MOSES LAKE — What follows the closure of the Open Doors Sleep Center at the end of the month, and the role of the city of Moses Lake, is still under discussion. Moses Lake Mayor Dustin Swartz said the city is not the only one dealing with homelessness, and from his perspective, some of the government responses to the issue seem to be changing statewide. Moses Lake is looking at a new approach. 

“We’re proposing more of a treatment-first approach,” Swartz said Wednesday. 

Council members voted in April to close the sleep center June 30, when the grant that funds most of its operation expires. The council opted not to renew the grant. City officials are examining how the city can facilitate connecting people without housing with the services they need to get shelter, become sober if necessary, and get the mental health care they need. At least one local church is stepping up to facilitate that type of communication and get people in need to services.  

Council member David Skaug said during the regular council meeting Tuesday he thought the city’s involvement would be most useful if the city facilitated the work of other organizations. 

“I think there is an apparent need to have somebody doing some coordination between services that are available and who has access, and who can get access. I think that was, at least, part of my concern, that we had somebody or an entity who could direct people to all the different (services),” Skaug said. “I don’t think there’s a shortage of services as much as there’s a shortage of understanding where that access is and how to get to it. I think if we can help facilitate that, that would be a good thing,” 

Swartz said Wednesday that while some of the needed services to help address homelessness are available in Grant County, some aren’t.  

“You have to have the medical, psychological component,” Swartz said. 

One of Swartz’s frustrations, he said, has been the inability to provide immediate access to treatment for people who want it. Grant County has few options for people facing a mental health crisis or in need of detox.  

“There are zero inpatient facilities, zero detox facilities. There’s this huge problem here that nobody is focusing on,” he said. 

The requirements for government programs are often too rigid, Swartz said. The flexibility available to nonprofit organizations makes them more effective when trying to help homeless people, he said – they can work with the people they meet and build trust with them. Aaron Noble, pastor of the Patriot Church in Moses Lake, said effective outreach to people in need involves patience, but also being able to move quickly when necessary. 

The church works with a detox center in Yakima, and last month, a patient was ready for detox.  

“We literally left that night,” Noble said. “We offer to take them to detox immediately.” 

Church members are staying in contact with the two people who asked for help with treatment in May, he said. Church members will be willing to help when they complete treatment.  

“Then we try and get them into some sort of home,” Noble said.  

The ability to connect people right away with the services they need is very valuable, he said. A person who has to wait overnight for treatment may not want it in the morning or may have moved on and be out of contact.  

Sometimes waiting can be fatal, he said.  

When trying to help people struggling with homelessness, Noble said, patience and building relationships are crucial.  

“We know these people by name,” he said. “It’s a very personal approach for us – being personal in those relationships.” 

Church members distribute cold water on hot days, along with sack lunches on a regular basis, and have a church service every Sunday night that includes dinner.  

“We also pick them up in our van (for the Sunday service),” he said.  

After the service, church members talk about the resources available to people, he said, and will work on connecting them. Sometimes people who aren’t from Grant County want a ride back home, he said, so church members work with them to get transportation. 

The goal is to encourage people to get sober, he said, and sometimes that takes a while.  

“We work on a case-by-case basis,” he said. 

    Aaron Noble, right, pastor of the Patriot Church, and church member Shaquille Ledezma get their equipment ready for some homeless outreach Wednesday.