YAKIMA, Wash.- Camp Hope could be staying at its Birch Road location for up to 14 years, after the Yakima City Council agreed to a memorandum of understanding.
The agreement starts with a base two-year extension, with the option to extend the lease every two years up to six times.
Camp Hope’s CEO Mike Kay says having that security is crucial, seeing how the topic of homelessness has changed in the seven years since the homeless shelter moved to Yakima.
“Who knows what the next seven years looks like?” says Kay. “Having that in our back pocket that we can show our foundations and so on that we have control of this land for the next number of years is, is a game changer.”
The contract also includes an agreement between the City of Yakima, Camp Hope and Comprehensive Health Care to install temporary buildings to provide medical and mental health to residents.
“For people that have been chronically homeless, that are sleeping on the sidewalks, stuff like that, to get them to come in, engage in services and be successful in services,” says Kay. “The big part of it is are we going to have enough? But at least we’re moving in the right direction.”
Kay says Comprehensive Health Care has already purchased shipping containers that will be modified to house the services. Materials and equipment have been secured and staff were just waiting for the “OK” from the city.
“The time frame the manufacturers gave us is about 180 days from the day we say go,” says Kay. “It’s just a matter of getting our spot in the factory line to be able to produce these things, get them up and going. Setting them up is literally a one-day job to get them in there.”
The shipping container facility will go into the existing space Camp Hope has allotted to them, meaning the property will stay the same size and have no further impact on the area around it.
Kay emphasized the “game-changing” impact CHC will have on Camp Hope residents.
“We see what that that’s going to do for their lives,” says the CEO. “For them to be able to just simply walk out of where their staying and be able to connect with the provider right then and there. Again, we think it’s a major game changer.”
Kay says the Comprehensive Health Care facility should be up and running in September.
