The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army continues to support Kitsap and North Mason Counties by providing a low-barrier, pet-friendly Emergency Shelter. As a low-barrier shelter, many of our guests are struggling with addiction, untreated mental health challenges, and most have experienced trauma.  Some have just lost jobs, houses, and families. Whatever their story, we receive them and provide a safe place for them to rest, eat, shower, and get their laundry done. We collaborate with many social service agencies and can direct them to other resources. Our caring staff see our guests as valuable and important and are willing to walk beside them on their journey. Our staff faces difficult and challenging situations daily with grace and boundaries. We have many stories of our guests who are now housed, clean and sober, have returned to their families, and are working. Many of those successes are the result of the care and work of our amazing staff!

In 2025, we saw an increase of about 20% in the number of people we are serving. During that time, we served over 94,000 meals, provided over 6,100 showers, and processed over 3,300 loads of guest laundry.  Our shelter is averaging between 85 to 92 people per night.  We continue to provide clothes, bus tokens, gas vouchers, toiletries, and blankets, along with utility and ID card assistance. In the last year, we have assisted many guests with finding housing, returning home, or entering drug/alcohol treatment. In addition to these basic services, we provide hotel and motel assistance to families and those displaced due to domestic violence. A permanent low-barrier shelter is being built through a consortium of local agencies.

One important service missing in our community is the delivery of food boxes to those who are homebound or do not have transportation. We have purchased the property adjacent to ours and are building Hope Market, a client-choice food market that will allow us to meet this need as well as the expansion of our existing food pantry. We are raising $2.5 million through our capital campaign, and we anticipate the building will be completed by the fall of 2027!

As always, our holidays are filled with providing meals and gifts for families in our community. This year, 700+ children were given a new coat, new shoes, and toys!