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Project background
A new day center at 2020 Pacific St. will operate year-round to serve community members who are experiencing homelessness in Bellingham.
The day center – a City-owned building – will provide a safe, welcoming indoor space during daytime hours where people can access restrooms, basic needs support, housing-focused case management, and connections to behavioral health and other community resources.
Project status
We signed an agreement on May 4, 2026 to purchase the property at 2020 Pacific Street as the site for a new, year-round day center that will open this fall to provide services for people who are homeless. The agreement will be sent to the City Council to be ratified after the 90-day due diligence period is complete.
On March 30, 2026, we issued a request for proposals to find a day center operator. The operator was selected and began the contracting process on May 11, 2026. More details will be available when the contract is complete.
We plan to renovate the building in summer and fall 2026 and expect the new day center to open in the fall.
Costs and funding sources
Building purchase and renovation
Purchase price: $1.3 million
Estimated cost of renovations: $500,000
Funding sources:
- Washington State Legislature’s Supplemental Budget ($1.03 million)
- Community Development Block Grant
Day center operations
Annual operating cost: estimated at $500,000 – $700,000
Funding sources: We anticipate funding to come from opioid settlement funds and housing levy funds.
Frequently asked questions
We have selected an organization to operate the center and are completing their contract. When the contract is signed by both the City and the organization, we’ll be ready to announce more details, including details about how they will manage the center.
We’ve selected an operator with experience working with people who are homeless and the skills to handle the challenges. They have training in de-escalation, behavior management, and dealing with substance use and mental health crises.
They will also have the resources and staff onsite to connect guests with services, such as housing case management, mental health care and substance use support, and basic necessities. Often, this is as much about relationship-building over time as it is about connecting people with a service in the moment.
Shelter protection zones are areas around emergency shelters or other locations that provide services to people who are homeless where sitting, lying, or camping in the public right-of-way or in vehicles is prohibited. They must be approved by the City Council.
There are currently two other shelter protection zones in Bellingham: one surrounding the Lighthouse Mission shelter in Old Town, and one surrounding the Way Station on N State St.
In shelter protection zones, staff who operate the shelter or service location actively patrol the area. They educate people who are in violation of the rules and encourage them to seek services and find a more appropriate place to be. In almost all cases, people who they talk to comply with the rules. If not, staff or neighbors can call 911 for a police response.
City staff – including police officers – neighbors, and service providers meet regularly to talk about any issues they see in shelter protection zones and work together to solve problems.
We will propose a shelter protection zone that will extend several blocks around the day center. It includes Roosevelt Park and locations along Kentucky Street past the Boys and Girls Club.
We had several criteria for a day center location:
- Adjacent to downtown – The day center should be near, but not in, our downtown core. Being close to downtown means people can more easily get to services, like the Way Station, but that we aren’t concentrating services only in one neighborhood.
- Large outdoor space where people can store their belongings and spend time outside – We’ve learned that having adequate, safe space for people to store their possession is key to successful programs. It’s also essential to have a large, fenced area where guests can hang out outside.
- Can easily be fenced – A large part of the property will be fenced for security. Staff will manage the area to ensure guests of the center stay on the property during business hours and leave the property after hours.
- Adequate indoor space that requires relatively few renovations – We sought a space that could have a large, open common space for guests to hang out and minimal remodeling to make bathrooms align with best practices for shelters (open lines of sight and multi-person facilities, not single person bathrooms.)
We found relatively few properties that met these criteria on the market. Ultimately, we selected 2020 Pacific Street because it met our criteria and our budget.
We’ve followed our standard practices in purchasing this property.
We’ve also begun proactively engaging people who live, work, or own property or businesses in the area to discuss concerns and factor them into our planning for the shelter.
In the next months, we will convene neighbors to continue identifying concerns and to participate in regular meeting with City staff, the day center operator, and service providers, to identify solutions. This will continue after the day center opens.
Possibly, yes. We see an opportunity for the day center to be used for limited time periods as an overnight shelter, especially during the winter or other severe weather events, like heat waves or wildfire smoke events. However, this won’t be the primary use.
Temporary shelters must receive permits and go through a process to be approved. The process includes public feedback and requires notification to surrounding neighbors.
