Main fundraiser photo

Save Our Sequim - No to Regional Methadone Clinic

Sequim is a small town of 7,108 people on the north shore of Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. As a quiet retirement community with a median age 49% above the WA state average, Sequim is home to the world-famous annual Lavender Festival and a thriving tourism industry. Sequim is also a rural farming community with deep pioneer roots. Many of the same families who founded this town have lived here for generations.

Is this the right place for a 15,000 square foot opioid addiction treatment center, expanding to a 25,000 square foot inpatient psychological hospital and detox center? According to a recent privately conducted poll, 85% of the respondents oppose this project in Sequim. Yet the developers, along with City leaders and County and State politicians, hospitals and health departments are actively thwarting the will of the public with this unprecedented project and threatening the tranquility of this small Northwest Washington town.

The project was announced publicly on May 6, 2019 in the Peninsula Daily News. (ClickHere)  And while the news reports lauded the accomplishments of the developers and presented our district representatives as heroes for supporting the $7.2 million grant, the citizens of Sequim had a different response – one of concern, confusion, and shock.

Sequim is an inappropriate place for a large, regional drug addiction treatment center and inpatient psychiatric ward

·         SOS is not against addicts getting treatment, only that treatment should be done where the addicts are most prevalent, and not far remote from where treatment is needed.

·         According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) most recent 2016 study, Sequim is a NON-OPTIMAL area for such a facility

·         Local treatment facilities already exist and are not filled to capacity, with another new facility opening in fall of 2019. This facility will offer Methadone and is in nearby Port Angeles

·         Excess treatment capacity will trigger a referral process from other parts of Washington state. Bussing programs found in King and Snohomish County provide “medical transportation.”  The Hub and Spoke Project covers Washington State and already functions to refer clients from outside the area. Hopelink provides transportation from Snohomish County and Compass Housing Alliance contracts for the City of Seattle to transport homeless for “reunification” with family and friends. Union Gospel Mission and Salvation Army also have a bus ticket program.

·         Sequim is ill-equipped to handle the influx of a population that statistically is 47% housing challenged, 13% criminally involved, and whose drug use continues at a rate of 45% even while IN treatment (DSHS 2019 Western Washington study)

·         The detrimental effects of this subset and facility are of a serious nature, in particular affecting Sequim’s demographic makeup, and should be carefully considered

·         Supporting this kind of a facility is against the city’s own stated vision for the future of Sequim

Save Our Sequim is a non-Profit 501(c)(4) Social Welfare Organization. All funds are transferred from GoFundMe directly into our organization's bank account at Sound Community Bank in Sequim WA. We have no paid staff. Our group functions 100% on volunteer efforts by a dedicated group of people who want to see Sequim preserved as the lovely town we know.

Our group is very conscientious to use your donations only for efforts directed towards stopping construction of this misguided project. Those expenses include things like legal fees, printing costs, signs and mounting hardware, food, entertainment and supplies for our fundraising activities, insurance and public facility rentals, and other miscellaneous expenses directly related to our legal, advertising, and public education efforts.

Please find more information and factual data supporting our opinion on www.saveoursequim.org

Organizer and beneficiary

Save Our Sequim
Organizer
Sequim, WA
Virginia Sheppard
Beneficiary

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