An emergency shelter desperately is needed to house the homeless population during the winter months, but how to raise the money to fund such a venture is a problem, a city official said.
“We’ve known for a long time that there’s a need for an emergency shelter for men, women and children,” said Richard Beeland, spokesman for Mayor Ron Littlefield. “No one has the funds available.”
For a two-week period at the beginning of the month, temperatures dropped into the teens and forced many homeless people indoors. Shelters across Chattanooga found themselves overloaded with people trying to escape the cold.
BY THE NUMBERS* 1,515: Number of overnight stays at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen during the first 13 days of the year* 287: Number of different people staying at the Community Kitchen during the first 13 days* 116: Average number of overnight visitors per nightSource: Chattanooga Community Kitchen
Charlie Hughes, executive director of the Chattanooga Community Kitchen, said the facility averaged 116 people a night for the first 13 days of 2010. The community kitchen turned into an emergency shelter because shelters at the Salvation Army and Chattanooga Rescue Mission were overburdened, he said.
“We had people sleeping on the floor,” Mr. Hughes said. “It was an emergency in every sense of the word.”
Mr. Hughes said nonprofit organizations had decided beforehand that the Community Kitchen would be used as a shelter. But turning the kitchen into a shelter puts a strain on staffing because of longer hours and finances, he said.
A full-time emergency shelter is needed, he said, but the only way that can happen is if nonprofit agencies, private donors and government together provide the financing.
One nonprofit agency that could handle the role might be the Union Gospel Mission, which operated an emergency shelter in downtown Chattanooga for a number of years, Mr. Hughes said.
“If they could find a place, they could be a major player,” he said.
Jon Rector, executive director of the Union Gospel Mission, said Monday that the organization is looking for a location. He said the mission does not have finances on its own to build or renovate a building.
Mr. Rector said he hopes the cold weather over the last several weeks makes people realize there is a need for an emergency shelter. “I hope that was something that folks said, ‘This is something we need to look at.'”
The old Farmer’s Market was selected by the city to become a homeless complex. Mr. Rector said the mission would open an emergency shelter at the site if there were options.
“We’ll be open to space at the Farmers’ Market if there is space open to us,” he said.
Mr. Beeland said the Farmers’ Market is an ideal spot, but anyone who moves there must have the money needed for renovations or construction.
“The city’s not building a building for anyone,” he said.