Sequim Lutheran church exploring homeless shelter options

Members of Dungeness Valley Lutheran Church are considering options for a new homeless shelter on the church’s property.

Leaders of the project say the tentative 10-room building is still in the early stages since church members began exploring operating options in January.

“We’re in process of doing our due-diligence,” said Jerry Enzenauer, former elder of the church.

“We’ve talked to a lot of people on the front lines (agencies like Serenity House of Clallam County) and it seems like our church is in a position to have an effect because we own the land to put it on.”

While no plan is formally proposed to the City of Sequim, this homeless shelter could be the first permanent facility in Sequim since Serenity House operated a 10-unit emergency shelter in 2012. The organization sold the property to the City of Sequim in 2011 for its future Civic Center project.

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

Serenity House briefly operated a family shelter in Sequim but staff said it was shut down because operating expenses were too high.

Kevin Harkins, operations director of Serenity House of Clallam County, said in February that the cost of operations under a sub-lease from a landlord in Sequim was double what it paid for a shelter in Port Angeles.

If someone was at-risk of homelessness or is homeless in Sequim, Serenity House offers transportation to Port Angeles to its single adult and family shelters, Harkins said.

For the church’s project, Enzenauer said they wanted at least two-thirds of the church’s congregation to support the concept they worked six months to develop before moving forward. About 90 percent of the membership voted in favor of exploring the concept to build a homeless shelter, he said.

A proposed floor plan spanning 44 feet by 92 feet would tentatively go on the southwest corner of the church’s open five acres at 925 N. Sequim Ave.

Church member Paul Wessel said their next step is connecting with an operator and manager of the shelter.

Of the seven nonprofits the church reached out to, church members said Healthy Families of Clallam County, Lutheran Community Services Northwest and Serenity House expressed interest.

If an agency does come on board, church members would then seek to raise $400,000-$500,000 for construction, Enzenauer said.

Ongoing operating costs are unknown until they connect with an operator, Wessel said.

“We’re trying to find out who is out there,” he said.

During the Point in Time count in January, agencies working with homelessness issues counted 26 unsheltered homeless in Sequim.

Wessel said in conversations with Sequim Police Department, estimates fluctuate from 25-50 homeless people in the area, not counting “couch surfers.”

“The police department says we keep throwing Band-Aids at the problem,” he said.

Neighbors opposed

On July 10, several residents of The Meadows Homeowners Association, northwest of the church along Old Olympic Highway, spoke to Sequim City councilors about their opposition to the shelter.

“While we’re aware of addressing the issue of homelessness in Sequim, we are adamantly opposed to its location,” said Linda Kotowski, the homeowners association’s president.

She said the church doesn’t plan to address neighbors’ concerns such as potential drug and alcohol usage, disruptive behavior, panhandling, littering, crime and a lowering of nearby property values.

She said a shelter would alter the zoning of the church’s property, one that would fit better in a commercial setting.

Church neighbor Kip McKeever said the proposed shelter cut put in danger retired and elderly residents of The Meadows, located a few hundred feet away.

“To think about a homeless shelter within a couple of hundred feet is kind of chilling, when you think about the elderly people who are present in the area,” he said.

McKeever said there are a lot of deserving people who would enjoy the shelter but over time some people may look into the neighborhoods for something to steal and trade for drugs.

“We just can’t afford to have the potential to have that kind of danger in our community,” he said.

McKeever added that if a neighbor were to try and sell their home with a shelter nearby, misconceptions about the homeless derived from TV would deter buyers.

“We perceive we would lose a lot of value in our properties,” McKeever said. “Find some other place where (the shelter) would be more beneficial.”

Martin Kotowski, a homeowners association resident, said when they asked church members if they’ll prohibit sex offenders and felons from visiting the shelter for safety reasons, he was told their only criteria was that they are homeless.

Enzenauer said this was true.

“Generally speaking, homeless is homeless. Interweaving people and setting boundaries doesn’t work,” he said.

However, because of legal issues, teens wouldn’t be allowed to stay in the facility but they would be connected with social services, Wessel said.

Church members and the homeowners association met on July 6, where many of these concerns were aired, Enzenauer said.

He said in his research and in national studies there’s no negative effects on property values.

Enzenauer and Wessel also feel there’s a misconception about the homeless.

“We need to really educate the public at large who are the homeless,” Wessel said.

“Sequim does have a problem but it’s very much out of sight. People can be one paycheck, one illness from being on the streets.”

Sequim City Attorney Kristina Nelson-Gross said at the July 10 city council meeting that while no application has been submitted, it was OK for the public to comment on the project.

However if a project were pending it would be quasi-judicial, Nelson-Gross said, and comments would not be allowed.

If the church does propose a shelter, city councilors would have final say before it goes forward.

To contact Dungeness Valley Lutheran Church, 925 N. Sequim Ave., call 681-0946.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.