“Our board has a list of shelters that use best practices. This is among the reasons that board members with the new shelter are prioritizing the need to get people into stable housing situations. She also says there are concerns about the number of people who may be left homeless when those who have fallen behind in the rent due to the economic effects of the pandemic face eviction. If we have another Polar Vortex we need to look at where are the places in town that people can get into,” Hunt says. “We certainly believe there’s a broader need for a family shelter too and we’re looking at those needs. The Haven offers Inasmuch House as a shelter for women and families, but it has limited capacity.
“There needs to be a barrier-free shelter for women who are going to SAFE Place and other shelters as a result of there not being a barrier-free shelter.” We haven’t had a shelter for women like this,” Hunt says. “We are working on an area for women so we can have a spot for them if they present themselves. There are an estimated 1,200 individuals in Calhoun County identified as homeless, of those about 33 percent are women. Shelter options for women will eventually be provided. Hunt says there is additional space that is being reconfigured and is scheduled to be ready next week for those who must be quarantined. The shelter is available to both men and women from 6 a.m. The East Michigan Avenue shelter is opened 24/7 though the overnight component is available only to men between the hours of 10:30 p.m. Those in need will also be linked to other services that provide permanent housing, employment, and mental health support once the program is fully operational. Services at the city’s newest shelter include meals and showers. “Some could live in a supportive housing environment. “We think that not everybody needs to live in a shelter,” Hunt says. Hunt says Williams be “on loan to get policies and methodologies in place” for the facility while also working on more long-term housing initiatives. Williams will serve as the homeless shelter’s interim director for the first quarter of 2021. The day-to-day operation of the shelter will be handled by Amaya Williams, a Corporate Facilities officer for BCCF and the Kool Center.
is subcontracting with the SHARE Center and the Haven of Rest Ministries, which had been the only overnight shelter for the homeless in Calhoun County with the capacity to serve 100 people. The nonprofit overseeing that shelter – Battle Creek Homeless Shelter Inc.
#HAVEN OF REST MINISTRIES INC FULL#
Those services provided at Full Blast were transitioned into the new homeless shelter. Tents also were set up so that CDC guidelines and social distancing requirements could be met. As part of a plan to provide immediate shelter to those in need, city leaders allowed the SHARE Center to establish a shelter at Full Blast. Local businesses, organizations, and individuals recognized the severity of the homeless situation in Calhoun County and how the pandemic was making an already critical situation even worse. An existing need was made more pressing by the COVID-19 pandemic, Hunt says. The need for shelter space to complement that already existing in the city became obvious earlier this year. She says she hopes those costs will be covered through donations from community members and others. Hunt says the total cost to make the necessary renovations to the 10,4000 square-foot homeless shelter, including the installation of bathrooms and showers, will be about $750,000. The funds to purchase the buildings came from a variety of sources including Calhoun County government, the Downtown Development Authority, BCCF, and private donors. The cost of the two buildings was $305,000. Hunt says options are being discussed for the second building which could be leased out or sold. On Monday, Hunt announced the purchase of that property and another building, on the same parcel of land which has an address of 211 E. The building housing the shelter at 209 E. Since opening its doors in September, the Battle Creek Homeless Shelter has been providing about 55 individuals with a warm and safe place to go during the day and overnight accommodations for 30 males, says Brenda Hunt, President, and CEO with the Battle Creek Community Foundation and a board member with the nonprofit entity that owns and operates the facility. Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Battle Creek series.
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