Council will discuss expanding Sleep Center
By Terry Murry on Monday, June 6th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA — The Walla Walla City Council meets today (Monday) at 4 p.m. and will discuss a proposal to expand the Sleep Center. The expansion would cost $275,000 for site grading in preparation for 10 pallet shelters, one restroom shelter, connection to utilities, fencing, site lighting and security cameras.
According to Deputy City Manager Elizabeth Chamberlain, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Sleep Center transitioned to 24/7 operations to comply with Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay home, stay healthy orders.
“What we learned during the pandemic is that 24/7 operations led to more success in transitioning guests to better housing situations,” Chamberlain said. “In 2020, the Walla Walla Alliance for the Homeless transitioned 48 guests to better housing situations and in 2021 transitioned 36 guests. We are seeing a decline due to the log jam of available rental units within the community which leads to the increased number of guests at the Sleep Center. Approximately the past six months, the Alliance is turning away 5-10 guests each night due to being at capacity.”
Earlier this year the city and the Walla Walla Alliance for the Homeless initiated discussions about potentially expanding the Sleep Center. The timeline was expedited recently due to an uptick in downtown business complaints and unauthorized camping sites being discovered. The proposed expansion project would utilize the undeveloped southern portion of the city’s property adjacent to the Sleep Center. The concept with utilizing pallet shelters is to have a transitional step between the Conestoga huts and permanent housing.
The pallet shelters are approximately 100 square feet, housing two people, include heating, cooling, and lighting. The Sleep Center guests that have housing vouchers but are waiting for an available rental unit could transition to the pallet shelter unit freeing up space in the main Sleep Center area.
