Our Mission
Our mission is to support our neighbors experiencing homelessness while they are on their road to home.
Our Vision
Our vision is a community where everyone has access to safe shelter and the social support they need to obtain stable housing.
Our History
Road2Home was established in November 2019 by three Bellingham
residents who saw a need for additional services in the community. It
was clear that the housing crisis was rising, and members of our
community continued to struggle to get their basic needs met,
shelter being of the highest priority. Individuals relying on the
network of resources that exist are required to navigate complex
systems, and Road2Home provides services to help individuals so
they don’t have to do it alone.
Gardenview Village was the first major project for Road2Home. The
village was established in partnership with the Low Income Housing
Institute (LIHI) and the City of Bellingham (COB) and opened in
October 2021. This program primarily serves individuals and couples
experiencing homelessness who are 55+ and/or medically fragile.
Our on-site case managers work with residents to help them obtain
housing, employment, healthcare, and other services to help them
transition, begin to heal, and work towards permanent and stable
housing.
Our Community Ally Program, which began in August 2020 as a pilot,
pairs trained volunteers and individuals experiencing homelessness
to provide opportunities to build connections, navigate community
resources, and work towards personal goals together. This program
provides free community training and works to reduce the stigmas
about homelessness one person at a time.
In April 2020, Whatcom County Health Department opened the
COVID-19 Isolation & Quarantine Facility (IQF) to provide a safe
place for individuals to isolate or quarantine who had no other
options to do so. Road2Home took over this project in October
2021 until April 2022. While we longer operate this facility,
Road2Home was honored to work in collaboration with Whatcom
County to provide this necessary service for our community
during the ongoing pandemic.
Road2Home has quickly grown in order to meet the needs of our
community and continue to be in service of those who need us most.
In 2021, we hired our first employees–our executive director, two
housing case managers to support Gardenview Village, and an ally
program manager to run our volunteer Ally Program. That winter, we
hired a team of temporary employees, bringing our organization
from 0 to 13 paid employees within 8 months’ time. Today,
Road2Home continues to grow rapidly, providing all of the original
programs in addition to severe weather programming with future
projects on the way. Our work is only possible thanks to the
incredible support of our community, volunteers, donors, board
members, and amazing staff!