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Operation Nightwatch 

Description

Operation Nightwatch provides emergency shelter and food nightly for homeless adults. Permanent low cost housing for seniors offers an affordable alternative to shelters or the streets. Outreach and education for the community led to our creation of the One Night Count in 1982. Survival support for unsheltered homeless people is also an important feature of our work, along with education and advocacy for the wider community.

Mission Statement
Operation Nightwatch helps poor and homeless people attain their highest level of self-reliance.
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Operation Nightwatch
PO Box 21181 
Seattle 
WA
98111-3181 
(206) 323-4359 

Rick Reynolds 
Executive Director 

Programs

Operation Nightwatch Programs

Shelter
Safe shelter for all people is the first step to ending homelessness in King County. Operation Nightwatch provides shelter for 160 to 180 homeless men and women. Our Shelter Dispatch Program secures emergency shelter for single adults late at night. Support services such as food, hygiene supplies, sobriety support, and information about other services are also available. Stability starts with basic survival shelter. Over 200 monthly volunteers extend the scope of this work.

Senior Housing
The Senior Housing Program makes permanent affordable housing available to 24 seniors and disabled people. Most tenants are very low income, and have been homeless. Units are modestly furnished, with shared bathrooms and kitchens. Late night meals are provided by volunteers. Nightwatch staff help ensure housing stability and a range of activities. Rents are augmented by Nightwatch funders.

Street Outreach
Street outreach to homeless people is another feature of Nightwatch. Survival resources are distributed in a variety of settings. Socks, blankets, knit caps, hygiene supplies, and information about services are provided. Low barrier, non-judgmental relational care is provided in unconventional places, such as encampments, shelters and taverns. Nightwatch does not proselytize, and maintains no statement of faith.

Recent Successes and Current Challenges

 

Despite our best efforts, homelessness has continued to grow over the past six years. This has put pressure on limited shelter stock in this community. Nightwatch has been at capacity, and beyond. Turning vulnerable people onto the street at midnight does not work. Nightwatch has a history of responding to the need by expanding shelter options in creative ways. Three churches provide overflow shelter for Nightwatch clients on their premises, staffed by volunteers. Nightwatch also has been sending homeless people who are stuck in Seattle back to communities where friends, families, or opportunity (which involves housing) await them. Sixty-five homeless people have been repatriated the past two years.

With over 2,500 unsheltered people in Seattle/King County, the need for basic shelter and supportive housing will continue.

 

Evaluation


Operation Nightwatch provides both emergency shelter and permanent housing for several sub-populations of homeless adults. Operation Nightwatch firmly believes that no homeless person will become stable without safe shelter, whether that is emergency shelter, transitional housing, or a permanent affordable option.

Use of Best Practices
The Senior Housing Program at Operation Nightwatch provides permanent housing for 24 formerly homeless seniors. Support services and activities are designed to aid residents in maintaining themselves in stable housing, without a return to the street. This support also assists residents as they age in place, reducing reliance on institutional care, and improving health outcomes over those seniors living in shelters.

Partnerships and Collaboration
Operation Nightwatch serves as a late-night conduit between people in need and service providers. Nightwatch outplaces an average of 170 homeless people every night to shelter beds, including the 108 people staying in Nightwatch-funded shelters. To accomplish this, Nightwatch works closely with the Downtown Emergency Service Center, Angeline’s, Bread of Life Mission, Compass, Millionair Club, Noel House, Salvation Army Women, Union Gospel Mission, and Tent City 3, on a nightly basis.

Sustainability
Operation Nightwatch has maintained a very loyal and stable donor base of small but long term donors. Staff are skilled at telling the story of their work, and strong emphasis on cultivating long term relationships with supporters. Giving has continued to be strong through the economic downturn as Nightwatch receives little support from government sources.

Grant History with The Seattle Foundation:

Grants Awarded through The Seattle Foundation Grantmaking Program:

DateAmountPurpose
3/10/2013 $10,000.00support general operating expenses.

Financials

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