President Gary introduced Hans Erchinger-Davis, Executive Director of The Lighthouse Mission and Dr. Greg Baker, Superintendent of the Bellingham Public School District, who made a presentation titled Homeless Transition from Drop-In to Bellingham High School.
Hans began by describing, to the 58 Rotarians in attendance, the rapid, sudden and successful transition of homeless guests from the Lighthouse Mission to Bellingham High School last March. The Lighthouse Mission normally houses around 160 guests overnight at its Drop-In Center and serves another approximately 100 guests during the day. These guests are part of the over 700 people who are considered homeless in Whatcom County on any one day. The Drop-In Center, also known as Basecamp, is organized to be a place where individuals and families in crisis can stabilize before they begin their "ascent" out of homelessness and other problems.
The County and the Mission were hit with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020. It set off a crisis for the Mission and the community. On March 14, 2020, the Mission believed that one of its guests may have tested positive for COVID-19. Although this guest was eventually found to be negative for COVID-19, the Mission staff quickly realized that, with the pandemic in the community, they needed to find a larger facility than the Drop-In Center on Holly St. to house guests, in order to be able to provide the physical distancing that was now required. Otherwise, some 100 guests at the Drop-In Center would need to be sent back out into the community, which would be unsafe for those guests as well as the general community. Therefore, an emergency meeting of the Mission staff was held at 9 AM the following morning, March 15, a Sunday.
At that meeting, it was noted that, just two days earlier, all schools in the Bellingham School District had been closed due to the pandemic. The idea of using one of the school buildings to house Basecamp was brought up. The next day, Monday, the Mission leadership team met with leadership at Bellingham High School. The group realized that the high school provided
lots of usable space, rest rooms, showers and, just as importantly, was available to meet the urgent need because it had just been closed to students. A draft contract was prepared and multiple teams started working on the various tasks that would be necessary in order to convert the high school into a temporary Basecamp for the Mission. That Thursday, just 5 days after the crisis confronted the Mission, Whatcom Unified Command notified them that the move to the high school had been approved.
On Friday, the following day, the entire transition was accomplished with a well-executed
plan: Beginning at 9 am, public works transferred sleeping mats from the Mission to the high school gym. Staff set up a makeshift front desk at the gym and figured out who and how to serve meals to the guests. WTA supplied 3 buses to transport the guests and their belongings, making some 15 trips, while maintaining physical distancing on the buses. By Friday night, just 6 days after confronting the COVID-19 emergency, the Mission
and the community had come together and moved some 160 homeless guests from the
Mission to Bellingham High School. Hans reported that all went well. He noted that it was amazing how many people came together to help. Guests, he stated, slept well and were appreciative of the bathroom facilities and the increased living space.
At this point, Dr. Baker spoke on behalf of the Bellingham School District. He noted that they had just closed the schools on March 13 when he got a call from Bellingham
Mayor Seth Fleetwood inquiring if the School District would consider offering the use of
Bellingham High School to house the homeless guests at the Lighthouse Mission. Dr. Baker
shared that the School District has always considered that its school buildings belonged to the community. As such, the District regularly rents out its facilities. Although the Mission's proposal was different in that there was no end date for the occupancy, the District team decided that this was something it wanted to do. As the guests from the Mission arrived at the high school, the District staff noted that they were respectful, kind and appreciative.
Dr. Baker added that serving this population was meaningful for the District team. He did note that part of the community was upset with him and the District for offering the
school to the homeless. He said that there were rumors about damage to the building and drug use but these were not true. Dr. Baker observed that the guests took good care of the facility. He finished his remarks by stating that the District had made the right decision.
Hans continued the presentation by reporting that a clear positive outcome was that, of the 160 people that were housed at Bellingham High School, none tested positive for COVID-19 and none needed to be taken to the emergency room. This good outcome was made possible by the use of numerous safety precautions, such as the complete sanitizing of the facility three times a day while all of the guests left the building.
The Mission has now left Bellingham High School and is temporarily using the Public Market building as Basecamp. The plan, in 2-3 years, is to move into a new permanent facility. The existing three story structure on Holly St., where the Mission was originally located, will be removed and replaced with a five story building with more square
footage and room for the Mission's specialized programs.
Hans noted that all of this proposed construction, as well as all of the Mission's programs have been and will be funded completely with private contributions.
