The rate of homelessness has been rising in Washington State over the last few years, with many people in our immediate community facing these challenges daily. With these numbers increasing each year, there are several groups in the area trying to make a change by providing resources to unhoused members of our community, with two new facilities opening up recently in Whatcom County: the Way Station, and Lighthouse Mission’s newly-relocated Base Camp.

Photograph courtesy of Unity Care NW
The Way Station is a multi-partner project from the Opportunity Council, PeaceHealth, Unity Care Northwest, and the Whatcom County Health Department. The new Way Station, located at 1500 North State Street, offers the unhoused community access to a hygiene center with services such as showers, restrooms, and laundry. The Way Station also provides medical services, primarily focusing on acute care, whereas cases requiring ongoing primary care will be referred to the primary care facility just a few blocks away at 220 Unity Street.
“[We’re] trying to really make sure that we can serve as many folks that need us as possible, and to do it well, provide excellent quality care, and making sure that our unhoused population feels welcomed, respected, [and] included, giving them dignity and really creating a great environment for them to receive services,” says Shanon Hardie, chief operating officer at Unity Care Northwest. “So I think that that’s really going to be our focus over the next six months to a year.”
The Lighthouse Mission Ministries (LMM), a Christian non-profit organization, recently opened their five-story building to replace the temporary Base Camp located at 1530 Cornwall Avenue. This new building at 1312 F Street will offer two private medical rooms and two additional private rooms for outside providers helping shared clients, hygiene stations, shelter/respite, and many other resources. Prior to the move, the former base camp required all meals to be made at a nearby hospital and transported to their location three times a day, but the new building contains a kitchen that allows for meals to be made on-site.

Photograph courtesy of Lighthouse Mission
“In the old building we kind of had to make do with the space that we were given, and it wasn’t really conducive to emergency housing, and so a lot of things have changed since that building, but our core principles and core services are coming with us,” said Brittany Hargrove, chief program officer at Lighthouse Mission Ministries.
This location is staffed 24/7, and residents are assigned a case manager that helps get them back on their feet, as well as identifying the personalized care that is required for each individual. This new base camp offers multiple floors for residents to stay overnight in communal spaces through a first-come, first-serve system. There are also certain rooms that are assigned for people requiring more privacy and safety or specific medical care, and family dorms for residents with children. These family rooms are private spaces, with personal bathrooms and a communal kitchen to make it easier to support children.
The LMM also provides opportunities for residents: people can volunteer to help clean up, and some residents are assigned chores or tasks by their case managers to help maintain the environment. Some projects for the future include a 3D printing course and multiple entrepreneurial suites that will create employment opportunities for residents and be open to the public as well.
The fight against homelessness is still an uphill battle, but resources like Base Camp and the Way Station are helping combat it
“We want to be a united front in terms of our approach to supporting the unhoused population,” says Hardie. “Responding to needs and making sure that it’s working well, you know, amongst all of the services we’re providing.”