(Image: Operation Nightwatch)

The plan for growing a Capitol Hill women’s shelter began when Frank DiGirolamo of Operation Nightwatch and Rev. Steve Thomason, dean and rector of 10th Ave E’s St. Mark’s, met at a clergy dinner and shared their work with one another.

Operation Nightwatch has been active for 57 years and began through street canvassing efforts, which they continue to this day on Capitol Hill.

“We spend a lot of time listening and reminding people that they’re loved,” DiGirolamo told CHS. “We’re always responding to the needs we hear about from the people we visit.”

Thomason said St. Marks had been a site for women’s emergency shelter for over two decades, but then COVID-19 hit.

“It seemed the natural thing for us to consider again, even if it’s not a long-term solution for that location. We’re hoping that the City of Seattle and King County, all of the organizations that are committed to addressing the housing crisis, will be in a very different place three to four years from now than we currently are,” Thomason told CHS.

CHS reported here in October on the early planning for the new expanded shelter project that comes as St. Mark’s is also preparing for a new chapter on its Capitol Hill campus with a development and adaptive reuse project envisioned to create more than 100 affordable homes in a transformation of the nearly 100-year-old, landmarks-protected St. Nicholas building.

While the redevelopment plan for the new affordable housing project will take years, the shelter adjacent the St. Nicholas building is coming together more quickly. Plans filed with the city describe expansion of a “limited use emergency shelter with 20 beds and limited hours of operation”

Operation Nightwatch is leasing the space for $1 per year for a three-year lease with an opportunity to extend. Donna Jean’s Place, named after Donna Jean Palmberg—the widow of Operation Nightwatch’s founder— will offer 20 beds nightly, with 7,300 bed-nights expected annually.

“This is not a financial agreement—this is a mission agreement,” Thomason said, adding how the three-year lease option “lines up with our longer-term focus on what to do with the entire building.”

Once open, Donna Jean’s Place will not have any length of stay limits, and a case manager will work with the women at their own pace. DiGirolamo said this makes the most sense, as sometimes it takes months or years for a person to manage the trauma they’ve experienced which either led to becoming unhoused, or which happened while unhoused. Women experiencing homelessness are more at risk for experiencing stalking, harassment and violent assaults.

“They currently often have to walk all night to stay warm or safe or alive,” DiGirolamo said. “For every one-bed night, we are statistically making a big impact on the community.”

Donna Jean’s Place will be outfitted to include laundry services, lockers to store belongings, case management services and a free clinic to meet the basic needs of women.

Pets can be a barrier for people accessing emergency shelters. DiGirolamo said service animals are welcome, but that they’re trying to determine if welcoming non-service animals is feasible for all in the shelter.

“We are about to receive a permit any day, and we have a general contractor who is orchestrating it all, and we don’t know how long. Our hope is to get one before the cold weather hits,” DiGirolamo said. “They [city departments] really fast-tracked the process to get people off the streets, so when people want to open an emergency shelter, they put the pedal to the metal.”

Operation Nightwatch’s staff regularly have to distribute blanket and socks to unhoused people who have to sleep outside. Right now, the organization’s work is conducted through a shelter dispatch center at 302 14th Ave S. People line up outside at around 7pm, and hot meals are served an hour later. When folks head into the facility, they can check-in and ask if there’s available shelter for the night.

“I want to allow the community to let this keep growing as much as it should. It’s only space and money and people that we need,” DiGirolamo said. “We’re excited to start to do some stuff, and hopefully build momentum.”

Operation Nightwatch grew from religious outreach efforts on the streets of Seattle in the 1960s and continues to provide services and shelter including at its 14th Ave S headquarters. It is part of the city’s faith-based community of homelessness service providers and collaborates with organizations like The Union Gospel Mission to fill shelter beds.

The St. Mark’s shelter will be part of a growing Operation Nightwatch presence on Capitol Hill where the nonprofit has started a new Broadway Street Ministry. “The goal of street ministry is to make friends, and help our friends move toward housing, treatment, employment, or even moving back with friends or family,” the organization says.

The Rev. Michael Cox, pastor at Broadway’s All Pilgrims Church is director of outreach for Operation Nightwatch.

Supported by around $2 million in annual funding according to its nonprofit reporting, Operation Nightwatch describes itself as reducing “the impact of poverty and homelessness, in keeping with Jesus’ teaching to love our neighbors.

The greatest barrier and need to getting this women’s shelter up-and-running is primarily funding. DiGirolamo told CHS it costs about $1,000 per month for one bed, equating to about $250,000 annually. The collaborators are trying to raise $150,000, and are inviting the public to donate.

The goal is to create a shelter they expect will help more than 100 women every year.

“We just love everybody—remind everybody that they’re loved. We’re not reminded of that as much as we can, and we’re not trying to “fix” people as much as love them, and see where that leads and that means opening doors,” DiGirolamo said. “We’re a Christian organization, but there’s no statement of faith required to receive services.”

You can give to support the Donna Jean’s Women’s Shelter Building Campaign here.

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