The Division’s work falls into four areas.

Planning

Washington State law (RCW 43.185C, Washington State Legislature) requires each county to have a plan to reduce homelessness. We lead the development of the Kitsap Homeless Housing Plan, with input from elected officials, community members, service and housing providers, and people who have experienced homelessness.

The Kitsap County Board of County Commissioners approved the 2025–2030 Kitsap Homeless Housing Plan on December 10, 2025. The plan follows five statewide objectives:

• 1. Promote an equitable, accountable, and transparent homeless response system.
  
• 2. Strengthen the homeless service provider workforce.
• 3. Prevent homelessness whenever possible.
• 4. Prioritize help for people with the greatest barriers to housing and the greatest risk of harm.
• 5. Seek to house everyone in a stable setting that meets their needs.

We will work with the Kitsap Housing and Homelessness Coalition and other partners to carry out the plan over the next five years.

Learn more about the 2025-2030 Kitsap Homeless Housing Plan

Investing in Local Programs

We invest more than $10 million each year in local nonprofit programs. This includes eviction prevention, emergency shelters, outreach, rapid re-housing, transitional and recovery housing, and permanent supportive housing. Homeless services providers receive funding through a competitive grant process, for projects that carry out the goals of the Homeless Housing Plan. Emergency shelters are funded on a bed-rate model based on the services provided to ensure each shelter gets comparable funding.

We also monitor the programs we fund, provide training and technical assistance, and help shelters lower barriers to entry so more people can get help.

Measuring Results

Homeless service providers enter information about the people they serve into a secure statewide database called the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). People must give consent before their personal information is entered. We use this data to track how well the system is working and to plan for future needs.

Each year we publish:

• Four quarterly and one annual system performance report
• Summaries of homelessness data across the county
• Results of the annual Point-in-Time Count
• A Division annual report

View reports and data on homelessness

Coordinating the Community Response

No single organization can end homelessness. We bring partners together so the system works as one. This includes:

• Working with the Kitsap Housing and Homelessness Coalition, a network of more than 50 housing and service organizations
• Managing the Severe Weather Shelter program with Kitsap County Emergency Management and local host sites
• Holding regular meetings with shelter providers and the Housing Solutions Center to improve referrals and reduce barriers
• Leading work groups and special projects, such as the task force that helped write the Homeless Housing Plan​​​
  

Besides funding local providers, the Division leads or oversees several programs and projects of its own. These include responding to encampments on county properties, opening shelters during sevre weather, and surveying people experiencing homelessness each year. See below for more information about each program or project.

HEART Encampment Response Program

The Homeless Encampment Action, Response, and Transitions (HEART) program is Kitsap County’s response to unauthorized homeless encampments on county property. The HEART team focuses on connecting people with shelter, housing, and services, rather than moving encampments from place to place.

In 2025, the community referred 436 sites to HEART, and 190 people were helped into shelter.

To report an encampment, contact Kitsap1 at 360-337-5777 or help@kitsap1.com.

Learn more about the HEART program

Pacific Building Shelter

The Pacific Building Shelter in Port Orchard opened in January 2025. Kitsap County converted a former fitness center into a 75-bed shelter for adults, couples, and families. It is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and provides meals, laundry, showers, and safe storage.

It is Kitsap County’s first long-stay shelter where people can stay with their pets, with room for up to 20 animals. Kitsap Rescue Mission operates the shelter and provides case management and support services. Kitsap Animal Rescue and Education (KARE) provides pet care on site.

Guests are referred through the Housing Solutions Center. In 2025, the shelter served 237 adults and children and 54 pets, and 64 people moved into permanent housing.

Learn more about the Pacific Building Shelter

Severe Weather Shelters

When dangerous cold or other severe weather is expected, volunteer-run shelters open in Kingston, Silverdale, and Port Orchard. The Division coordinates the program with Kitsap County Emergency Management and host organizations. Free rides to shelters are available during activations.

During the 2025–2026 season, severe weather shelters opened on 16 days and provided 339 overnight stays.

To get a text when shelters open, text KITSAPSWS to 898-211.

Learn more about Severe Weather Shelters and how to volunteer

Point-in-Time Count

The Point-in-Time Count is a state-required survey of people experiencing homelessness in Kitsap County during one 24-hour period each January. The Division recruits and trains volunteers, organizes survey sites, and reports the results.

Preliminary results from the January 29, 2026 count show a 23% decrease in people experiencing unsheltered homelessness compared to 2025.

Learn more about the Point-in-Time Count​​​​​​​​​​​

Most of our local funding comes from a fee charged when certain documents, such as deeds, are recorded with the Kitsap County Auditor. Washington State law, RCW 36.22.250 (Washington State Legislature), sets this fee and says how counties may use it. In Kitsap County, it funds the Homeless Housing Grant Program and the Affordable Housing Grant Program. Additional funding comes from the Washington State Department of Commerce.

Local Document Recording Fees

Homeless Housing Grant Program (HHGP)

This program is funded by the document recording fee under RCW 36.22.250 (Washington State Legislature). Funds are awarded through a competitive process to local housing and service providers that carry out the strategies in the Kitsap Homeless Housing Plan.

Affordable Housing Grant Program (AHGP)

This program is also funded by the document recording fee under RCW 36.22.250 (Washington State Legislature). State law allows these funds to be used for operating and maintaining affordable housing, building or buying new affordable housing, rental assistance, and emergency shelters.

Because the amount is small, Kitsap County uses these funds mainly for emergency shelters and for operating and maintaining existing affordable housing, including transitional and recovery housing.

Consolidated Homeless Grant (CHG)

Part of the document recording fee is sent to the Washington State Department of Commerce, which returns it to counties as the Consolidated Homeless Grant. We contract these funds to local providers for eviction prevention, emergency shelter, coordinated entry, rapid re-housing, and other services. The funds follow Commerce’s Consolidated Homeless Grant guidelines (Washington State Department of Commerce).

Housing and Essential Needs (HEN)

The Housing and Essential Needs program helps low-income adults who cannot work for at least 90 days because of a physical or mental health condition. It provides rent help and essential items such as hygiene supplies. The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) makes referrals to the program. In 2025, HEN helped 273 households get or keep housing.

Emergency Housing Funds

The Washington State Legislature provides Emergency Housing Funds through the Department of Commerce. They help maintain shelter and emergency housing that was previously paid for by funding that has ended. Allowed uses include street outreach, emergency shelter, transitional housing, rapid re-housing, and housing case management.

Related Funding

Other Human Services divisions also fund housing and related services. See Community Investments in Affordable Housing, the Block Grant program (CDBG and HOME), and the 1/10th of 1% mental health, chemical dependency, and therapeutic court fund.​​​​

Current status: The 2028 funding cycle opens next year (dates to be announced in Spring 2027). Last updated: Sept 30, 2026

Every 2 years, the Division makes grant funding available to organizations that provide homeless housing and services in Kitsap County.  Grants are awarded for 1 year, with a 1 year renewal process. Our grants are part of the county’s Coordinated Grant Application Process (CGAP), which lets organizations apply for several Kitsap County funding sources through one online system.

• 6,071 households were served by Kitsap’s homeless response system.
• 2,671 households asked the Housing Solutions Center for housing help.
• 786 households were kept from becoming homeless.
  
• 86% of households who moved into housing had not returned to homelessness two years later.
• $12.1 million was invested in local nonprofit housing and homeless programs.

Read the 2025 Housing and Homelessness Division Annual Report (PDF)​

2026 Point-in-Time Count preliminary results (March 26, 2026)
Preliminary results from the January 29, 2026 count show a 23% decrease in people experiencing unsheltered homelessness compared to 2025. Read the 2026 Point-in-Time Count Overview – Preliminary Data (PDF)

2025 Division Annual Report released (Aug 25, 2026)
The report covers our accomplishments for the year, how funds were invested, and how the homeless response system performed. Read the 2025 Annual Report (PDF)

2025–2030 Kitsap Homeless Housing Plan approved (December 10, 2025)
The Kitsap County Board of County Commissioners approved the new five-year plan. Read the 2025–2030 Kitsap Homeless Housing Plan (PDF)

• Volunteer for the Point-in-Time Count each January or at a Severe Weather Shelter.
  
• Join the Kitsap Housing and Homelessness Coalition.
• Learn ways to help with the How You Can Help People Living Homeless brochure (PDF).
• Stay informed by signing up for Housing and Homelessness email updates.​