POULSBO — Poulsbo Police Chief Ron Harding and Kim Hendrickson, the city’s Housing, Health and Human Services director, will share recent data on arrests and homelessness in Poulsbo at the Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce’s November lunch.
The lunch has moved to Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Gateway Church, 18901 Eighth Ave. NE. Tickets are $25 for chamber members and $45 for nonmembers.
Harding and Hendrickson will explain how the Police Department and Hendrickson’s department, known at City Hall as H3, work together to connect vulnerable residents with services. They will also give updates on the city’s Recovery Resource Center and Recovery Café.
The city’s approach brings together police, the municipal court, recovery services and housing help to reduce reliance on the criminal justice and emergency systems, which the chamber described as costly, while improving outcomes for residents.
Hendrickson helped develop the Police Department’s police navigator program, which pairs officers with behavioral health specialists, and the Poulsbo Fire Department’s CARES program, according to her biography with the University of Washington’s Behavioral Health Crisis Outreach, Response and Education (BHCore) Center, which she co-founded.
How the program works
The city added the Housing, Health and Human Services Department in 2020. It focuses on affordable and supportive housing, low-barrier mental health and addiction services, public health, and help for low-income residents, according to the city.
The North Kitsap Recovery Resource Center opened in fall 2023 at 19351 Eighth Ave. NE, Suite 141, in the Poulsbo Village upper building. It is a free, walk-in center open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. It offers peer support, substance use evaluations and counseling, mental health counseling, help with court requirements, housing and benefits navigation, employment services and showers. Narcan is available outside the center around the clock.
Two doors down, the North Kitsap Recovery Café opened in August 2025. It is a drug- and alcohol-free gathering space with meals served from noon to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. The city says it is the first city-run café in the international Recovery Café Network. Hendrickson said in August that in its first year, more than 350 people had visited, 100 had become members and more than 2,500 meals had been served.
The Police Department also runs a pre-arrest diversion program with the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office. Officers who stop someone suspected of a low-level misdemeanor, such as shoplifting or minor drug possession, can send that person to the Recovery Resource Center instead of arresting them. If the person goes to the center and learns about available services, the case is not sent to prosecutors. If not, it goes to court.
Funding for the center comes from the city, the state Health Care Authority, a Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs grant for arrest and jail alternatives, opioid settlement money and donations, according to the city.
December lunch also moves
The chamber has also moved its December lunch. It will be a joint lunch with the Kingston Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, Dec. 10, at 11:30 a.m.
For lunch tickets, visit poulsbochamber.com or call the chamber at 360-598-2654.
Editor’s note: Ward Media, which publishes West Sound News, is a Platinum-level member of the Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce.
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