Port Townsend is getting less safe.

The Boiler Room is closing - it originally served as a place for troubled youth, but became a day shelter for the homeless.

Its board members recently determined that it was no longer a safe place for youth, and so it will remain closed until they can determine how it can serve its original mission.

Boiler Room Board President David Faber told us that he hopes another organization will find a way to provide daycare for the homeless.

When we first heard of this crisis, we were told that funding was the main issue. The daycare for the homeless was literally eating up all of the money needed to run the center and now it has become evident that the safety of young men and women was also at risk.

The Boiler Room helped young people get on their feet and transition them into adulthood. The organization provided not just free food, but classes, work skills and more to help young men and women succeed.

But their mission began to cater to homeless adults who needed a place to go during the daytime.

We know of no other organizations that provide such free assistance to our most at risk citizens.

So the greatest helping hand for runaways, at risk children and homeless is no longer open - our city and county officials should view this as a crisis.

At first glance, it would appear that our town and county aren’t working well together. The good news is that they are meeting on a regular basis and we’d like to call their attention to a ticking clock.

As of today, Port Townsend and Jefferson County have 24 days to come to a long-term agreement on how to fund the night shelter, currently housed in the basement of the American Legion.

In April, Port Townsend’s homeless shelter, which holds 48 people, including staff, was set to close. The city of Port Townsend allocated $40,000 to help, but an additional $35,000 was needed.

At that time, the Jefferson County Commissioners approved to foot the entire $75,000 using fees from the sale of private property. That decision returned the $40,000 to the city’s budget.

Mayor Deborah Stinson cites the cost of housing as a driver to our homeless problems. The city organized a “shelter summit” to figure out “exactly how we are going to move forward as a community.”

That summit included the city and the county but other organizations currently working with the homeless have so far been excluded.

On Monday, the summit delivered a working paper on how to move forward (see page one story).

City Councilwoman Michelle Sandoval reported to us that there are officially more than 400 people without a home in this county, which is down from last year’s count but she added that the number is “highly inaccurate.”

The number is likely much greater.

Since July, Port Townsend Police tell us of an increase of criminal activity among transients. We have reported at least three violent attacks involving homeless people.

While some would argue that public aid programs do nothing more than enable the destitute to remain so, we believe that as a community we have an obligation to care for our most at-risk citizens.

If you believe, as we do, that our elected officials need to make the homeless crisis here more of a priority, please contact them now and tell them so.

Our community cannot function while the organizations to help our neighbors are failing - that means we are failing.