Thanks for your response, Jan. I hope you don't mind but I'm going to place my response to your post on the Mpls. Issues list as there is some good information here that others may find useful in addition to that already provided by others.
Because of the late hour when I responded to your original post I omitted some additional details about the program in St. Paul. And perhaps I didn't stress it enough but each church makes a commitment of only one month. Thus, a family that needed shelter at the end of one month might find themselves shuttled to another church's facilities at the beginning of the next month. This is why this solution only works for overflow from existing shelters rather than a longer-term housing solution for families who seek shelter say for several months or until they can get back on their feet. However, it really works as a solution for overflow housing, especially during the coldest months of the year. The program has been operating for a number of years and it is very well organized/coordinated. Its success depends on a strong commitment by each congregation/meeting -- usually a core team of volunteers who act as liaison to the program's coordinator and handle the scheduling of volunteers for the Monday through Friday work shifts at their church. The program helps each congregation with the expense of providing low-cost cots for the overnight folks. Each congregation takes responsibility for providing an evening snack as well as breakfast the next morning. Transportation for getting the families to and from the shelters is arranged by the program's coordinator. Each congregation gets a program manual with detailed operations instructions and information to deal with just about every situation. I believe that this is a program sponsored by the St. Paul Area Council of Churches. The following is information taken from their website ( http://www.spacc.com ): Project Home The following opportunities are available for Project Home, our family shelter program. To participate, please contact Sara at (651) 646-8805, ext. 18 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Become a partner congregation Partner congregations dedicate themselves to helping homeless families for one week and provide two shelter hosts for each evening (5:30 to 8:30 p.m.) and two for each overnight (8 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. on weekdays or 8 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. on weekends). Organize donations Help sort donations such as hats and mittens, hygiene items, bedding, etc. Office hours only. Donate supplies to families Help families staying in Project Home by collecting supplies such as linens, clothes and toiletries through the Bundles of Hope project. Contact Peg at (651) 646-8805, ext. 20 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a list of upcoming needs and to register. -------------------------------------------------------------- Another contact is a St. Paul woman (of course!), Margaret Lovejoy (651-225-5624), who has been running a shelter program called, The Family Place, until recently, out of Central Methodist Church, downtown St. Paul. I say "until recently," because her program was shut down by the state a few months ago. The state's complaint, as I heard it, was that she was allowing some of the shelter's children to sleep on the floor next to their families without a cot. Uff da! This may be more information than you need but perhaps you know of someone in the faith community in Minneapolis who is willing to spearhead a program such as the St. Paul Area Council of Churches is doing. Though it doesn't address long-term solutions to the problems of homelessness, I know from first-hand experience that the families being provided with this sort of short-term overflow shelter are VERY appreciative of our efforts. Thanks for caring enough to ask the tough questions! Jenny -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2004 8:23 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Mpls] Bitter Cold and Full Homeless Shelters Hi Jenny, My hat is off to the churches in St. Paul. That is exactly the type of program I envisioned could be done. You are right about the excess capacity - just in public buildings we have - that could be used on an emergency basis. I certainly don't think a church could sustain an ongoing program for long, but for those bitterly cold nights, volunteers could do it with a little help from a professional. Jan Del Calzo REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
