Homeless men on the Eastside have been forced to use public restrooms and spend their days at libraries and in shopping malls since the closure of the day center operated by Congregations for the Homeless.

Developers who purchased the First Congregational Church on 108th Avenue Northeast informed the organization that it had to vacate the basement portion of the church where it has operated the day center since 1993. The refuge for homeless men closed last month and efforts to find an alternative location have been unsuccessful.

“The church provided us with 1,500 square feet in downtown Bellevue with kitchens, showers and a place for homeless men to be off the street during the day,” said David Johns Bowling, executive director of the Congregations for the Homeless. “We’d like to find a new location that offers those amenities that is not in a residential neighborhood, or near a school and in a location that will not disrupt the operations of a nearby business.”

Officials in Kirkland, Redmond and Issaquah have joined their counterparts in Bellevue in an effort to find an appropriate facility to house the homeless men’s day center. The center serves 50-75 men on a daily basis and more than 350 unduplicated individuals per year, according to Emily A. Leslie, manager of the Human Services Division for the city of Bellevue. Fifteen percent of the men served at the day center are aged 55 or older.

Leslie said the men’s day center is a critical component in the effort to end homelessness on the Eastside and in King County. In addition to access to meals and hygiene, the center provides case management services to assist displaced individuals with securing transitional housing and job training.

“A robust day center gives these men a sense of dignity and purpose,” Leslie said. “It also creates a safe community where they have a place to receive mail and have access to computers.”

Leslie Miller, the human services coordinator for the city of Kirkland, said the search has exhausted all of the potential public facilities on the Eastside. She emphasized that the day center has “zero negative impact” on the community.

“These men need a place to be during the day,” said Colleen Kelley, the assistant director of community development in Redmond. “Without a day center, they will have no choice but to take showers in the restrooms at the mall, inside grocery stores or at the library.”

Kelley said a task force organized by Redmond identified the day center as a “significant resource” in the struggle to end homelessness. The city has identified more than 1,000 drop-ins at the center by Redmond residents in the past year.

Bowling said he is optimistic, “but probably not being completely realistic” about securing a new location. The church provided the basement space for rent of just $600 per month. Bowling admitted the bargain price may have only covered the cost of utilities.

Without another generous provider, Congregations for the Homeless opened its search to include a straight rental to house the day center. If an appropriate space could be found, said Bowling, the cost could be between $4,000 and $5,000 per month.

Mark Little has utilized the services of the day center for the past nine months. He said his options are now “astonishingly limited” now that the church closed its doors to the homeless men.

“The last thing I want to become is an annoyance to the community that supports us,” said Little, 44. “The day center has been more than a port in the storm. It has been a profound blessing that has helped restore a small token of my humanity.”

Congregations for the Homeless receives funding from each of the Eastside cities that totals $30,000 per year. According to Bowling, foundations and charities including United Way limit their grants to funding overnight shelters. Kelley added that United Way has changed its definition of the social safety net over the past few years.

“Homelessness has been declared a state of emergency (in King County). I can certainly understand that overnight shelters provide the most visible and immediate assistance to the homeless population,” said Bowling. “However, without day centers these individuals would be on the street without a place to take care of their personal needs.”

Dan Aznoff is a freelance writer who lives in Bellevue. His website is DAJournalist.com.