Event to help feed the hungry draws participation from 40 restaurants

Dine Out With Maple Alley Inn, an event coordinated in cooperation with the Opportunity Council in Whatcom County took place May 4, 40 restaurants participated in the event, giving a portion of their proceeds to Maple Alley Inn, which distributes food to people and need.

This program is one of the programs that works with the Opportunity Council, which prevents hunger and homelessness in Whatcom County.

Although outreach may not specifically be targeted toward Birchwood, the outreach that is offered though the Opportunity Center and it’s partner organizations is available for homeless individuals throughout the city and county, Rebecca DenBeste of the Opportunity Council said.

She said people get connected with the Opportunity Council through word of mouth, through food banks and churches. The organizations that work with the opportunity center will sometimes direct people there, to get assistance for transitional housing, energy assistance and other services, she said.

“Obviously the homeless population is a good networking system in itself,” she said.

Outreach activist says chronic homelessness is decreasing in Bellingham due to community aid

Bruce Johnson, of Whatcom Project Homeless Connect, which also works with the Opportunity Council, said this years’ Point In Time homeless count, a census of all the homeless people in Whatcom County, showed a significant decline in chronic homelessness. This is die to the community outreach though social service agencies and other programs, he said.
One of the community concerns is that a large portion of the homeless population is children, he said. Twenty percent of homeless people in Whatcom County are under the age of ten, according to the Point In Time homeless count for 2009.

“Youth and families are a big part of the homeless population,” he said

Johnson said at the project’s annual event, which was held in March, said there was an increased number of youth and elderly people present. The Whatcom Project Homeless Connect event served 680 homeless guests this year, he said.

Johnson said there are a number of social service agencies that serve Whatcom County and are available to these individuals when the project’s event is not going on.