Kira Erickson reports from the Island County Board of Health meeting of July 19, 2022.
Since Whidbey Island’s first COVID-19 case was identified on March 10, 2020, Island County Human Services secured and spent over $18.3 million in funding to help meet the needs of residents impacted by the pandemic in various ways.
The presentation document is available at this link: COVID-19 Pandemic Funding and Programming for Island County Human Services (PDF).
They Said It
Commissioner Melanie Bacon referred to the [hotel and shower] program, which [provided 32 community members with 244 nights’ lodging in an Oak Harbor hotel and 295 showers for an unspecified number of unhoused individuals] cost nearly $400,000 in grant money, as “a pretty efficient and amazing use of tax dollars.”
Commissioner Janet St. Clair said she was surprised to hear about the high need for child care. Human Services officials pointed to the immediate shutdown of schools and how this had a big impact on the need.
