Yikes, theme this week is getting gruesome.
It’s all coming to an end October 15th because there is no more funding. Shine 608’s (Sarah and Z!) funding for services in the library ran out earlier this month. The funding for this runs out the end of October. The only funding for this program was for the rent and it was run entirely by volunteers and managed to stay open 7 days a week, at times 6am til 10pm. Currently open 7 – 10 am and 4 – 9pm except Tuesdays and Fridays when it is open 8am – 4pm.
I think this amounts to more poor planning and failure to think ahead, but I’m not sure. There are no resolutions or plans to fund this further that I am aware of, but some of these decisions were just made by staff. Who knows what was decided behind the scenes. The original plan was to end this program when the new day center opens, which won’t be anytime soon. So winter is coming, no day center, no storage, no plans. As per usual, 4th year in a row.
For those who can get there, St. Vinny’s has storage out in the same area as the Hospitality House at 1304 Culmen St. which is open 8:30 – 10:30 on Saturday and 3 – 5 on Wednesday. They currently have bins available, but they are sure to go quickly. People need a referral from a homeless service provider and then qualify for up to 2 30-gallon totes and just need to show up during the hours they are open with their written referral. They also have a filing cabinet where they keep peoples important paperwork.
ARGHHH! Sure wish they would have announced this decision either two days earlier so it could have been discussed at Tuesday’s Homeless Issues Committee meeting, or next week, instead of right before a holiday weekend when services are all closed and the minimal support systems out there are non-existent. The feelings of abandonment and that “you don’t matter” are sure to wreak a little extra havoc this weekend. Holidays when services are mostly closed are hard enough, but let’s just kick people one more time. 🙁
