Of course, the last question is quite concerning to me. Lots of assumptions, no communication that I am aware of. But its all concerning, I sure hope it all works out, wish there had been community discussion on this issue, instead of just an announcement of the changes. You’d think the Homeless Services Consortium would have had a presentation on this.
Are these changes really necessary?
Yes, Dane County does not have an adequate emergency family shelter and we intend to change that. We currently are only able to accommodate 18 people (4-6) families on a drop-in, nightly basis. On average, there are over 20 families or about 70+ people requesting shelter each night. Recently, there were 28 families (98 people) needing shelter for one night. What this means is that more families are denied each night than families we are able to help. Many families have absolutely nowhere else to safely sleep at night if they cannot stay at The Salvation Army. In an attempt to meet the demand and provide a safe place for all families to sleep each night these changes are a step in the right direction.
How long have you been working on these plans?
A long time! We knew that changes were necessary on how Family Shelter operates for a while and have been working on improvements since before the beginning of this year. Shelter staff were notified of the changes several months ago as it affected some jobs because we will no longer have shelter staff on during the day (we were able to make sure that no staff lost their job due to the changes). We started notifying other service providers a quite a few months ago of the changes.
When were Family Shelter residents notified of the changes?
Residents have known about the upcoming changes for a while (months). Word spreads fast! Most residents currently in our 90-day Family Shelter will not be affected as the upcoming changes will take place after their stay has ended. We decided to keep moving families into Family Shelter past August 1 because it makes no sense to have empty rooms for 90 days before we become drop-in only. All families moving in past August 1 have been and will be notified of the changes before moving in.
Why are you starting this change in the winter months?
We are making the changes on November 1 because we will no longer be able to use space at First United Methodist Church for families to stay at night. Without that space, we will be forced to go back to denying the majority of families requesting shelter each night.
If you have 18 families currently staying in your 90-day program and are at capacity in Emergency Family Shelter, how do you plan to manage that?
Many families staying in our Family Shelter do not need shelter every night. Many rooms are empty on our Family Shelter floor each night because families are staying with friends and/or family. On average, each family spends 10-15 nights not in shelter during their stay. Sometimes, families leave shelter without notice to not return leaving their room vacate for a period of time in case they were to return. These empty rooms could have sheltered many families denied from Emergency Family Shelter.
More notably, many families will be accepted in to our rapid re-housing program, DAWNS and will no longer need to access shelter, hopefully ever again.
Will families have to leave during the day?
Yes, all families will have to leave during the day just as the residents in Women’s Shelter. Families currently staying in our Emergency Family Shelter already have to leave during the day and almost all of those staying in our Family Shelter leave for most of the day anyway.
Our hope is no family will be on the streets overnight even though they will have to go somewhere else during the day especially with winter right around the corner. Please note that there are places for families to go during the day but there is absolutely nowhere else for families to go at night if they cannot get in to The Salvation Army.
What about families on the waitlist?
There will be just as many opportunities for families on the housing waitlist as there is now.
Our 90-day program will transition to a rapid re-housing program which we believe will help families be more successful in the long-run.
Families will still have an opportunity to be placed at The Road Home’s or the YWCA’s 90-day shelter program or another housing program.
What about storage?
Storage of personal belongings for those experiencing homelessness is a huge problem in our community not just for those staying at The Salvation Army. Space for storage is extremely limited in our facility because there simply is no room to accommodate all the belongings of all the people who stay here. On average, we have over 120 people stay with us each night.
Currently, families who stay in our Emergency Family Shelter cannot store any personal belongings due to space. When we transition to be solely emergency, drop-in shelter only, we will be providing a large tote for each family to put belongings in for daytime storage. Staff will be working with families to find other storage space such as at the Social Justice Center and St. Vincent de Paul.
