The Council for the Homeless has announced Clark County’s Winter Hospitality Overflow (WHO) and the Satellite Overflow Shelters (SOS) are now open to provide additional nightly shelter space seven nights per week for people in need of temporary housing.
Shelter spaces are accessed through the Council for the Homeless Housing Hotline at 360-695-9677, according to a news release. The Housing Hotline is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends and holidays.
The nightly shelters are open from November through March and provide additional spaces during the coldest nights of the year, the release stated. The shelter sites combine for a total of 73 spaces each night in Clark County.
The WHO site at St. Andrew Lutheran Church, 5607 NE Gher Road, Vancouver, serves families, single women and couples, the release stated. The WHO site at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1309 Franklin St., Vancouver, serves single men.
The SOS shelters are on a regular rotation between Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, 12513 SE Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver; Immanuel Lutheran Church, 8310 MacArthur Blvd., Vancouver; and River City Church, 2400 E. 4th Plain Blvd., Vancouver. They welcome families, couples and singles.
Site volunteers work with staff from the Outsiders Inn and from Share of Vancouver to operate the nightly shelters with COVID-19 precautions in place, the release stated. Guests receive meals and access to basic needs and supplies.
“In addition to meeting the guests’ urgent needs, the sites work within the homeless response system to ensure the guests receive the breadth of housing and supportive services our community provides,” Kate Budd, executive director of Council for the Homeless, said in the release.
