The city approved a more than $28,000 agreement at the city commission’s Oct. 21 meeting with the nonprofit’s Faith Community Crisis Response Team, with funds coming from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development‘s Community Development Block Grant.
Volunteer training sessions
The Nehemiah Foundation recently held its first training session for volunteers in the shelter, said Aaron Roy, flourishing neighborhoods initiative director at the Nehemiah Foundation. Roy heads the Faith Community Crisis Response Team.
The next two sessions are scheduled noon to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 14 and 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 21, Roy said. There will be another session in December if the Nehemiah Foundation doesn’t get enough volunteers.
The goal is to get about 180 to 200 volunteers, Roy said, with eight to 12 people on the 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. shift and six to eight on the night shift from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. The shelter will also need volunteers to drop off supplies and donations, he said.
In the past, the Springfield Police Department and Fire Rescue Division have transported people to the shelter as needed, Roy said.
There will be a separate place for women and children from men in the shelter, Roy said previously.
Preparing for the cold
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.
Roy said he is in discussions with a caseworker from the Clark County Public Library about the possibility of the library serving as a warm place for residents of the shelter to go when it closes during the day.
“I’m working with her to ensure she has the proper resources in case management even on site during the day,” Roy said.
Those interested in helping at the shelter can contact Aaron Roy at aaron@nehemiahfoundation.org.
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