Central Washington County Access Center

Washington County Department of Housing Services (DHS) seeks to partner with building or land owners interested in utilizing property for an Access Center. A capital funding award, structured as a forgivable loan, will be used for the rehabilitation of an existing property or the acquisition of a new potential site for an Access Center.

DHS Local Implementation Plan for the Supportive Housing Services (SHS) program aims to create one (1) Access Center in Central Washington County. The Access Center will be used as a coordinated entry access point to supportive housing services, including: housing navigation service center, inclement weather shelter, and provider of other necessary homeless service amenities, such as showers, laundry, and meal provisions. To achieve this goal, Washington County is seeking partnerships with property owners and community partners to help create an Access Center in Central Washington County with an emphasis on equitable access and outcomes.

DHS will work in full partnership with property owners to fund, develop, and support the new Access Center as quickly and effectively as possible to meet our unsheltered community’s urgent needs. The County will also serve as the primary funder and administrator of services offered at the site, working in partnership with the building owner to support the development and ongoing maintenance of the site, and a community-based provider to ensure efficient and effective program operations of the Access Center. The operations contract will be negotiated and executed separate from this process and will result in a single day rate for access center operations. The applicants for these funds should understand that due to limited ongoing resources, operators will need to fundraise for additional operational dollars. The County anticipates that the property owner and the operations contractor will be the same entity, but that is not a requirement.

Washington County launched an ambitious strategy to build a countywide system of care to address and prevent homelessness through services and supports that lead to housing stability and equitable outcomes. This work is funded through resources from the regional Supportive Housing Services (SHS) ballot measure that was passed by voters in the tri-county metro region in May 2020. The measure authorizes a new regional tax that will generate revenue for implementation of the SHS program from July 2021 through December 2030, with the potential for extension through voter renewal.

Using SHS funds, the County has increased its shelter capacity significantly including bridge shelters, pod shelters, seasonal shelters, motel conversions, and year-round congregate and non-congregate

shelters. To support these shelters, DHS intends to add an Access Center in Central Washington County, which will also be funded through SHS. This Access Center will help to centralize the homeless services

and amenities utilized by the County’s homeless population and will help coordinate the County’s response, improving access to both temporary and permanent housing options.

The Department of Housing Services is committed to fair access and lawful treatment in all programs. Populations with limited service access and homelessness are inextricably linked; therefore, housing justice is at the forefront of all programmatic work.