The Lighthouse Mission’s new homeless shelter in Old Town Bellingham is set to begin housing residents in mid-October, incorporating a new “enhanced shelter” model. The five-story building at 1312 F St. will open 200 beds to homeless residents, ideally bussing residents from the existing shelter at Base Camp on Cornwall Avenue to the new shelter on Oct. 7, Chief Advancement Officer Loran Zenonian said. 

The Mission will open family dorms, behavioral health dorms and medical respite beds that make up the fifth floor of the building, expanding services beyond what’s provided at the current Base Camp. In the spring, the Mission will open a coffee shop, and potentially a mini donut shop, on the ground floor on Holly Street, staffed by shelter residents.  

During a tour on Friday, Sept. 27, Cascadia Daily News staff observed a building full of windows, with sweeping views of Bellingham’s downtown core, water and mountains. Private donations, grants and financing through WECU funded the $29 million project, although the Mission is still $1.5 million short. Zenonian said the Mission aimed to build a “state of the art” shelter. 

“When people said, ‘Hey, how do you treat your poor? How do you treat those that are vulnerable?’, our answer would be this,” Zenonian said. 

A Look Inside the New Shelter

Nightly guests enter from the backside of the building on Astor Street into the second floor, which contains a day-area for residents, a kitchen and offices. Residents can spend their time during the day on an outdoor deck. People can come and go from the building anytime, but Zenonian said the deck aims to alleviate some of the neighborhood impacts of people spilling out onto the sidewalks. 

Every resident of the new shelter will have access to a case manager, but people don’t have to immediately, or ever, engage in services. Zenonian described it as “radical hospitality,” where they give people a meal, a cup of coffee and a chance to feel safe after the trauma of living unsheltered. 

“It’s hard enough to get them in,” Zenonian said. “We don’t force people in. That’s not what we are. We want them to engage in services, but it’s hard for some folks to engage in services, especially if you’re in the midst of addiction, mental health or other issues.”

“We welcome them, we’ll take care of them, we’ll feed them, but at the same time, we’re hoping that they get motivated,” he added. 

Zenonian said he hears people worrying about the shelter being “too comfortable,” but he said homelessness is hard, and the Mission hopes to provide people with a safe space to “take a breath and think about what’s next.” He also emphasized that people are not required to engage in faith-based services despite the Mission being a Christian organization. 

Services Beyond Shelter

The new building also includes an area for other organizations that serve the vulnerable in Whatcom County to provide care — from medical and dental to mental health care — in two small exam rooms on the second floor. 

The third floor of the building contains office space, staff space and a large chapel space, where beds will be set up in the case of severe weather. The shelter has the capacity for 100 extra beds in those events, but it depends on staffing, Zenonian said.  

The fourth floor contains the general dorms, with 40-50 beds for women — due to there being fewer homeless women overall — and about 140 beds on the male side. People who are nonbinary or transgender can use flex dorms, Zenonian said. 

The fifth floor — which won’t open immediately — contains a micro-shelter for families: six rooms for six families, with a 24-30 person capacity. Mental health dorms for both men and women are also available, a new addition to the Mission’s offerings, where people can come to stabilize and avoid the triggers that might exist for them in the general areas, Zenonian said. 

Beyond the Walls: Building Community

On the street level, on Holly Street, the Mission plans to open a coffee shop, staffed by residents, to help residents rebuild their job history and skills, Zenonian said. The tables in the shop will be made of the trees they had to cut down on the property, and assembled by a person who graduated from the Mission’s Ascent Program, and now owns a lumber business in Ferndale, Communications Coordinator  Derek Rivera-Smith said. 

Rivera-Smith added that he thinks it will be great for the surrounding neighbors to have interactions with people who live in the building, rather than seeing them as a “group of others.” 

Community members can tour the building tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 28. Tours will be held every 15 minutes from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a ribbon cutting ceremony at noon. 

The new shelter is a significant step forward in addressing homelessness in Bellingham, offering a safe and supportive environment for individuals seeking to rebuild their lives. The Mission’s commitment to holistic services and community integration is a testament to their dedication to providing long-term solutions for those experiencing homelessness. The innovative features of the new shelter, including the coffee shop and mental health dorms, are poised to make a positive impact on the lives of residents and the community as a whole. 

The Lighthouse Mission Ministries’ newest enhanced shelter is nearly complete, and the building’s grand opening is set to take place on Sept. 28. The facility at 1312 F St. in Old Town will replace the 24-hour Base Camp homeless service center on 1530 Cornwall Ave. Private donations covered most of the $29 million in project costs. “We are so grateful for this community’s love and generosity,” CEO Hans Erchinger-Davis said in a news release. “The new facility will help many people change their lives with mental health services, addiction support and safe housing.” The open house is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, with tours every 15 minutes. The tours will pause at noon for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, continuing afterward until 2 p.m. The new facility will include micro-shelters for families, working guests, elderly guests and guests requiring mental health care. These micro-shelters will increase the Lighthouse Mission’s total overnight shelter capacity by 100 people, according to the news release. The number of total beds available overnight will go from 200 beds to 300 beds, with additional overflow capacity of 100 during severe weather. Guests will begin moving into the facility in early October.