Work begins on Union Gospel Mission’s new men’s facility in Pasco

The ceremonial groundbreaking is at least two months away, but Tri-City Union Gospel Mission has started leveling the site of its future men’s facility.

The new building, off West Columbia Street between South Third and Fourth avenues, behind the Thunderbird Motel, has been in the works for five years.

It will more than quadruple the size of its current location. But the mission’s main hub in Pasco isn’t going anywhere.

The administrative offices will remain at 112 N. Second Ave. and the women and children’s shelter next door at 110 N. Second.

Executive Director Andrew Porter said he is excited to see movement on the approximately $8.2 million project.

The target completion date is fall 2017, though Porter said they may not occupy the space until later that year or early 2018.

The nonprofit has occupied the current shelter since 1958, when it was bought for $25,000. The actual building dates to 1917.

“It’s pretty tight, so we’re not only trying to get caught up, we’re trying to look out 50 to 100 years,” Porter told the Herald. “The new property will be able to accommodate us as far as we can see.”

“The community is really fast-growing here,” he added. “The more the population grows, there’s always a certain percentage of people who are homeless.”

The mission is using “every nook and cranny” of its 9,000-square-foot site. Spread across three levels, it includes storage, laundry, dining, bathrooms, office space, a chapel and the New Life 13-month recovery program dormitory.

Only about 25 percent to 30 percent of people who come into the shelter have addiction issues, Porter said.

There are 55 beds in the established living space for men, but the shelter on average is taking in between 85 and 90 men, Porter said. Many are sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor of the chapel.

That’s been the normal for the men’s shelter since about 2008 or 2009, Porter said.

“It’s not as high as it’s been, but we stay full,” he said. “I call it a fish bowl environment. It’s pretty crowded down there at night.”

In 2011, the mission spent $200,000 to acquire six acres from BNSF Railway Co.

Aside from one outstanding grant, Porter said they have everything to cover the project costs. The general contractor is Siefken & Sons Construction of Richland.

With all of the necessary permits in hand, they started leveling the ground a couple of weeks ago to get it cleaned up for utilities, Porter said. But he wants to be clear for investors and the public that the mission still plans to hold a formal groundbreaking in early fall.

The new facility will be just over 39,000 square feet. It will house 154 beds, a chapel, dining hall, classrooms, computer labs, offices for case workers and counselors, and an interior courtyard.

“Our aim is to be able to provide more and better quality services to people,” Porter said. “To be able to offer them more opportunities to get on their feet again.”

The bed space will be broken down to four 26-bed dorms “for rescue people just coming in off the street,” five 5-bed dorms, five two-man rooms and 15 one-man rooms.

“As people become more responsible and accountable for their lives and their progress … they can move forward and get better accommodations,” Porter said. “There are more incentives as people come in.”

The dorms will have room for expansion up to 350 beds in the future.

Those in the shelter meet with a caseworker for an assessment and to set goals, which can include finding work, managing health issues, paying off court fines, getting their GED or completing college credits.

The average age of men in the shelter is 30, though Porter said they’ve had clients from 18 into their 80s.

The shelter provides breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a day room for the men to get out of the extreme heat or cold. The bedrooms are closed off during the day, with a few exceptions for sick people or those who have a night job.

The freed-up space on the main level of the original shelter will be refurbished into a kind of detox area as an emergency overnight shelter for single women.

Porter said a woman who is actively using alcohol or drugs or has a severe mental illness cannot be housed in the adjacent shelter with families.

“It’s very difficult for people to feel safe and secure if you put them in the same room” with a woman strung out on methamphetamine or heroin, he said.

Women with children “need to feel that they’re safe and secure before they’ll be able to let their guard down and you’re able to work with them. So there is a need.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2016 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Work begins on Union Gospel Mission’s new men’s facility in Pasco."