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Salvation Army urges accountability for homeless-service funding; commissioners seek further review
Summary
At the July 15 Lewis County commissioners meeting, a Salvation Army representative summarized results from a state-consolidated homeless grant and defended shelter spending after commissioners raised questions about rising funds and accountability. Commissioners scheduled further review and asked the Salvation Army to provide written backup.
Captain Jen Pak, a Salvation Army representative who said she resides in Centralia and serves Lewis County, told the Board of County Commissioners on July 15 that a consolidated homeless grant administered with Lewis County Public Health and Social Services provided targeted services to local households.
“These funds weren’t theoretical. They weren’t abstract,” Jen Pak said, and she described program outcomes tied to the grant administered last fiscal year.
The Salvation Army told the commissioners the grant totaled $427,000 and that services stabilized 160 households. Pak said providers documented 461 months of rent paid collectively (described during testimony as “461 individuals remained housed” and equated to more than 30 years of rent when counted in months), and that 127 of the households…
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