Shelter opens doors to the homeless

By KATIE SEMINARA

Community members took a walk in the shoes of the homeless Monday morning.

YOUNGSTOWN — The goal of the Cold Weather Emergency Shelter Program is that “no one freezes to death,” said program coordinator Bob Altman.

For 19 years, homeless individuals found comfort and safety during the coldest months of the year through the shelter program, a joint effort among the Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley, the Help Hotline Crisis Center and numerous community organizations.

The program started again on Monday with a walk from the Rescue Mission on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to St. Vincent De- Paul Society Soup Kitchen on Front Street.

“The significance of the walk is to show what homeless individuals go through,” said Altman, who also is the program director of Help Hotline.

Kickoff participants walked a little more than a mile in 30-degree temperatures to grasp what homeless individuals experience on a daily basis.

Homeless individuals walk from the Rescue Mission to other services such as the bus station or soup kitchens, Altman said.

Through the shelter program, individuals can call Help Hotline at (800) 427-3606 and receive transportation to the Rescue Mission.

The shelter program hours are from 9 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., and the program runs from this month to March 31.

Before the program, homeless individuals slept in doorways, abandoned buildings or anywhere that provided warmth.

When found by police there was nowhere for homeless individuals to go, but now police are able to call Help Hotline and get those individuals to the shelter.

“Mahoning County has hidden homeless, and people don’t see that,” Altman said.

“What’s beneficial [about the program] is that the community comes together to work on something others don’t see. We never tell someone there’s no place to stay,” he said.

The Rescue Mission offers 144 sleeping spaces at the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard facility, and 10 extra cots are available for overflow.

During the run of the shelter program, the 54-male dormitory has never been at full capacity, said Ron Starcher, director of client services for the Rescue Mission.

The only time the Rescue Mission will not allow an individual to stay at the facility is if the individual is a clear threat to the others using the program, said executive director the Rev. David Sherrard.

“We want to be able to provide a place that’s warm and safe,” the Rev. Mr. Sherrard said.

When people think of homelessness they generally associate it with single males, but Starcher said more families are in need of assistance. The facility provides separate areas for men, families and women.

The Rescue Mission also networks with other local agencies to get individuals and families out of the “homelessness cycle,” Starcher said.

“We just want to help people get through the down time in their lives,” said Mr. Sherrard, noting that the mission connects individuals to other beneficial services that suit individual needs.

kseminara@vindy.com