On a normal day, more than 400 people come to the Compass Center in Pioneer Square to take showers, do laundry, see a nurse, get their mail, use the bank, get a meal, or just rest for a while out of the cold.
Since its founding in 1920, Compass Housing Alliance has always stood in the gap for those who need us most. We’re still open and providing all regular Compass Center services today. We’re also still providing 24/7 emergency shelter and low-income housing to about 1,500 men, women and children in our community.
Compass is taking every precaution we can to keep our guests and our neighborhood safe. We’ve installed handwashing stations and are asking everyone who comes into one of our buildings to wash their hands. Meals are now provided in to-go bags to limit the potential for spreading disease on plates or utensils. We’re cleaning all door handles, tables, and other high touch surfaces with a bleach solution regularly. We’ve placed chairs farther apart and limited the number of people who can be in the Compass Center at one time. We’ve even opened a fifth shelter so that we can create enough space for shelter guests to stay at least six feet apart as recommended by public health agencies.
These steps are expensive and at the same time our staff members are stretched and stressed from working long hours to deal with this crisis. Thankfully, our community is stepping in to help and the response to our Emergency Response Fund has been generous.
But the need remains great. Costs to operate the new shelter could exceed $200,000 if this crisis goes on for more than a month or two. We’re making sure that our low-income housing residents can remain safe in their apartments, but we expect that Compass will experience several hundred thousand dollars in missed rent payments since many of our residents are losing their jobs.
These are highly stressful times and, with all that is likely on your plate personally, reading of our current challenges may make you feel more stressed, more helpless. But we know that often the best way to combat those feelings is to take action. Feeling helpless? If you can, help others. Every dollar donated to the Emergency Response fund will be used directly to support our COVID-19 response. Your dollars will help keep our guests and community safe in these uncertain times. Thank you so much for helping our neighbors.