Press

The Rev. Cindy Muse was recently welcomed to her new position as pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church.

The Winter Hospitality Overflow, or WHO, operates two emergency shelters that are set to open Nov. 1 to shield the homeless from these harsh situations. They will be open every night through the end of March.

Local youth mentor, Ellen Krane of the Spirit Lake District of the Cascade Pacific Council, Boy Scouts of America, was presented the prestigious Silver Beaver volunteerism award March 30 at a special virtual recognition ceremony in her honor.

In a way, it’s still winter — at least when it comes to the seasonal shelter system. Some wintertime shelter facilities in Clark County remain open due to COVID-19. The Winter Hospitality Overflow shelter serving families at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Orchards is open but at reduced capacity to promote social distancing.

The Winter Hospitality Overflow (WHO) and the Satellite Overflow Shelters (SOS) are now open to provide additional nightly shelter space in Clark County seven nights per week for people in need of temporary housing.

St. Andrew Lutheran Church lost its leader, the affable Rev. Jim Stender. Described as a warm, thoughtful man who radiated love, he was a stalwart advocate for the homeless and disadvantaged. Stender, who hailed from Bellingham, became pastor of the Orchards-area church in 1998. He died Thursday night of a heart attack. He was 67.

Prop 1, the Affordable Housing property tax levy, will directly benefit these children and begin addressing the severe shortage of affordable housing. This is not a new, untried approach, since 471 cities have already established similar funds. Gandhi said, “The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members.” We have a chance to do that by approving an Affordable Housing Fund.

In late August, 82 volunteers — including families from La Center and Felida, congregants of St. Paul Lutheran Church and St. Andrew Lutheran Church and about 30 missionaries and other volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — helped scrape loose paint and put primer on the resulting bare wood of the exterior walls of the buildings at St. Paul’s housing the Winter Hospitality Outreach.

John Keller took on the renovation for the Fort Vancouver National Trust as his Eagle Scout project. Keller is a member of Troop 648, based at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Orchards.

The Winds and Strings Christian Celtic Band drew more than 350 people to three benefit concerts this month that raised about $5,100 for the homeless charity Winter Hospitality Overflow. Along with a $1,000 donation match from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, the money brought in is enough to help provide 677 warm nights for families at the shelter, according to event organizer David Britton.

A road show about the “Islamophobia industry” is making its final stop at a Vancouver church. Faith Over Fear addresses “the Islamophobia industry, the threat it poses to our nation and civil liberties, and what we can do about it together,” according to a news release.

Dave Halstead and Lilly Boulianne of Vancouver and Edward Collister and Solange Cyr of Quebec City, Canada, hope to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness as they pedal their way from Seaside, Ore. to Boston. As members of St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Halstead and Boulianne are well-aware that homelessness is a major problem and that there is a lack of affordable housing.

We have separate jobs, political affiliations and attend different churches, noted Sister Beth Sermet of the Islamic Society of Southwest Washington. “So, how can we become more together?” she asked the dozens of people gathered Thursday at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Vancouver for the annual interfaith prayer breakfast.

We would like to add to the record that Laurie has had an equally huge impact on the lives of hundreds of Boy Scouts from Troop 648 at St. Andrew Lutheran Church over the last decade. Laurie served as advancement coordinator and communications director for our troop for many years, some of which were after her son Alec had already achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and aged out. Laurie always served with a smile, and we are so grateful for all she did on our behalf.

Faith groups are working together on possible solutions to the dwindling supply of affordable housing in Clark County, where vacancy rates hover around 2 percent. It started a few weekends ago at St. Andrew Lutheran Church off Northeast Gher Road, where people were called to an interfaith workshop.

During the last six years of Denny’s life, he accomplished some of his greatest work. He became very passionate about the subject of Homelessness and volunteered to work with Winter Hospitality Overflow (WHO). This interaction along with the Courtyard Village evictions prompted him to formulate a Homelessness Task Force. He was able to coordinate this with Pastor Jim Stender, of St. Andrew Lutheran Church.