Whidbey Homeless Coalition began in 2014 with a small group of local folks on the south end who wanted to help support the growing number of homeless here as there were no shelter options available for them at that time. We became a non-profit in late 2014 and on Memorial Day 2015 opened our family shelter in Langley, former home of Helping Hand, a vision and mission of Judy Yeakel, a local philanthropist. This is a 4 bedroom home with a suggested 3 month stay, with staff working hard to rehouse our families in an increasingly difficult housing market.
In 2017 we took our work up north as well, as there was a large need there for a year round, overnight shelter. We contracted with three local churches and have rotated our shelter, The Haven, through these churches since 2017, with an average of 15 to 20 folks per night.
In 2021 we were able to, with the help of money that became available for the unhoused during the pandemic years, purchase our own building in Coupeville, on Morris Road (331 Morris Road), a former church. It has been almost two years of working hard to get the building to code and take care of all the process work, but we will open before the cold weather comes this year!!
We have served literally hundreds of local families with children, as well as overnight guests at the Haven over the years, and we hope to continue our mission in these increasingly difficult times for the poor. We invite our community to come to our open house (see flyer) this month so you can learn more, perhaps join us as board members, volunteers or donors, and we can give huge thanks to all our supporters with a Picnic on the Prairie!!
