The Newsfeed: New overdose treatment center serves most vulnerable

In mid-August, a new Opioid Recovery and Care Access (ORCA) Center opened on the second floor of the Downtown Emergency Service Center in Seattle.

Paris Jackson
Shannen Ortale

There’s a new opioid recovery center in Seattle, operating out of a location that’s been around for decades serving unhoused residents.

In mid-August, a new Opioid Recovery and Care Access (ORCA) Center opened through the nonprofit Downtown Emergency Service Center on the second floor of the Morrison Hotel in Downtown Seattle.

Starting in 1979, the DESC served as a homeless shelter for up to 200 people.

But the organization says the pandemic led to its closure as providers realized they could not safely keep people in crowded indoor spaces.

Reopening the space as the ORCA Center marks a change in the evolution of homelessness services and the challenges people face. The Center will provide space for overdose recovery, walk-in opioid treatment, counseling and long-term care. It will also provide 24/7 post-overdose stabilization services for up to eight people at a time.

This article was originally published by Cascade PBS.