From 15 to 19 homeless people are to have a place to stay year-round this year, thanks to a new pilot program.

The program, called Shelter Plus, expands the existing homeless shelter program, which provides a place for the homeless to stay during the winter months.

The current program is run by the “three-legged stool” of Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP), the Community Outreach Association Shelter Team (COAST) and American Legion Marvin G. Shields Post 26. The new program is operated by OlyCAP and focuses on veterans and people over the age of 62. Only people who are clean and sober are admitted to the new program.

The plan is that, by running the shelter year-round, relationships with vulnerable populations can be strengthened, helping better connect them with permanent housing, services and job training.

The longer-term shelter program addresses an existing problem:

“People enter the [winter] shelter for a few months, and we lose them at the end of a three- or five-month period, and they disappear back into the woodwork, wherever they go,” said Dale Wilson, executive director of OlyCAP. “And we lose that relationship, and maybe we see them the next fall, or maybe we don’t.”

By continuing the relationship, it helps the residents move forward, he said.

Wilson said the establishment of the new program was in response to concerns that dwindling affordable housing resources are leaving more and more Jefferson County residents without housing.

The Winter Shelter houses as many as 48 people at a time, but the Shelter Plus program is only planned to accommodate 15-19 people. By housing fewer people, monitors trained in case management can help residents gain access to needed services, job searches, job training and more.

During winter, that level of one-on-one case management was not possible due to the sheer number of people in the shelter.

“Because we will be working with just this vulnerable population, [it] makes it so much easier to do a one-on-one with them and connect them to these services that they don’t realize are available to them,” said Kathy Morgan, OlyCAP’s housing director.

Wilson said the program is a “job generator” and allows for continuity of employees.

“It creates or continues five or six jobs in the community that would otherwise be terminated,” he said. “If you can create a job … it’s a big deal.”

“The largest category is the over-62s,” said Michael Johnson, a shelter monitor supervisor, “people who are on the verge of getting Supplemental Security Income or some sort of help, but can’t quite because there’s not a place for them to be.”

Also, veterans are to be connected with the Department of Veterans Affairs to help get them access to any benefits they qualify for. Those benefits can provide independence and permanent housing.

Many veterans are not aware that they may be eligible for medical or financial benefits.

“And they’re out there living on nothing, literally,” Wilson said. “When you can plug people into those income streams, that’s a huge advantage,” because that income allows them to compete at least on a marginal level to secure housing.

Additionally, because the vulnerable single population is served by Shelter Plus, it frees up resources, allowing OlyCAP to find homes for families more easily .

The program is funded through donations and via Jefferson County 2163 funds, which are derived from property transfer fees.

The largest cost of the program is the paid staff of five employees. Morgan said the cost of the entire homeless shelter program for one year ranges from $130,000 to $150,000.

In order to stretch those fund dollars as far as possible, the Shelter Plus program does not offer food or bus passes. The shelter is to be open 7 p.m.-7 a.m. all week long.

COAST chair and Church of Christ minister Carl Hanson said COAST is stretched both in terms of finances and in person power.

“We live in a county that is really strapped” and isolated, Hanson said, adding that Jefferson County does not have the level of services that Clallam and Kitsap counties have.

Shelter Plus is to run on a trial basis, at least through October. Whether or not the program continues is to be decided by an advisory committee consisting of Jefferson County, the City of Port Townsend, OlyCAP, the American Legion and some businesses. The committee is to meet every 30 days to assess how the new program is doing and what changes might need to be made.

Regardless of whether or not Shelter Plus continues beyond one year, the regular homeless shelter program, which has operated during the winter season for the past 11 years, is to continue. This regular program is not restricted to clean and sober individuals.

It’s a program that has seen increasing demand lately, Hanson said.

“Last year was a record year of 132 individuals that were served through the season,” Hanson said.

Then, the nightly number of people at the shelter averaged in the 20s. This season, however, has been “exceptional,” Hanson said, with 147 people being served and the average nightly number of people climbing into the thirties. A peak of 48 people — the maximum allowed by fire code — was reached in February.

So far, no one has been turned away due to lack of space, but the shelter is dangerously close to needing overflow space to handle the demand.

“The needs are great,” Hanson said. He added that OlyCAP has been successful in moving people into permanent housing, and said the organization needs to maintain that connection with the homeless population. New volunteers are also needed to help out. Hanson said one of the difficulties that the shelter faces is that it must sometimes deal with people who have mental health issues, and that staff aren’t trained to deal with such folks.

The shelter is to be closed April 1-8 for a “thorough cleaning,” Morgan said. “It’s had some pretty high use all winter for five months. It needs a lot of cleaning.”

She said they would work with residents to try and help them during that week. That could mean providing a tent and a sleeping bag if worse comes to worse, something Morgan isn’t pleased about.

“Giving someone a tent and a sleeping bag is not my idea of housing somebody,” she said.

Additionally, the shelter plans to renovate the kitchen sometime this summer, and to create more storage space.

At a public OlyCAP/COAST meeting March 27, Bill James, an advocate for the homeless, said the Legion was a “key partner” and thanked the group for offering its facility for use as the homeless shelter. The Legion is paid only $60 per year for the contract and it splits the cost of the utilities. The Rotary Club also helped by supplying a fridge, stove and dryer.

Meeting attendee Fred Weinmann said a fundraiser dinner could help raise both funds for and community awareness of the program. Anyone who wishes to donate money or time to the program may contact OlyCAP online at

olycap.org or by calling 385-2571. COAST holds public meetings every third Thursday of the month, 3-4 p.m. at the Church of Christ at 230 A St.

Hanson said it was great to see people make progress and find work.

“That encourages us when we see those lives that are blossoming into something productive,” he said.