Come by at any time Wednesday to honor those whose lives have been lost due to the failure of our safety net, the extreme deficit of affordable housing, the restriction of public space/public utilities, the lack of adequate and appropriate mental health, medical and substance use treatment availability, those who have starved, frozen and sweated to death. Join us to honor those whose lives were sacred and whose deaths preventable. 

This year our community has lost the following neighbors who were experiencing homelessness;
Ariel, Brady, Liz, Monika, Shark and Rochelle.

This is not an exhaustive list and we know there are more that we are missing. Please share with us additional names and we will update this list. Many of these folks were born and raised here, attended school here and died here. These are our literal neighbors and we miss them everyday. 

Want to get to know your neighbors better? Join us the second Saturday of every month and become a volunteer with the shelter or Warming Center and get to know the people that make up the beautiful fabric of our community. It has been deeply transformative for me over and I know it will be for you too.

​<3 <3 <3 <3

We have been working for months to find a location to open the winter Warming Center 7 days a week for the remainder of the season and thanks to the owners of the old Alpine Experience building, that dream is coming to fruition! Starting Monday December 19th we will be open from 7am-5:30pm daily in one location! See our flyer below and please spread the word. Huge thanks to the wider community, Thurston County Board of Commissioners, the Cities of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater and our closest neighbors for working with us to make this vitally important space possible for our city's neighbors with no where else to go in this weather. We are so grateful for our time at the United Churches of Olympia and First Christian Church and thank them dearly for supporting us.
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Managed by IW shelter support staff, the Warming Center offers a welcoming and safe environment with basic respite from the elements, where people can warm up, socialize, catch some undisturbed sleep, and connect with a network of services. We are SO excited for this next chapter in our program and are honored to offer 24/7 services (between our two locations) to highly vulnerable people on the streets for the first time in our shelter history! Check out our informational flyer below and download our wish list to see how you can get involved. Much love to you Olympia!!