ARLINGTON — A crucial provider of housing, employment and utility payment assistance is switching hands.
Lutheran Community Services will stop its programs at the Arlington Community Resource Center on Feb. 6, citing a significant loss in grant funding. On Wednesday, the Volunteers of America Western Washington agreed to pick up operations starting Feb. 9.
The service is set to close for one day, Friday, Feb. 7.
New leadership won’t make any changes to current programs at the center, Chief Operating Officer Brian Smith said.
“Volunteers of America’s goal is to never force-fit programming in any one community,” he said. “It’s very organically driven.”
Headquartered in Everett, the organization operates shelters, food banks, low-income preschools and homelessness prevention services in Snohomish County and western Washington. The group also operates the crisis and suicide hotlines for the state.
The Arlington center fits right in with its other operations, Smith said.
“It’s really going to be a perfect match,” he said.
In its five years of operation, the Arlington Community Resource Center has served 25,000 clients, according to the city.
It’s housed at a senior living home, 18308 Smokey Point Blvd, and it started as a grief counseling center in the aftermath of the Oso landslide. Over time it developed into a wraparound family services provider.
In 2019, the center housed 77 families and helped prevent 60 other families from losing their homes.
The center also plays a critical role in local authorities’ response to homelessness and opioid addiction.
“Prior to having the Arlington Community Resource Center emergency service providers were without a local resource for less fortunate members of the community who are in need of the basic needs of survival, including food, shelter and clothing,” Arlington Fire Chief Dave Kraski said in a statement. “The (center) fills a void in social services for citizens struggling to survive.”
Without the Arlington Community Resource Center, Lutheran Community Services has two remaining locations in Snohomish County.
That’s down from six in early 2019.
Last March, the organization shut down centers in Lake Stevens and Granite Falls.
In Lake Stevens, the clientele was largely families facing any of a number of needs: help with a utility bill, health insurance, counseling, diapers or food.
In Granite Falls, they tended to be single people, sometimes experiencing chronic homelessness and in need of alcohol or drug abuse assessments.
At the time, Lutheran Community Services cited lost funding as the cause for the closures.
Julia-Grace Sanders: 425-339-3439; jgsanders@heraldnet.com.
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