Shelter closes

Community Lifeline has closed its overnight shelter.

Saturday, April 19, was the last night shelter was offered, according to a Facebook post made by the group.

“Community Lifeline will be closing for night by night shelter. Sat. April 19th will be the last night that shelter will be offered. There will be resource packets handed out with the information of other shelters for guests that will no longer have shelter in Mason County. We are hoping to put together a day program that includes lunches, showers, laundry, dinner teams, and participation groups that will lead to positive case management. Donations of lunch items, Hygiene and laundry supplies, paper plates and cups etc. will still be needed to help make the program run. Donations will be accepted at the shelter, 218 N. 3rd St., Shelton, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat, 8am - 6pm. Thank you to those who have continued to donate and help support our mission,” the group posted.

Mason County commissioners turned down Community Lifeline’s appeal of a “not to fund decision” at the April 14 briefing.

Melissa Casey, with Mason County Public Health, told commissioners it was not really an appeal of the notice of funding opportunity.

“Essentially the letter is asking for additional funding,” Casey said.

Community Lifeline asked the county for $25,000 a month for the next three months, she said.

“Community Lifeline was recently denied help from the County’s NOFO because of ‘Reduced Funding Status,’ due to actions of past decision-makers. We were hoping and counting on funds from that grant, as we did not want to have to come to you in this way to beg for Emergency Funds to help us continue to navigate through the mess that has been created for us and which is in danger of further impacting the unhoused and the vulnerable persons of Mason County,” according to a letter submitted to commissioners by CLL Board of Directors.

“Due to the actions of past decision-makers of Community Lifeline, Employee taxes were not paid at the Federal and State level from 2022 until it was discovered by the current Board in 2024. Also, Grants and accounts for the Recovery Café were not separated from the accounts of Community Lifeline,” the letter states.

CLL is currently being audited by the Health Care Authority for misuse of funds, according to the letter.

Public Health wrote in a briefing for commissioners that its decision to deny the organization’s NOFO proposal was based on several factors.

It’s unclear if CLL is eligible for the funds because CLL’s 501c3 status “was suspended at the time the NOFO proposal was submitted,” the brief states.

Other state agencies, including the Health Care Authority, have rescinded funding to CLL and CLL is “in debt for the repayment of misuse of funds,” according to the brief.

Housing and Urban Development also paused funding for CLL, the brief states.

CLL is also in reduced funding status.

“It would not align with our internal policies and procedures to award additional funding to an agency that is in reduced funding status for fiscal challenges,” according to the brief.

“Obviously, we want to work with our agencies and help them when we can. But their [the state Commerce Department] concern is that any additional emergency funding given at this time wouldn’t really help them in the long term. We will be having this conversation again in three months,” Casey told commissioners.

“I want to help, don’t get me wrong,” Commissioner Sharon Trask said. Commissioner Randy Neatherlin agreed. He said any money given to CLL would have to be spent appropriately or the county will “have to answer” to the state auditor.

“The county has to show that the money is going for the right purpose,” Neatherlin said.

“They never showed us how they could stay afloat,” Neatherlin said, referencing an April 7 presentation by Erin Martinache, president and board chair of Community Lifeline. During the presentation, Martinache said the shelter accumulates around $40,000 of monthly bills and gets about $25,000 in grant and donation money a month. She also said CLL’s debt was “around $400,000.”

CLL will have to sell the shelter building, which it owns, to pay off the debt, Martinache told the Journal in an April 1 interview. She also told commissioners about the plan at the April 7 presentation.

“The plan is we need to sell our building. We own our building, so we need to sell our building,” she said.

Neatherlin said he hopes the organization succeeds.

“I don’t know how they’ll survive it,” he said. “I hope they do. I wish them all the luck in the world. But we can’t take it on.”

Mason County Administrator Mark Neary said he also had concerns about CLL’s sustainability.

“They have some pretty large financial obligations,” he said.

In the past, CLL only operated the overnight shelter from October through April, Neary said. With the summer approaching, there’s time to figure out another shelter solution, he said.

“Looking forward to October of 2025, I would hope that there would be another option for individuals,” Neary said.