If work stays on schedule, the Anacortes Family Center should be ready for a “big reveal” at a community open house late this month, said Anacortes Community Shelter Project President Eric Johnson. Meanwhile, local churches, service groups and businesses continue to rally around the effort to open the family homeless shelter.

“Thanks to the generosity of the congregations of a number of Anacortes churches, the Anacortes Family Shelter has quite a pile of kitchen furnishings stashed away in its storage facility, awaiting the grand opening of the shelter later this summer,” Johnson said.

Members of Anacortes First Baptist Church coordinated with many other congregations in town including Christ the King, Anacortes Lutheran, New Hope Christian Fellowship, Christ Episcopal, Westminster Presbyterian, Anacortes United Methodist, First Assembly of God, Anacortes Christian Church and the Fidalgo Community Church to collect kitchen equipment for the shelter. They held an event in May, and asked each attendee to bring a cash donation or something from a wish list of needed kitchen items. Those involved were proud of the result, said Lesley Sanders of Anacortes Baptist Church’s Communications & Publications Ministry.

“Feedback from the churches has been very positive with all reporting that there has been great interest and enthusiasm in this worthy community project,” Sanders said.

Johnson said the churches collected almost everything on the list.

“We think we have enough to furnish the kitchens of the nine units at the shelter,” he said. “In a wonderful gesture of support, many of the ladies welcomed the opportunity to return and help place the supplies into those kitchens after Nels Strandberg’s construction site foreman Dale Geffe gives us the go-ahead.”

Last month, Ruth Lorente organized several performers who presented a food drive concert at Anacortes Lutheran Church to fill pantries at the shelter.

“They collected a mountain of canned goods and some cash,” Johnson said.

The Anacortes Family Shelter will have nine residential units — two two-bedroom, three single-bedroom and four studio apartments. The building is complete and awaits landscaping, furnishing and final touches. Schwetz Construction is working on sidewalks, streets, gutters and sewers, thanks to funding from a Community Development Block Grant.

“Once the paving and sidewalks are completed around the shelter, we plan to have a number of open-house events in which we’ll invite everyone to tour the family shelter,” he said. “We hope that, in the course of those visits, people will find that they just might have a piece of furniture that would exactly fit into our small living areas.”

Thanks to a donation by Mark Lione at Cap Sante Inn, the facility will have a 26-inch television in each apartment, he said. Still needed are TV stands, DVD players and DVDs. There will be no cable television in the rooms, but the shelter will have a DVD library.

Other needs include small kitchen tables and chairs, double sized hide-a-beds, double beds with frames, TV stands, dressers, small coffee tables, living room chairs, small lamps, end tables, bathroom rugs and art for the walls.

The Anacortes Kiwanis Noon Club, which has donated more than $50,000 to make the shelter a reality, had the honor of being the first service club invited to formally tour the shelter, and on June 4, 50 members of the club walked through the facility on 27th Street.

The building is bright and new, designed to be clean and safe, but has no frills and is sturdily built, somewhat like an old college dorm room. Johnson told Kiwanians during their tour that the shelter will have strict curfews, allow no drinking or drugs and limit visitation hours of guests. Entry is through a secure area, and a reception person will be behind bullet-proof glass in case of an explosive domestic situation. Residents will work with counselors and agencies who will help them develop skills to transition back into homes of their own.

Anyone who has a donation that needs to be picked up can contact Johnson at or at 299-8889.