Safe Harbor Drop-In Center

583 W. Washington St.

Open 3-7 p.m. Sundays-Mondays, Wednesdays-Fridays

Contact: 775-7885, eckersonc@olypen.com

Growing from an effort to help homeless youths in Kitsap County, one Sequim woman hopes to provide a safe place for young adults in Sequim.

Cecilia Eckerson, head volunteer for the Safe Harbor Drop-In Center, opened the facility in partnership with Serenity House of Clallam County last spring in hopes to help locals ages 17-24.

She said that in the Sequim area there are about 90 young adults who are homeless and/or couch surf in Sequim on a given night.

“Without a lot of idealism, it provides a safe place to stay, get connected to resources like a job and be creative,” Eckerson said.

“It seems to me, it affords an opportunity so that we won’t have sitting someone on a couch.”

Safe Harbor, 583 W. Washington St., shares a building with Serenity House’s Housing Resource Center, which provides connections to housing, employment, health and education resources.

Eckerson said the nonprofit provides Safe Harbor’s space for free but a handful of volunteers along with her operate on a tight budget.

Since April, volunteers have maintained its hours from 3-7 p.m. Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays-Fridays but despite outreaching, no one has used the facility as intended yet.

“Hope against hope, they haven’t come in,” Eckerson said.

She’s spoken to community organizations and churches, who support the facility, but word-of-mouth hasn’t spread to young adults to use it.

Eckerson plans to continue recruiting volunteers and outreaching in the community such as outside grocery stores and other hangouts in town. At this point, she’s considering incentives such as phone card minutes and iTunes gift cards if young adults come to Safe Harbor so many days in a row.

Eckerson said Safe Harbor provides an escape from current circumstances, whatever they may be, for young adults. Warm meals and cups of coffee are available along with computers, games, books/magazines and couches to relax.

Eckerson said Safe Harbor is a safe place because it promotes positive attitudes and an atmosphere of acceptance while everyone is sensitive to needs and concerns.

“Weapons are left at the door and each person will know it’s safe,” she said. “They will respect each other and we’ll have two volunteers at all times.”

Safe Harbor sets itself apart from the Boys &Girls Club because it has an age-cap for school-age children, Eckerson said, and the drop-in center is the first of its kind since 2009 in Sequim.

The space is loosely inspired by the Coffee Oasis in Bremerton, she said, which offers cafes selling direct-trade coffee to support youth programs specifically for homeless and street-oriented youths in Kitsap County.

“I thought Sequim is a different animal than Kitsap County,” Eckerson said.

“Now we need to convince the kids.”

Going forward, Eckerson seeks donations for printing costs of brochures, incentive gifts such as iTunes cards, and a used refrigerator. In the future, she hopes to develop an endowment for college scholarships.

Safe Harbor’s mission statement states it “offers guidance through community resources and tutoring on site for youths wanting to be active in their own destiny. We provide food, a place to rest, books to read, games to play, supplies for artwork and a listening ear, if needed.”

For more information, contact the center and Eckerson at 775-7885 or eckersonc@olypen.com.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

One perk of the Safe Harbor Drop-In Center, says Cecilia Eckerson, lead volunteer, is the ability to use a computer for free. Volunteers donated the computers for young adults to use. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Serenity House of Clallam County provides space for Safe Harbor so that volunteers can meet with young adults to offer assistance and/or lend an ear if needed. Sequim Gazette photos by Matthew Nash