Dear Church,
I have good news about our continuing relationship with Northwest Youth Services. As many of you know, First Congregational is proud to host The Ground Floor, a daytime program space for young people experiencing homelessness, in a beautiful, custom-built space under our sanctuary. Young people can access housing and other support services, as well as basic care like showers, a place to take a nap, simple food and more.
This past month, we received an invitation from Northwest Youth Services to temporarily host an overnight youth shelter in The Ground Floor’s space. The Trustees worked quickly and faithfully with NWYS, other folks from the church, and the City of Bellingham, and we are proud to announce that we will be hosting an overnight youth shelter beginning shortly. The program will run until NWYS has finished remodeling one of their downtown spaces for this use, probably sometime in July.
A few quick facts, and then a (of course) a reflection, cause I am still a pastor:
- The shelter will run from about 7 pm until about 8 am each day, and NWYS staff will continue support young people in finding safe places to be while the shelter is not open.
- The Ground Floor will continue to be open for their customary daytime hours.
- The maximum capacity of this shelter program will be ten young people. They’ve been averaging six to eight per night in their former location.
- Thank you to Whatcom County and to many NWYS donors for continuing to support this life-saving program past the coldest months.
- Folks who were around in 2019-20 might recall the emergency winter shelter that we hosted then. That program used unfinished basement space on the Cornwall Ave. side of the basement, what’s currently church space. This program will have a smaller capacity and will just use the existing space that The Ground Floor uses; space that is no-cost leased to NWYS by First Congregational.
I am, of course, excited that Council, Trustees, and NWYS were able to work together so quickly to make this program a reality. I think sheltering those in need of rest is sacred work, and I always proud when faith communities claim a part in this. It’s a longtime part of our legacy going back at least several decades, and I’m very proud that we’ve built the infrastructure to host a program like this.
I hope we will continue to learn lessons from The Ground Floor, and I hope we will continue to be inspired by what works there, and what doesn’t work. I just spoke with one of our stalwart Fresh Start volunteers who mentioned that fewer and fewer folks are able to find affordable housing these days; God calls us to advocacy and activist work that will also make space for those on the margins to rest their weary heads.
I am glad that during this Lenten season we will be providing respite for folks who have been wandering in the desert of our community: limited social services, prejudice, a violently unequal housing market, and more. I hope that God will continue to call us from within that desert: inviting us to learn more, to ask difficult questions more, to pray more. Until we all have a place to rest our weary heads.
Take care,
Davi
P.S. - if you or someone you know has questions about The Ground Floor or about the new Overnight Shelter program, please reach out to me! I’ve just started doing neighborhood outreach and, of course, our time was short as we brought this program together.
