Island County commissioners on Aug. 5, 2025, approved five contract amendments to provide housing assistance, outreach and shelter operations across Whidbey Island and Camano Island. The agreements, funded primarily with local document-recording fees and a state backfill of those fees, allocate money to local providers that run rental assistance programs, day centers and night-by-night shelters.

The five contract amendments approved were: $15,469 for the Community Resource Center of Stanwood-Camano for rental assistance and case management on Camano; $42,000 for Mission Emmanuel (pastor Maria Hernandez’s Spanish‑speaking outreach) for outreach and intake support; $75,000 for Ryan’s House for Youth to support staffing and operations of a night‑by‑night and transitional shelter for 18–24‑year‑olds in Coupeville; $103,097 for SPIN Cafe to support its drop‑in services, meals and outreach to people experiencing homelessness in Oak Harbor; and $232,000.57 for the Whidbey Homeless Coalition to operate The Haven night‑by‑night shelter and a time‑limited emergency shelter (House of Hope) in Langley.

Emily Wildman, the county’s housing program manager, said the funding is primarily local document‑recording fee revenue and that the state Legislature backfilled declines in those fees this year. “We don’t go any higher than 10% [for administrative costs] for our local document recording fee money,” Wildman said, describing an administrative cap the county enforces and noting that some agencies request less than the cap.

Commissioner St. Clair pressed staff on the size of non‑rental assistance line items and staff salaries in the contracts, saying, “It’s a lot of money to spend to just make contact with people.” Wildman responded that some funded work is direct outreach and intake — for example, Mission Emmanuel hosts monthly intake sessions where county housing navigators perform intakes at the church site to reach residents who are reluctant to come to a government office. She described the $36,000 consulting fee in that contract as a practical method to pay a small, primarily one‑person operation that lacks nonprofit bookkeeping infrastructure.

Commissioners also discussed how agencies cover ongoing operational costs (utilities, food, septic) and were told agencies rely on a mix of county contracts, separate grants and local fundraising. Wildman said the county has previously shifted funds between programs if demand changes during the year, citing a past amendment that moved funds to expand SPIN’s days of operation.

All five contract amendments were approved by voice vote. Commissioners and staff noted two more housing contract amendments would be brought back for approval next week and another the following week. The board also instructed staff to continue monitoring outcomes and funding utilization, and one commissioner requested regular statistics showing outreach-to‑housing conversion to track whether outreach spending is translating into housing placements.

The items were discussed during the regular session; no separate public hearing was held on these contract amendments.