Share House Director Katie Louis was running around the men’s homeless shelter Monday afternoon, putting everything back in place.
“They want to come back to a nice, clean, organized space,” she said.
After nine weeks of being closed due to damage from a fire, Share House was hours from reopening. And there were several small tasks that needed done before shelter residents could celebrate Monday evening with pizza, root beer floats and all of the normal excitement that comes with moving.
Since Thursday staff have worked with clients to get their belongings washed and organized before the move from St. Paul Lutheran Church, where dozens of men stayed while restoration work was underway at Share House.
“They’re going to be able to find their space. Somebody is going to help them make the rest of their bed,” Louis said.
Every resident got new sheets, welcome back kits put together by the KMR Group Foundation and quilts handmade by congregants at Bethel Lutheran Church in Brush Prairie.
Some of the original sleeping rooms were deemed not up to code because they don’t have smoke detectors. This includes the room where the fire took place. Fire Systems West will install smoke detectors in those rooms, so they will become legally permitted bedrooms.
“It’s really important to have a space not only just to serve people but also that they’re safe,” Louis said. “While nobody ever wants a fire, and nobody wants these sort of traumatizing incidents to happen, we also need to take the opportunity to look at things that we can do to make things better and do things better and make it safer for people who are here.”
The July 30 fire was quickly extinguished, but water from the sprinkler system and firefighting efforts damaged all three floors in the shelter. The Vancouver Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire was started by an improperly discarded cigarette.
A fire wasn’t the ideal opportunity to refresh Share House, but it did provide time to make upgrades to the 20-year-old shelter in addition to necessary restoration work. The night of the fire, when people tried to exit the building through the back stairs, those seemed unsafe, so the stairs have since been replaced. Exit signs were upgraded to include flashing lights, so deaf or hard-of-hearing clients will have more visual cues in the event the fire alarm goes off.
While the fire alarm panel has been repaired, it’s not up to code; that means staff will have to survey the building every 30 minutes until a new system is installed.
The kitchen is still not ready; wallboard installation will begin Tuesday. In the interim, residents will eat meals prepared using slow cookers and microwave ovens.
The fire displaced 58 men and not everyone is able to return due to the work still left to do at the facility. However, Louis said 15 men found housing.
“That’s pretty incredible for everyone being displaced,” she said.
(Share House’s pet fish, Goldie, was also re-homed.)
Louis said St. Paul is cleaning its facility later this month before it opens as a winter shelter on Nov. 1, so that provides a hard deadline to get everything moved out of the church.
