The Whatcom County Council unanimously approved a lease with Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW) to host a county-operated severe weather shelter (SWS) in Bellingham.
The SWS will be in the downstairs space of 925 N. Forest Street, a former Lutheran Church.
The space is expected to accommodate approximately 70 guests on nights when the shelter is open.
Health and Community Services (HCS) Department staff are working now to prepare the space to open when needed.
Read our news flash for more information on the lease agreement, and visit www.shelterstatus.com for more details on the upcoming Bellingham SWS.
With input from our sheltering subcommittee, we’ve changed our Severe Weather Shelter Guiding Assumptions document.
The opening threshold temperature has changed from 28 degrees to “32 degrees for four hours or more as the overnight low” for each specific shelter location (Bellingham and Ferndale).
The document specifies that Health and Community Services operates the Bellingham shelter and it contracts with nonprofits to operate other shelter facilities.
A Values Statement has been added as a second page to the PDF to further explain its intentions when opening the Bellingham Severe Weather Shelter.
View the revised Severe Weather Shelter Guiding Assumptions and Values Statement PDF.
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