We have some sad news today and a request for help from our community. A grant that we were expecting to fund our new drop-in center fell through and we had to close our new location and let some of our wonderful employees go. While we still have our main center, it serves less than half of the people we were able to help at our new location. It was a wonderful space and the owners are holding the property in hopes that we can find the funding to return to providing this valuable resource.
Over the winter, all other services closed their doors to the homeless during the day as COVID-19 policies prevented people from spending time out of the harsh weather. We usually only accept individuals that are attending behavioral health but we made a tough decision last winter to allow anyone into our second location. We fully recognize that mental health and homelessness often go hand in hand and felt that this was the right thing to do. This ate through our small budget very quickly though. Now that our grant fell through, we have run out of funds to keep our normal services running smoothly and we are currently left with minimal employees to run our main center. We were serving between 30-50 individuals a day at the new center and we generally serve 25 a day at our main center. That means that with the loss of this facility, dozens of people lost access to day resources and space. We provide everything from certified Peer Support, to meals, to showers, clothing, laundry and more. The real importance is the connection that we bring to people who often face social stigma for their mental health challenges. The proximity of community members that share common struggles often results in positive growth for everyone involved. Peer Support hinges on inducing that atmosphere in a non-judgmental "peer" way. Just being that listening ear and comforting presence can make a world of difference for someone suffering from depression or schizophrenia. The Cascade Peer and Self Help Center (or its previous name The Rainbow Club), has been a part of the community providing a safe and comfortable place for people struggling with mental health challenges for many years (20+). We are asking for our community to help us, just as we stretched out to help others over the winter COVID season, so that we can continue our mission of serving vulnerable members of the community and providing them with safety, comfort, and tools to develop social skills, increase self-awareness, identify goals and lead their lives independently. Here are some art projects that past members have worked on.
As you can see, the energy really brings this positivity and sets examples that there is hope and community for others.
We were recently blessed to have our story featured on local news however our donation turnout was very small. We really need support from our community to keep moving forward. There are so many people in need of help that rely on us and not being able to do that is a weight on our hearts and shoulders. Our gratitude for any help goes beyond words. Thank you so much. You can donate through Paypal (cpashc@gmail.com) or through our GoFundMe -
https://www.gofundme.com/f/Get-Our-Mental-Health-Drop-In-Back If you are in need of services or have not heard of us, please check out our Facebook or stop by. Thanks again, Your friends and staff at the Peer Center