On Nov. 21 White Bird Clinic leadership announced the closure of its Front Rooms department after apparent budget cuts.
WBC Front Rooms was one of the primary resources for people who cannot access mainstream services, many of which are unhoused. Workers in the Front Rooms provide mail services, food, water, referrals to service providers, hygiene supplies and cold weather gear.
The closure comes after the announcement that some funding from PacificSource is set to “expire” soon. According to Mike Yoshioka, director of programs at WBC, the PacificSource funding amounted to $1.8 million.
“The PacificSource Per Member Per Month funding, a cornerstone of our budget and accounts for over 20% of our revenue, will expire on Dec. 31,” the press release stated.
Although the announcement was officially made by leadership on Nov. 21, workers have known about the imminent closure since Nov. 13.
Krysta Delfino resigned from White Bird’s Nest Department the day after leadership made the announcement and subsequently sent a press release on Nov. 18.
The press release stated, “The decision has come as a shocking surprise to Front Rooms employees as there was no previous indication of impending closure.”
Some workers in Front Rooms have expressed concerns over the closure and what will happen next.
“A lot of changes have happened around the clinic in the past few years that made us feel uncertain around the workplace,” Delfino said. “The workers feel that management might not understand what it means to work in the front rooms and how difficult the training is.”
Delfino said that Front Room workers function as crisis workers and receptionists, and that they also provide information, triage and give out survival supplies to people in need.
“Who is going to train the new people, and where are these services going to go?” Delfino said.
Delfino also said that workers who rely on rental assistance remain uncertain about what WB will provide in lieu of layoffs.
In the days leading up to the announcement of the Front Rooms closure, Delfino said WB leadership kept the Front Rooms closure a “secret.”
The work environment was primarily democratic with a “consensus-based model,” where WBC workers from different departments would collaborate to make decisions for the company. Delfino said leadership stripped their ability to be a decision-making body, ultimately leading her to resign.
“Instead of trying to improve it or try to put forward a different type of democratic decision-making, management told us we would no longer have the ability to be a decision-making body,” Delfino said.
Delfino said it was a “big blow” to have the closure passed without a democratic consensus.
“The decision was made to take action that would have less harm on the rest of the organization,” Yoshioka said in response.
The closure has been met with disapproval from community members and Front Room workers. A post made by the WB Front Rooms and NEST Union on Instagram was commented on by a number of users expressing their upset over the closure.
Clients have also expressed concern about resources that will potentially be impacted by the closure.
Yoshioka said there will still be mail, food, and “other service operations” available at 341 E. 12th Avenue, the old Front Rooms department building. The difference is there will be a reduction in the hours of operation.
White Bird Clinic Front Rooms has been operating since February 1970.
