City of Wenatchee Acquiring Pallet Shelters to House Homeless

The City of Wenatchee is purchasing nearly four dozen pallet shelters to assist the area's homeless population.

Wenatchee Mayor Frank Kuntz says the shelters are similar to those being used in Grant County.

"The first ones we saw around here were in Moses Lake a couple of years ago where they just put up some sheds with single beds. These are a little bit more evolved than that and will be put at the Wenatchee Rescue Mission in South Wenatchee, right next to our safe park there."

The City is ordering 45 of the shelters from the company Pallet PBC of Everett at a cost of $643,460.

Roughly 80 percent of that amount will be paid for with grant funding, while the remaining cost ($106,770) will come from a portion sales tax revenues from the Cities of Wenatchee and East Wenatchee that are specifically collected for use on homeless services.

Kuntz says the pallet shelters should fill up quickly.

"There's a group of folks that we believe will end up being housed in these pallet shelters, which can actually sleep two since there's a bunkbed or side-by-side bed that will get set up in them. They will also have some heat and air conditioning in them."

The 64-square-foot shelters will be established on the grounds of the Wenatchee Rescue Mission and will be the property of The Columbia River Local Homeless Task Force.

The City expects the pallets to be delivered sometime in April of 2023.