City accepts generous grants to assist with its unsheltered homelessness response
June 17, 2025
At Monday’s regular Council Meeting, the City Council accepted two grants totaling $2.7 million to strengthen the City’s response to unsheltered homelessness. These new resources will bolster the City’s efforts tied to the declared homelessness emergency, including enhanced outreach for HART and support for capital costs related to the planned Bridge Shelter’s kitchen.
Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund, Community Foundation of Southwest Washington
Last year, the City was awarded a $1,912,000 grant from the Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund through the Community Foundation of Southwest Washington to fully fund up to eight additional limited-term members of the City’s Homeless Assistance and Resources Team (HART).
“This temporary grant-funded expansion of HART will enable the City to build on our progress on this community priority,” said Homeless Response Manager Jamie Spinelli. “We are grateful for the support of the Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund that will enable us to continue to address this complex, humanitarian issue.”
In addition to addressing the immediate crisis, the additional staff will also help facilitate referrals into the future Bridge Shelter when it opens.
HART is a multi-disciplinary City team that addresses the impacts of unsheltered homelessness by providing compassionate outreach and assistance to those living unsheltered and serving as a single point of contact for community members with concerns related to unsheltered homelessness.
PeaceHealth Community Health Improvement Plan Grant
PeaceHealth awarded a $800,000 Community Health Improvement Plan grant to support the capital costs of building a commercial kitchen for the future Bridge Shelter. Once built, the commercial-grade on-site kitchen will enable the City and its service provider to provide fresh, nutritious meals for shelter residents.
“Thanks to this grant, we will be able to build a commercial-grade production kitchen that delivers more than just meals—it brings opportunity and consistency,” said City Manager Lon Pluckhahn. “Once built, it will help us serve high-quality food efficiently, meet dietary needs, and open doors to job training and connection. We are grateful to PeaceHealth for their partnership and support of one of the most important issues facing the community.”
“At PeaceHealth we seek out opportunities to support programs addressing the Social Drivers of Health (SDOH), specifically addressing the critical need for access to housing, food, community connection, and mental health resources,” said Liz Cattin, Community Health Director, PeaceHealth Columbia Network. “We are proud to support the bridge shelter knowing it will address these critical needs for members of our unhoused community.“
The Bridge Shelter is being designed to provide a low-barrier, trauma-informed, 24/7 shelter with integrated wraparound services such as mental health care, substance use treatment, peer support, and pathways to safe, stable, and sustainable housing. Accepting this grant will help the City address the homelessness emergency while also helping PeaceHealth achieve its community health goals.
The City declared an emergency related to homelessness in 2023 to accelerate the City’s work to address the crisis and the impacts on both the unhoused and housed.
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Contact info:
Tim Becker, Strategic Communications Manager, tim.becker@cityofvancouver.us