Homeless Shelter Closure Stirs Fear of Winter Crisis

As the temperature breaks and the season creeps toward winter, nonprofits are scrambling to make up for the closure of one of the few homeless shelters in St. Charles County. Without a quick solution, they warn there could be life-threatening consequences.

"We have families and children outside with no emergency shelter option," says Delayna Theissen, who chairs a coalition of nonprofits in St. Charles County and neighboring Lincoln and Warren counties. At last count, there are an estimated 197 children and 416 adults homeless in St. Charles County.

Earlier this year, The Salvation Army announced it would shutter its 20-bed homeless shelter in O'Fallon and convert the facility for other services. The organization blamed the closure on a funding shortfall of $300,000-$800,000.

"That's left a huge gap in what we call 'crisis housing'-immediate shelter for people with nowhere to go," says Theissen. "Salvation Army was the only general-admittance shelter in the county that would take families with kids."

Winter Crisis Looming

When temperatures drop below 20 degrees, a network of churches and charities activate their Emergency Weather Response (EWR) program, letting homeless people spend the night on cots in buildings staffed by volunteers. Theissen says the number of homeless here has doubled in the last two years, putting strain on the volunteer program.

The absence of a dedicated family shelter might be more than they can handle.

"EWR was not designed for families and children, or people with disabilities. It was designed for individual adults who just need to come out of the cold," Theissen says. "Children and disabled people have safety and care needs that we can't necessarily meet with the spaces we have, and now they have nowhere to go. Coming into these winter months, there's a crisis on our hands."

Closing the Service Gap

Before shutting down, Theissen says The Salvation Army shelter helped up to 150 people annually. Without that service, she says people who lose their homes in St. Charles County have to look for help outside the area.

"It's happening every single day," says Theissen. "We have kids in our schools, people who live and work in our county, who we're saying, 'You have to leave (the county) because we don't have any place for you to sleep.'"

Her coalition, the St. Charles, Lincoln & Warren County Continuum of Care, is calling on local governments to help plan a solution before winter cold strikes.

For the immediate future, they need more temporary shelter locations, with volunteers to staff them on bitterly cold nights. Alternatively, financial support could pay for motel rooms.

In the long term, Theissen says governments, nonprofits and community agencies need to work together on options for permanent shelters that can give the growing number of homeless a chance to get back on their feet.

"No one person or agency can solve the problem by themselves," she says. "Our goal is to bring people forward with resources, money, locations, land, that we can bring together in a pot to help solve the issue."

Image courtesy of The Care Service, part of the "In Plain Sight" exhibit. All rights reserved.