Puyallup’s homeless resource center closes after COVID-19 exposure

A Puyallup homeless resource center has temporarily shut down after at least one staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

The New Hope Resource Center on 414 Spring Street, closed Dec. 24 when test results came back, Director Paula Anderson said.

The center employs four and there are eight regular volunteers, Anderson said. The facility will remain closed until at least Jan. 8, and the building is sanitized.

The nonprofit is the only daytime service center for those who are experiencing homelessness without children.

The New Hope Resource Center provides an average of 50 meals a day to those experiencing homelessness. Volunteers from nearby churches will be providing takeaway meals in the New Hope parking lot until the center reopens.

The nonprofit’s mobile resource services program has also ended temporarily after two months of operation. An RV and two trailers brings showers, laundry facilities and a connection to resources. The program has added at least 57 people to the homeless management system, Anderson said.

The RV resource program will pick up on the 13th at the South Hill Baptist Church.

Saturn News Media