American Red Cross shelters in Jefferson City, Eldon relocate

The Red Cross will combine the shelters in Jefferson City and Eldon, Missouri. The shelters will be moving to a central location in Russellville.

The shelter at the Eldon Community Center will move to Russellville Baptist Church, 5209 Simpson, Russellville at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The shelter in Eldon will close before that at 10 a.m.

The shelter in Jefferson City at the Thomas Jefferson Middle School will close at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

According to a news release, anyone using the shelters should bring clothing for several days, bedding, toiletries and other essentials.

Read the full release from the American Red Cross below:

Paul Klink is the shelter manager at Thomas Jefferson Middle School where around 25 people are staying prior to the move to Russellville. He says crews with the Red Cross have already been packing up to make the move.

He says the consolidation will make things more efficient for the people staying in the shelters.

“We can service all their needs in one spot instead of having our community partners, which are priceless, and we couldn’t function without, and our services spread out over such a broad area. We can bring people together and service everybody in one spot,” he said.

Klink said it is also more cost-efficient.

“We make sure that we’re being very frugal with the money and consolidating helps a lot,” he said.

Klink said everyone in the shelter has been very grateful and responded well to the move. Crews in Eldon said there were only three people in the shelter on Saturday, and each of them had a place to stay once it closes.