It’s easy for passersby to cast judgment on homeless people walking the streets struggling with mental health and substance use issues, said Michelle Fleetwood, executive director at Eagles Wings Coordinated Care. Even without knowing someone’s personal story, envisioning a stable life for an individual on the street might seem like a “hopeless scenario.”
But pessimism about the crisis isn't the whole story, Fleetwood said, as Eagles Wings continues to see positive steps in connecting people with specialized housing and care.
“If we weren't out here along with other housing programs that have started on their own to take care of people, there would be three times more havoc and hardship out on the street than what there currently is.”
Eagles Wings operates 15 transitional homes across Kitsap County, housing 127 of the community’s most vulnerable people struggling with mental health, substance use and physical ailments, who are often high utilizers of emergency services. The service provider offers case management and clinical services and has helped over 400 people since its inception in 2017. And now its growing again.
By 2025, Eagle’s Wings is preparing to add three more houses to its list, making room for 20 more clients.
More housing options makes turnover possible
One of Eagles Wings’ primary missions is recovery for every person they serve, no matter what form the solution takes, Fleetwood said.
“'Recovery’ is recovery from being houseless, having mental health issues or finding out they have stage four cancer or they have an illness.”
In the journey toward recovery within an Eagle’s Wings-operated home, clients support one another and create an in-home culture over time, Fleetwood said. Some groups have been living together, stable, for six years or more and the agency has no intention to put a time-limit on anyone’s journey toward recovery under a roof with a warm bed, even though the homes are considered “temporary” housing.
This means that there is “very little turnover,” she said. And because it’s become increasingly difficult to find affordable housing, earn a living wage, find government subsidies or secure a lease with a history of evictions and criminal histories, “there's nowhere to go for them.”
With the establishment of three more houses, Eagle’s Wings will be able to serve more of Kitsap’s high need individuals and transition others up the housing continuum, some towards the new addition of a permanent housing option. Turnover will be more feasible.
“We are creating an option for people that are high need, like some of the people that are rolling around in the street, upsetting the police department and being a burden on emergency management, in and out of the emergency rooms, constantly being asked to move from one block to another,” Fleetwood said. “We're familiar with those groups and they haven't been able to make it in our recovery homes.”
Eagle’s Wings is partnering with the Bremerton Housing Authority to connect its clients with housing vouchers. They are already beginning to consider placements for a lineup of about 30 applicants, Fleetwood said.
Rescued homes present new opportunity
Three residences around Bremerton, that had each previously been used for group living or as rentals, will be converted for use by Eagles Wings.
An older three-story, nine-bedroom building near Evergreen Rotary Park, which had been used as a bed and breakfast, will serve as a transitional group home for people of varied needs. The residents will be able to support one another and access diversion programs, mental health agencies and an in-house mentor, Fleetwood said.
Eagles Wings will also convert an octagon-shaped home near Lions Park into a men’s recovery home, Fleetwood said. This house will be used for more stable groups that are making headway in recovery, who had achieving milestones such as attending school, seeking employment, volunteering, getting a driver’s licenses and doing yard work.
Establishing the two transitional homes was possible through a relationship with the Washington State Health Care Authority that dates back to 2018, Fleetwood said.
The third project will renovate a home in West Bremerton to serve as a permanent housing solution with the help of a grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce. That building, formerly inhabited by drug users and elderly tenants, was falling apart before the agency bought the building in January, rehabilitated it and slowly worked to relocate the previous residents.
Fleetwood expects the homes to open by 2025, pending permit approvals, though the project's final cost is still unknown due to inspections, chemical tests and environmental safety screenings still needed.
“Our participants are supervised, supported, drug- and crime-free, residing in homes that have been lovingly restored from a derelict state,” Eagles Wings quality control manager Ariana Miller said. "In the neighborhoods we populate, we have had feedback from police, postal workers, and neighbors that we have made the neighborhoods better. Houses are well kept and landscaped and the participants are well taken care of.”
The City of Bremerton will be sending out notices about the project, but Fleetwood encourages anyone from the community to contact her at 360-801-7039 or info@eagleswingscc.net to ask questions or express concerns.
“We want to welcome more volunteers and we want to welcome more support… We want to have more community input,” she said. “We're trying to inspire people to be more solution oriented rather than to be sitting on the side speculating with information that they don't have yet or information that may not be true.”
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