Homeless Shelter, City Assist Community During Cold Temps
Posted
Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Temperatures in the teens and single digits this week have caused the city to open a warming station and the local homeless shelter, Fellowship Missions, to extend its hours. Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer announced a warming center will be set up today and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Center Lake Pavilion, 119 E. Canal St. Beginning Monday, Fellowship Missions began being open 24/7 and not having checkout hours due to the cold, according to Eric Lane, Fellowship Missions director. The shelter is at 1520 E. Winona Ave., and has been open since September housing men, women and children. “It’s about keeping people and kids safe in this cold weather,” Lane said. Lane said if the beds fill up, those who stay at the shelter will be put on cots. The shelter also has a partnership with Fort Wayne Rescue Mission to send those who need shelter to if there is not room at Fellowship Missions. Those who stay at Fellowship Missions get three meals a day, showers, and can enter into a self-sufficiency program to assist them with job skills. The men’s shelter is at capacity with 23 men staying there Wednesday night and 22 beds available so one man slept on a cot. A man arrived at the shelter Tuesday night and said he was glad to have a place to stay. He had moved to Warsaw from Detroit two years ago for a job and got laid off. He had been staying with friends who have children and decided he needed to stay at the shelter. “This is the only place I have to go. I didn’t know where I would be, and when I came here they treated me as equally as anyone else and this is a beautiful place,” he said. The shelter housed eight children and 17 women Wednesday night, and can accommodate 27. A Wabash woman has been staying at the shelter since the beginning of November with her husband and 6- month-old and 5-year-old sons. A friend at her church in Wabash informed her about the shelter in Warsaw after her husband got laid off. They had been living with friends and the landlord said her family could not live there anymore. “It means everything for me to have a safe place for me, my husband and kids to sleep,” she said. Those who would like to donate monetarily can do so by sending checks to Fellowship Missions, P.O. Box 382 Winona Lake IN 46590. People also can donate hygiene products for men, women and children. Volunteers also are needed for food preparation and serving, check-in and administrative assistance. Visit fellowshipmissions.net for more information.
