Wenatchee, East Wenatchee officials say pallet shelters nearly complete; outline new homeless response administrator and eligibility rules

At a joint workshop, Glenn DeVries, community development director for the City of Wenatchee, told Wenatchee and East Wenatchee elected officials that the capital work for new pallet-shelter units will be finished imminently and that the regional shelter system will have about 204 low-barrier shelter beds and 51 RV safe-park stalls.

“This brings low-barrier shelter capacity to where we had none before,” DeVries said, and added that the pallet-shelter capital work would be complete “tomorrow” (as of the workshop). He said the system is intended to be low-barrier with wraparound services and that the sites include ADA-accessible units and one four-person family unit to support outreach placement of families.

The update outlined why the cities adopted a low-barrier model and how the program will operate. Laura Gloria, identified in the workshop as the East Wenatchee city administrator, said the cities plan to hire a full-time homeless response administrator whose duties will include in-field outreach, coordinating service partners and monitoring contracts. “Having more capacity behind it was really important to, again, have that full time boots on the ground,” Gloria said.

Why it matters: the two cities entered an interlocal agreement in October 2021 under which the City of Wenatchee administers joint homeless funds and program oversight. Staff said the effort is part of a larger regional…