Lutheran church to consider family shelter option for up to eight families

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Dungeness Valley Lutheran Church members continue to search for options to help Sequim’s homeless population. Their latest endeavor focuses on helping families.

Last year, members of the church’s Homeless Committee revealed tentative plans for a permanent, 10-room building on an acre of the church’s property at 925 N. Sequim Ave.

However, plans changed in the following months, committee members said, and now they look to form Dungeness Valley Homes — a subsidiary of the church — to operate an affordable housing development. Dungeness Valley Homes would provide eight temporary homes in four duplexes for families with children in Sequim School District.

Jerry Enzenauer, a committee board member, said during investigating possibilities for a shelter the board learned an estimated 130-150 children in Sequim School District live without a permanent home.

“We were made aware of how many kids don’t have a place to live and many parents are trying to keep their kids in school in Sequim,” Enzenauer said. “This is a place where we felt we could be useful.”

In April, the committee revealed an Executive Report detailing tentative plans for a proposed $1,178,500 construction project including city fees and other amenities. The report details plans for two- and three-bedroom apartments of about 700 square feet each, located on 1 acre of the southwest portion of the church’s property.

Funding for construction would come from grants and donations, committee members report, while another $70,000-$100,000 would be needed annually for support services such as counseling, tutoring and/or mentoring.

Committee members said the goal is to help the family/tenants move back into participating in the general economy. To do so, they estimate tenants paying flexible rents up to 30 percent of their income allowing them to save for market-rate housing.

Tenants would also pay utilities and help with general upkeep, but the Executive Report states the tenants’ rent would cover up to about $36,000 of the approximate $105,000 needed for annual operating costs.

Background

The church’s Homeless Committee began investigating areas to help the homeless in Jan. 2017, leading to a $400,000-$500,000, 10-room building plan that was later shelved.

The committee’s report indicates tackling homelessness as a whole was an unrealistic goal for various reasons.

Because of a limited number of units they could build and support, the committee rejected the idea of creating permanent affordable housing, too.

They also went away from a shelter for the chronically homeless because of the “need for extensive and continuous support services, which are difficult to sustain,” the executive report states.

“As we delved more into this, we were appalled to find out how many children were listed as homeless,” said Paul Wessel, board secretary for the committee. “This is an area we believe we can be effective with.”

In the Executive Report, it states that about 132 students in the Sequim School District — about 5 percent of those enrolled — are without permanent housing, despite an estimated 70 percent of students’ parents are employed.

Sequim’s most recent homeless shelters were offered by Serenity House of Clallam County, which operated a 10-unit emergency shelter in 2012 before selling the property to the City of Sequim in 2011 for its future Civic Center project.

Serenity House rented its own former buildings through 2012 until moving its thrift store to Washington Street.

A family shelter was briefly operated in Sequim by Serenity House shortly thereafter, but it was shut down because of the high expense, Serenity House staff reported.

Serenity House continues to offer transportation to homeless or those at risk of homelessness from Sequim to Port Angeles, to its single adult and family shelters, staffers previously reported.

What’s next?

Before they can form Dungeness Valley Homes, committee members seek approval from the church’s congregation in the next four to six weeks, Enzenauer said.

Wessel said an attorney will help them create bylaws and proper paperwork for the congregation to form the nonprofit.

Last year, about 90 percent of the church’s membership agreed to support the first shelter concept.

Wessel said they continue to meet regularly and communicate with nearby residents who have spoken out against the project to church members and Sequim City Council citing potential issues, ranging from theft and drug abuse to lowering of nearby property values.

At the committee’s most recent meeting on Aug. 28 about 60 people attended, Wessel said, with some for and some against the new proposal and some remaining concerned about crime and loss of property values.

“To be fair, one of the things we researched is that studies show there’s not a significant loss of property values with affordable housing nearby,” Wessel said.

“The real issue is people are trying to keep their kids in school and find a place to live,” Enzenauer said.

City of Sequim staffers attended meetings, too, Wessel said, but noted they have not commented or received any paperwork on the project.

If approved by the congregation, Wessel said the committee’s next step includes meeting with city staff to explore the feasibility of building four duplexes on the site.

Enzenauer said the church has set aside a small treasury so far for the project and the church donated about $250,000 worth of land.

To contact Dungeness Valley Lutheran Church, 925 N. Sequim Ave., call 681-0946. Read the Executive Report at dvelca.org.

The church also established the Dungeness Valley Health and Wellness Clinic, or the Sequim Free Clinic (sequimfreeclinic.org).

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.