The only warming center available on South Whidbey finally opened Thursday, a year after announcing its intention to open and in the midst of widespread power outages across Whidbey Island.

A wind storm knocked out power to most of South Whidbey on Tuesday, Nov. 17, with some areas restored as early as Wednesday morning and others not expected to be back online until Saturday, Nov. 21. The outage came right as temperatures dropped below 36 degrees for the first time this season, prompting the South Whidbey Homeless Coalition to open the South Whidbey Warming Center.

“Two years ago before the coalition started, I had a friend say, ‘Someone ought to do something,’” said warming center coordinator Susan Gilles. “One morning I woke up and realized I was one of the someones.”

Operated through the South Whidbey Homeless Coalition at the Langley United Methodist Church, the warming center joins another of the coalition’s programs offered in Langley. The House of Hope opened earlier this year for families facing a housing crisis. Up to 10 adults, age 18 and older, can sleep in a warmed room for the night, get a hot evening meal and a cold breakfast.

Gilles said the warming center had to be scrapped earlier this year despite the intent to open because it needed insurance and contracts to avoid some potential liability.

It also gave the coalition, which only formed in July 2014, time to organize and better prepare for the warming center’s launch.

“There was just so much to do,” Gilles said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon.

Rebooted, retooled and better prepared, the South Whidbey Warming Center had its first operational night Thursday. Gilles and other volunteers spent hours preparing food for the center’s first night of guests — the term for people utilizing the warming center. Volunteers staffing the center are called hosts, Gilles said.

Any night from now until March when the temperature drops below 36 degrees, the center will be open at 6 p.m. Doors will be locked at 8 p.m., so anyone who wants to leave cannot get back in, and the center will close at 8 a.m.

According to Gilles and Langley City Councilman Bruce Allen, the weather forecast predicts regular lows of 36-degree into December. Allen is a volunteer for the warming center, and he regularly informed the city council of the progress of the center after it officially started Nov. 1, though it did not open until the temperatures dropped this week.

Other cities across the country are struggling to address homelessness. In Everett, the issue was contentious enough to have the council reject it once before approving an anti-panhandling ordinance in October. Criticized as a criminalization of homelessness in some areas, Langley has not implemented any such policy, or encouraged its police department to enforce loitering laws that would push out vagrants or the homeless.

Instead, the city worked with the South Whidbey Homeless Coalition to ensure its House of Hope, a home for homeless families, would be safe and well served. Allen said the city doesn’t need to consider creating policies about homelessness, either protecting initiatives that support people without a roof over their heads or booting them out of town.

“You don’t see panhandlers on the street in Langley at all,” he said. “You see homeless people walking around, but they don’t panhandle. We’re not a big city, this is small, hometown grown.”

Allen said he acknowledged the split sentiment around providing the homeless a place to sleep in town. There’s a camp that wants to allow for it, a group that doesn’t, and a segment that wants a place but not next door to their home or business.

“First thing you hear is not in my back yard,” said Allen, who also said people in Langley need to give the warming center on Anthes Avenue a chance to thrive before trying to run it out of town.

“I don’t think the warming center is going to cause anybody any trouble at all,” he added.

In past city council meetings, Allen’s discussion of the warming center was met with approval from the council members and staff. He confirmed that it has widespread support in city hall, as the city pursues ways of making Langley affordable through housing policies and zoning.

“The aim of our city is to provide for everybody and make it a home for everybody,” Allen said. “No matter how rich or poor … we’re here to make you part of the city.”

As a matter of practice, the warming center will be staffed by three volunteers at all times. The Langley Police Department has worked with the South Whidbey Homeless Coalition to set up protocols in case of an unruly guest or other incident. Any time the center is opened, the department is notified in case an emergency call comes over the radio.

Volunteers are needed to bolster the existing list of 23, 18 of whom are signed up as overnight hosts. The other five are responsible for set up and food preparation. Gilles said male volunteers particularly are needed. All volunteers are required to undergo a Washington state background check. To help, call Gilles at 360-579-1341 or food preparation coordinator Gail Pierce at 360-221-6189.