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2109 Sumner Avenue
Aberdeen, WA
United States

(360) 532-8631

Directory of services & programs

Housing Program Annual Update

Grays Harbor County Public Health & Social Services Department

Home > Housing & homelessness

Annual Housing System Performance Reports

We believe that everyone should have a safe and healthy place to live.


To fulfill a 2018 legislative requirement, Grays Harbor County updated its local plan to address unmet housing needs.

The 2019-2024 Grays Harbor County Five Year Plan to Address Unmet Housing Needs was published in May 2019.

Each year following the end of the State Fiscal Year ( July - June) Public Health Housing program staff provide an overview of the housing system and progress made in an annual meeting. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year staff produced a series of videos that cover the content.

Grays Harbor County has created and published annual reports to measure and share information about homeless system performance. These reports show progress the County has made in key benchmarks and provides data about services provided to clients experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Ensuring that all residents of Grays Harbor County have access to safe, adequate, affordable housing is crucial to improving the health of our community. We all benefit when everyone who calls Grays Harbor home has a healthy and safe place to live. Our providers and partners are doing difficult and meaningful work every day to serve some of our most vulnerable residents . . . . and they are making a difference.

However, currently in Grays Harbor County only 1 in 4 residents identified as homeless can find a safe place to live.  In addition, those looking for adequate housing and needing assistance can face a waiting time of over 3 years. It is critical we continue to find solutions to this crisis and ways to make housing more affordable and available. We have drafted a clear and comprehensive plan - heavily informed by a variety of partners – which outlines what the county can and will  do to address homelessness and affordable housing needs. Because we value transparency and straightforward communication, our plan also clearly outlines the anticipated unmet need – despite the continuation of existing services and expansion to new programming.

If you have questions, please contact Alex Blumenthal at ablumenthal@graysharbor.us or 360-500-4064 at the Homeless Housing Department which is part of Public Health. In addition, all members of the Board of County Commissioners would be willing to talk to you to listen to your comments and concerns. It will take all of us to make a difference in the homelessness crisis within our County and to make affordable housing available to everyone.


Public Health staff recently hosted a series of six workshops for our Board of County Commissioners to discuss what we know about the issue of homelessness, what resources and strategies we have to address the challenges, and how homelessness impacts a variety of stakeholders.

You can find the finalized materials shared at those workshops below, organized by topic/date.

  • Workshop 2 – What funding do we have to address homelessness in our community? (June 8th 11:00 a.m.)

    o   Guest speaker – Tedd Kelleher, Housing Assistance Unit at the Department of Commerce

    o   Workshop recording:

  • Visit this link: https://www.co.grays-harbor.wa.us/government/board_of_county_commissioners/pav_doctypesrch.php

  • Enter 6/8/21 under “meeting date” and hit search

  • Select 6/8/21 Morning Meeting

  • The video/audio of the meeting will download and when complete you can open/view the video file

  • The Housing Workshop begins approximately 60:00 into the video

    o   Workshop materials: Presentation Materials

  • Workshop 3 – How does Grays Harbor County invest to address homeless now? (June 15th 10:30 a.m.)

    o   Guest speaker – Gloria Callaghan and Jana Ferrier, Domestic Violence Center of Grays Harbor

    o   Workshop recording is posted:

  • Visit this link: https://www.co.grays-harbor.wa.us/government/board_of_county_commissioners/pav_doctypesrch.php

  • Enter 6/15/21 under “meeting date” and hit search

  • Select 6/15/21 Morning Meeting

  • The video/audio of the meeting will download and when complete you can open/view the video file

  • The Housing Workshop begins approximately 65 minutes into the video

    o   Workshop materials: Presentation Materials

  • Workshop 4 – Case Management and Service Delivery Model (June 29th 10:00 a.m.)

    o   Guest speaker – Craig Dublanko, CEO of Coastal Community Action Program

    o   Workshop recording is posted:

  • Visit this link: https://www.co.grays-harbor.wa.us/government/board_of_county_commissioners/pav_doctypesrch.php

  • Enter 6/29/21 under “meeting date” and hit search

  • Select 6/29/21 Morning Meeting

  • The video/audio of the meeting will download and when complete you can open/view the video file

  • The Housing Workshop begins at 17 minutes into the video

    o   Workshop materials Presentation Materials

  • Workshop 5 – Grays Harbor’s Continuum of Care (July 6th, 10:00 a.m.)

    o   Guest speaker – Sarah Glorian (client stories), Chief Steve Shumate – Aberdeen Police Department, Cindy Stutesman – Seattle Union Gospel Mission, Jim Sorenson – Coastal Community Action Program, Cathy Hinds – Home Sweet Home Property Management, Dave Murnen – NeighborWorks Grays Harbor

    o   Workshop recording is posted:

  • Visit this link: https://www.co.grays-harbor.wa.us/government/board_of_county_commissioners/pav_doctypesrch.php

  • Enter 7/6/21 under “meeting date” and hit search

  • Select 7/6/21 Morning Meeting

  • The video/audio of the meeting will download and when complete you can open/view the video file

  • The Housing Workshop begins approximately 30 minutes into the video

    o   Workshop Materials: Presentation Materials

  • Workshop 6 – Next Steps, Policy discussion for upcoming Homeless Housing Request for Proposals (August 3rd, 10:00 a.m.)

    o   Workshop recording will be posted:

  • Visit this link: https://www.co.grays-harbor.wa.us/government/board_of_county_commissioners/pav_doctypesrch.php

  • Enter 08/03/21 under “meeting date” and hit search

  • Select 08/03/21 Morning Meeting

  • The video/audio of the meeting will download and when complete you can open/view the video file

  • The Housing Workshop begins approximately 110 minutes (1:50 minutes) into the video

    o   Workshop materials:

  • Presentation Materials


Due to the COVID pandemic the 2019-20 report included a series of videos that reviews the primary components of our plan and provides updates on progress where we have them (video links below). Topics include how many people are homeless in our County, an overview of the 5 Year Plan and the strategies selected, and deeper dives into strategies to prevent homelessness in the first place, our emergency shelter system and rental assistance programs, and our work to intentionally increase affordable housing opportunities.

How Many People Experiencing Homelessness Live in Grays Harbor?

Part of the Grays Harbor County 2020 Housing Program Update.


What is Grays Harbor County’s Plan to Address Homelessness?


What is Grays Harbor County doing to Prevent Homelessness?


What is Grays Harbor County doing to house people experiencing homelessness?


What is Grays Harbor County doing to increase Affordable Housing?