The warming shelter will be at the Salvation Army, 15 S. Plum St. and when temperatures reach 32 degrees or below, it will open 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., Logan Cobbs, Springfield city director of community development said at the Tuesday meeting. Shelter residents will have daily breakfast and dinner, and in single digit temperatures, the shelter will remain open all hours until temperatures go back up.
Because the funds are federal, the city faces the possibility of being unable to seek reimbursement for funds if the government shutdown lasts a long time, City Manager Bryan Heck said.
The Nehemiah Foundation anticipates additional funding sources for the effort.
The shelter will be “low barrier,” meaning people can sign in and stay, said Aaron Roy, flourishing neighborhoods initiative director at the Nehemiah Foundation. Roy heads the Faith Community Crisis Response Team.
“We’re working with the Springfield PD, the fire department, all these different entities; we’re going to really try to make sure that it’s a safe and warm place for everybody,” Roy said. “We also have ... case management that will be on site so that when people come in who some would say are chronically homeless, they don’t want to enter in the shelter, but in these times of cold weather if they start to change their mind, we have case management where we can get them into shelter and more permanent housing, as well as (help with other) needs — mental health needs, physical health needs, those types of things."
Credit: Staff
Credit: Staff
There will be a separate place for women and children from men in the shelter, Roy said.
The Nehemiah Foundation has in recent years run the warming center at the Salvation Army’s gym for the city, but it would only open when temperatures reached single digits.
Last winter, community member Kenneth “Barron” Seelig opened his own warming shelter at the Victory Faith Center near downtown, feeling that the city’s requirements did not meet the community need.
The shelter was completely volunteer-run and funded by Seelig and donations. It provided hot meals and for several weeks was open all day.
Prior to opening the shelter last December, Seelig was publicly calling on the city and other organizations to do something about the growing number of people experiencing homelessness. He became that resource without infrastructure behind him to maintain anything long-term.
More recently, Seelig has continued publicly urging the city to work with him to establish a concrete plan for a winter expected to be colder than average.
“I applaud Aaron (Roy) for stepping up. I applaud the city for stepping up, and at the end of the day, man, let’s all work together and just make sure that we take care of what we can do,” Seelig said at the meeting. “We can set the pace for other communities ... it just does my heart good to know that now we’re addressing it as a group, and I’ll do anything I can to help our homeless shelters.”
Credit: Staff
Credit: Staff
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