Homeless seek alternative shelter as two Tacoma warming centers prepare to close early
Two warming centers in Tacoma will cease operations at the end of February, one a month earlier than previously stated, causing people experiencing homelessness to move elsewhere.
The Eastside Community Center and Norpoint Community Center, both owned by Metro Parks Tacoma, were closed for general use due to the COVID-19 pandemic until Metro Parks and the city agreed to use them as warming centers. Eastside opened in the fall with a capacity of 55 people, and Norpoint opened in January with a capacity of 25 people.
Both centers are slated to close on Feb. 28 as Metro Parks prepares to reopen the centers for working out and other activities at a limited capacity under the state’s reopening guidelines. Metro Parks said on its website that it needs to have 30 days to fire up operations at the centers and plans to reopen them sometime in April.
Meanwhile, the city and Valeo Vocation, the service provider that’s been operating the warming centers, are working to connect people at the shelters with housing options before the shelters close.
City staff said there is enough alternative shelter for all people staying in the warming shelters.
“As of right now, there is shelter capacity for everyone staying at the Eastside and Norpoint warming centers to transition to other sites, which can continue to provide shelter, meals and meet COVID-19 requirements,” said city spokesperson Megan Snow in an email.
Snow said Valeo is working on individual transition plans for each person and is communicating with all shelter providers across the city. Transportation will be provided.
A third warming center at the Salvation Army will continue operating through March 31, 2021.
Since beginning warming center operations, Valeo Vocation has helped more than 20 people transition to more permanent shelter options or treatment facilities, according to the city. Valeo also hired 10 individuals and is enrolling eight other people into its Temporary Employment Program.
Some activists are frustrated with the decision to close what they see as a successful low-barrier warming shelter at Eastside Community Center a month early.
Members of activist group Tacoma Housing Now gathered at the corner of 56th Street East and Portland Avenue near the center on Wednesday to protest the closure, demanding Tacoma “make good on their promise” to keep the warming center operating through the end of March. They brought cardboard coffins to bring awareness of unhoused people dying of exposure this winter and signs with messages like, “No more deaths.”
Irene Morrison, co-founder of Tacoma Housing Now, told The News Tribune the loss of beds at Eastside will be a loss for people seeking to get out of the cold.
“There are not even close to enough beds to house the houseless population of Tacoma,” Morrison said. “This one is really popular and successful. There’s 50 beds. This morning there was snow on the ground.”
The Eastside Community Center warming shelter began operation in October to be used during inclement weather only. In mid-November, it transitioned into a 24-hour warming shelter through the end of 2020, at which time the center would be reassessed, said Snow.
On Jan. 13, the city sent a press release for a community discussion about the Norpoint Center. The press release stated the Eastside scheduled to be in operation through March 31.
That timeline changed later that month.
“The City and Metro Parks, after consideration of community feedback and more definitive reopening plans from Governor Inslee, determined that the Eastside Community Center and Center at Norpoint will close on February 28 to accommodate the reopening of the Community Centers for their normal operational uses including youth programming,” Snow said in the email.
Marcus Harvey has been staying at the Eastside Community Center for a couple months and said the closure date came as a surprise.
“It was supposed to close in March,” he said. “They told us, ‘Sorry, we’re closing down early.’”
Marcus considers himself one of the lucky ones — he said he’ll be moving into a transitional home that Valeo Vocation helped him to find. He said he has felony convictions that has made it difficult for him to find permanent housing in the past.
“I would say, even though they’re closing down early, it’s been a success,” Harvey said of the shelter.
Austin Tinius, who works at the Eastside Community Center warming center, said the closure date came as a surprise, and that at first many people didn’t know where they might go. Work has been underway to help connect people to alternative shelter, but estimates about 10 people refused.
“They’ve done a good job of making sure people have an option for transition,” Tinius said.
Still, Tinius thinks the city and Metro Parks should keep the warming shelter open for longer, saying COVID-19 and cold weather are still out there.
