Plans for a special homeless shelter in Seattle called the Navigation Center are underway now that the city has found a location.
The cityannounced yesterdaythat the center will occupy the Pearl Warren Building on 12th Avenue South and South Weller Street.
Modeled off a similar program in San Francisco, the Navigation Center would eliminate certain barriers that keep people from getting into other shelters. The center would accept couples and people struggling with addition, for example. It would also provide on-site case management.
The 24-hour shelter was originally slated to open in December, but the city was having trouble finding a location. Now, city officials say the center may open to a limited number of people in the spring.
But a lot of work has to happen between now and then. That includes renovations, and there's a question about what will happen to the building's current tenants.
The Pearl Warren is owned by the Seattle Indian Services Commission. Operation Nightwatch runs a nightly men's shelter in one part of the building through the Compass Housing Alliance.
The current shelter serves about 75 men each night. The new center will be able to provide more services than the other two organizations can right now, according to Operation Nightwatch executive director Rev. Rick Reynolds.
But even though the current shelter is limited, Reynolds said he worries where it fits into the city's eventual plans.
"Our guys read the paper too," he said. "So now you've got people that are really vulnerable finding out that the place they've maybe stayed for the past six months is not going to be available at some point."
A spokeswoman at the city's Human Services Department said the city has been in contact with both organizations. She said a variety of services are needed to combat homelessness, and the city will work with them to develop a transition plan.
Reynolds agreed that there was enough need in the city for both kinds of shelters.
"For a lot of folks, the shelter at the Pearl Warren that Nightwatch has provided has saved lives," he said. "And I just want to continue to be able to keep doing that."
