drive, previously the Olympic Fitness Club, have been in the works since county commissioners approved the $1.5 million purchase of the property in 2021.
“That will bring 75 beds to Kitsap County,” said Carl Borg, housing and homelessness program manager. “There’ll be a vet clinic on site so people with pets can go in. A lot of the issues with people going into shelter is they don’t want to leave their pet, so they will have pet availability there.”
The shelter will provide food, laundry and personal hygiene products, safe storage and recovery assistance among other resources. Those welcomed into the shelter will be assisted by staff from Kitsap Rescue Mission and other organizations to create an action plan to secure permanent and stable housing within a 90-day period. Their stays will be extended in 30-day intervals if needed.
It is another resource in the county’s stern but compassionate approach to homelessness. Kitsap’s HEART coordinator Jarrod Moran said: “The moment I get a report of an encampment on county property, I’m automatically right off the bat thinking how we can effectively close this but with compassion. We usually have many barriers we have to overcome before a person is ready to go to shelter.”
Meanwhile, the Pacific Building will add another important resource to a growing unsheltered populous as shown by the March 13 release of the preliminary data of Kitsap’s 2024 Point-in-Time Count.
The report from Kitsap Human Services gives important insight to residents experiencing varying levels of homelessness, even though the timing of the count in January and its reliance on volunteers limit what can be known about the unhoused.
The count reported in 2024 was 597, just a few off last year’s total. 255 were reported as living unsheltered, 249 were in emergency shelter and 93 were in transitional housing. While 2023 saw a 34% increase in the number of unsheltered people, this year’s count saw an increase of 4%.
The majority of those unsheltered were found in Bremerton (51%) with slight increases from 2023 in Port Orchard (18%), Silverdale (17%) and Bainbridge Island (6%).
Among the causes of homelessness were health issues and mental health (57%), and Housing Affordability at 43%. Other listed causes included job loss (38%), eviction or loss of housing (36%), family conflict (36%), substance use (24%) and discharged from systems (21%).
