Churches, Salvation Army to open temporary shelters

Published 10:42 pm Friday, December 12, 2008

With temperatures expected to drop to near or below freezing this weekend, nonprofit agencies and churches in Everett and Lynnwood are opening their doors to provide temporary shelter to the homeless.

In Everett, the Salvation Army and the Everett Gospel Mission’s men’s and women’s shelters are all opening up extra space on nights when low temperatures could potentially be fatal.

In south Snohomish County, nine congregations have trained volunteers and are prepared to offer temporary emergency shelter, for the first time this year, during winter’s coldest nights, said the Rev. Eileen Hanson, pastor at Lynnwood’s Trinity Lutheran Church.

The project began after church volunteers, working with Seattle nonprofit agencies who assist the homeless, reported that people were walking in off the streets with hands blue from the cold, she said.

“Our volunteers said, ‘We need to do something about this,’ ” Hanson noted. “There’s really not a shelter between Everett and Seattle.”

This weekend, the churches are asking anyone who needs shelter for a night to report at 7 p.m. at the Lynnwood fire station, 18800 44th Ave. W., near City Hall. People needing shelter will then be taken to area churches, she said.

Four shelters will be open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., Hanson said, able to accommodate a total of 50 people.

The Salvation Army is preparing to open up its administrative building at 2525 Rucker Ave. this weekend beginning at 8:30 p.m., said Dana Libby, corps officer for the organization’s Snohomish County office.

Volunteers are spreading mats on the floor and will hand out blankets and sleeping bags. “It keeps people warm and alive,” he said.

The organization opened its building 10 times last winter to those needing shelter from the cold, he said.

The Salvation Army will provide shelter to singles, couples and families, he said.

The organization will make a decision each day whether to open, based on predictions for whether temperatures will drop below freezing for more than four hours at night.

On Friday, volunteers dropped off fliers at the Everett Public Library on Hoyt Avenue and other nearby businesses to spread the word, Libby said.

The men’s and women’s shelters run by the Everett Gospel Mission also will open up space beginning this weekend and on any evening with below freezing temperatures, said Sylvia Anderson, the organization’s chief executive.

Extra space is being made for single women, mothers and children at the women’s shelter at 5112 S. Second St. in Everett, she said, as well as at the men’s shelter at 3711 Smith Ave.

Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.