Jefferson City Salvation Army to double occupancy
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Jefferson City Salvation Army says it is doubling the number of beds at its shelter.
According to a Facebook post, the Center of Hope shelter is undergoing a full renovation that will double its capacity from 31 to 62 beds. The project includes adding a new family wing, transitioning open bathroom facilities into private spaces and expanding the food pantry to five times its original size.
According to Melinda Jennings, Director of Development at the Salvation Army, this is a 6.5 million project that has been funded by private donations, government and community grants, and ARPA government funding.
"I'm really, so thankful to be a part of it into the Salvation Army for saying, we're going to do this, we're going to take this on and, the Salvation Army themselves has made a commitment to our campaign as well," said Jennings.
The Salvation Army has been under construction since January and is expected to be complete by the end of December.
Last April, the Jefferson City Task Force on Homelessness called for more shelters, centralized resources and affordable housing. The task force recommended using federal and state grant funding to support coordination efforts and expand staffing.
In July, Jefferson City's Public Works and Planning Committee met to discuss research on safety requirements for shelters.
A memorandum by the Department of Planning and Protective Services said more research was needed because current shelters have no safety regulations.
In an interview with ABC 17, Planning and Protective Services Director Dave Helmick shared that his department is researching local communities, existing shelters, and framework documents. This research will help guide the drafting of a comprehensive shelter safety ordinance.
"But we are working with the groups. We have met with some of them individually. Just to talk about the issues that we're having, and then we're expanding that into this shelter ordinance, which really covers everything from, you know, temporary shelters, emergency shelters, soup kitchens, overnight shelters," said Helmick.
Drafts have been worked out for this ordinance and will be open to public comment in the next coming weeks.
Helmick said that this ordinance would be used to put rules in place, not restrict.
"This isn't really, a we're trying to restrict. It's more if you're going to do it. This is how you can do it safely and efficiently, and this is how to do it," said Helmick
