Programs

Serenity House offers programs for homeless or at risk people of all ages, whether they are living alone or in families with minor children. Current provisions include emergency shelter, transitional housing, homelessness prevention, case management, child-care, and life skills classes, among other resources and supportive services.

Click on the links to the right for more detailed current program descriptions.

A New Program for Chronically Homeless People

A program to be added in mid-2006 will serve chronically homeless adults. A “chronically homeless” person is defined by the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as:
“an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more OR has had at least four  (4) episodes of homelessness in the past three (3) years”.

Chronically homeless people use a much higher percentage of the funding for fighting homelessness than their proportion in the overall homeless population. In addition, jailing and hospitalizing homeless people costs more than it takes to house them.

This new program will provide 15 single-room-occupancy (SRO) units of permanent supportive housing. These homes will be located in central Port Angeles, in the same building as a drop-in center and an evening soup kitchen.  Supportive services will include assistance with employment, substance abuse treatment, and mental health counseling.