Stan McCright shows his mother, Ann Bilingsley, artwork that is hanging in the new Maclellan Shelter on Monday. McCright donated the artwork, which is from the Hart Gallery and was created by artists who have experienced homelessness.Chattanooga Community Kitchen case manager Clarissa Silvels recalled phoning agencies and churches after a pregnant woman and her two children sought help this year. The woman had been evicted and had nowhere else to go. The work day was almost over, and hardly anyone Silvels called answered.
She sent the woman and her children back into the streets.
“It broke my heart,” Silvels said.
But this month homeless families will have another option.
The Maclellan Shelter for Families on East 11th Street, which opens to families Dec. 22, held its formal opening ceremony Monday. The 64-bed facility can provide housing for one month for up to 13 families. It operates by first-come, first-served basis. All families must have children, from infants up to age 21.
The city has never had an emergency shelter that can accept entire families, including men, women and children, on the very night they become homeless, Community Kitchen Executive Director Jens Christensen said.
“This will be a great start for families needing a place to turn at the very first moment of homelessness,” he said.
Birds chirped overhead as Christensen spoke from among a host of red balloons wrapped around the new shelter’s railing.
Former City Mayor Ron Littlefield, U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, kitchen case workers and retired kitchen executive director Charlie Hughes were among dozens of people celebrating the occasion.
A father came with his daughter, seeking to stay in the shelter when the doors opened. But shelter officials asked him to come back later this month. Officials said the man was optimistic that a shelter existed where he and his young daughter could remain together.
Silverdale Baptist Church Pastor Tony Walliser led a prayer during the ceremony.
“As we think about this Christmas season we are reminded of the reality that when you came there was no room for you. You were born in a stable,” Walliser said during his prayer. “You were symbolizing to us that you didn’t just come for the rich and powerful, you came to those who are homeless, as well.”
The Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition counted 73 homeless families in the city this year, 198 children and adults. That’s more than three times the 27 homeless families counted in 2010.
The Maclellan Foundation gave $600,000 to build the shelter after underwriting a study to determine the need for emergency shelters for families in Chattanooga. The study showed that at least 70 families needed emergency shelter in the six-month-period from Jan. 15, 2013 to July 15, 2013, according to Christensen, who conducted it.
People talk outside of the new Maclellan Shelter on Monday. Chattanooga Housing Authority executive director Betsy McCright organized the Grateful Gobbler walk fundraising effort this year, and all proceeds from it went to the shelter. The walk brought in $200,000, more than any walk in the Grateful Gobbler’s 15-year history.
Elizabeth Maclellan Lindquist toured the shelter with two of her three children. Lindquist said she could not imagine being without a safe, warm place to rest, and she wants to provide comfort to other families.
“The Lord has blessed our family, and we want to bless others,” she said. “We want to make a difference in our community.”
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yput man@timesfreepress.com ot 423-757-6431.