Proposed emergency cold weather shelter not moving forward

Grays Harbor Public Health reports that plans for a cold weather shelter outside Aberdeen have been terminated.

According to the agency, the decision came after a lengthy discussion with the Board of County Commissioners, County legal department, and Public Health.

Chaplains on the Harbor withdrew themselves from consideration for a contract for the emergency cold weather shelter at a home just outside Aberdeen city limits off State Route 105.

The announcement came at the County Commissioners meeting Tuesday.

Grays Harbor County Public Health Director Mike McNickle said, “The barriers presented by the potential site for the proposed cold weather shelter were too high to overcome in a short period of time.”

Barbra Weza, Chaplains on the Harbor Executive Director, stated that their team “agrees there is too much left to be done to meet the March 31 deadline and operate a quality shelter this season,” 

Weza added that “We will continue street outreach and connecting houseless neighbors with resources.”

They thanked the commissioners, Public Health, and the community for their time and work on this project, and said that they plan to continue building on the information learned during this process to help fill the needs locally.

“Chaplains worked very hard to make this work, but as new details emerged about the logistics of using the site, the site became untenable,” said McNickle. “We look forward to working with Chaplains on future projects as they are a vital resource for this community.”