Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Kay.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Camp Hope was started in 2017 as an answer to the Boise Lawsuit which required Cities to have low-barrier shelter beds available if they were going to be enforcing illegal street camping. It was an experiment that was not likely to work but did. Camp Hope is a low-barrier emergency shelter serving single adults (men & women), families with children, young adults (18 to 24 year old young men & women), persons with animals, veterans, domestic violence survivors and individuals escaping human trafficking. The shelter had capacity at that time for 120 individuals.
In 2020, Grace City Outreach took over Camp Hope after two other non-profits failed to continue operations citing lack of funding. Since Grace City Outreach took over the shelter has grown in both services and capacity. Services has grown to include a 24 hour a day Outreach team serving all of Yakima County. We have further partnered with local law enforcement, fire & rescue, hospitals and community stakeholders to expand the reach of the team.
We further grew the capacity of the shelter to include dormitories and compassion cabins. The dormitories increased shelter beds to 220. We designed custom shipping containers with Comprehensive Health Care to allow individuals / families with a trauma individual living environment that was safe, soundproof and had a tangible locking door. The individuals who use the cabins are usually dual diagnosed with a substance use disorder and a behavioral health condition. They also are usually likely to not come into a shelter environment due to congregant living environments. Having their own tangible locking door with individual sleeping environments they are much more likely to engage in services. Since then they have almost all engaged in Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorder.
We further added professional case managers with lived experience to assist residents with housing, employment, transportation, medical and behavioral health appointments. Our case managers toggle between advocates and accountability partners.
We also have a partnership with Comprehensive Health Care that has taken our services to the next level. Comprehensive Health has expanded to have an office on campus that is staffed with Peer Support, Care Cordinators, a Medical Doctor and access to a therapist via Telehealth or on their campus.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not….funding has been a year to year roller coaster. The public opinion of the homeless has deteriorated over the previous years. We believe in “not feeding the bears” and instead of the “harm reduction” of giving people clean needles, free drugs, no accountability and a place to overdose. Our statement of not feeding the bears is we want to take care of their basic needs. Meals, shelter, clothing, safety and access to services. However, we strongly encourage the resident to be actively involved in their recovery and treatment. Their voice is important and by allowing that individual to have a voice in what has worked, what is needed, their housing etc allows them to have some stake in the game.
Funding for us has always been the biggest issue. Just like everyone else the cost of insurance is beyond high, the cost of goods such as toilet paper has increased seven fold over the last two years. At the same time, donation dollars has decreased by over sixty percent.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Camp Hope is a low barrier emergency shelter serving a population of single adults, families with children, young adults with wrap around case management and transportation services. We are currently serving a diverse population with a unique model and observing individuals / families thrive in this model.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Michael Kay the current Chief Executive Officer was the founder and creator of Camp Hope. Through a model of collaboration with other providers such as Comprehensive Health Care, Law Enforcement and Medical Services the model has evolved from simply “warehousing people” to actually seeing them thrive with direct on campus access to services.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.camphopeyakima.com
- Facebook: Camphope Yakima
