Downtown warming shelter opens for season; needs volunteers, donations
By Brandi Makuski
The downtown warming shelter has opened for the 2023-24 season, and the 20-bed facility has already served 26 people in its first 10 days.
Tiffani Mallory, coordinator of the shelter located in the basement of Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1300 Main St., said the need for help is so great that at some point this year, she’s certain the shelter will be forced to turn someone away.
The shelter opened in 2015 with permission from the city to have about a dozen beds. But earlier this year, Mallory went back to the city seeking permission to add more and was approved for 20 beds.
“Last year was our record year; we had 99 people in five months. It was insane,” Mallory told the Metro Wire on Nov. 10. “We haven’t had to turn people away yet but I think we’re going to have to this year, it’s going to happen.”
Mallory said that increase can be interpreted “many different ways,” adding that, “For me, it’s good that we’re able to move that many people. We’re not meant to be a home; we’re an emergency sleeping shelter. Having people in and out faster is what we’re for.”
Mallory is the co-chair of Evergreen Community Initiatives, an umbrella organization that works with a dozen or more local organizations to provide emotional support, housing assistance, job referrals, and more to those in need. One of those partners, she said, includes the Stevens Point Area YMCA, where guests in the warming shelter can take a free shower. Another, Loads of Love, helps shelter guests with laundry services.
“It helps with job-seeking; it gives people confidence when they go to an interview,” Mallory said.
But the shelter, and its related programs, aren’t possible without support from the community. Mallory said the shelter needs volunteers during overnight hours, and to help serve breakfast, and it needs donations to help those who stay there.
“We try to keep moving people out of homelessness all the time,” she said. “But it’s a community problem; we’re already doing more than we said we would do when we started.”
The shelter recently hired a new part-time case manager to work with the homeless — some prefer to call them “unhoused” — on goal-setting. The shelter also celebrates small victories and discusses expectations and personal accountability with each of its guests.
Other than volunteers, the shelter needs the following items:
- Grab and go (prepackaged) meals
- Thin, washing machine-friendly sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows
- Coffee, sugar, sweeteners
- Socks and underwear
- Body wipes, chapstick, cough drops, toothbrushes and toothpaste
- Monetary donations for food, heat, electricity, and other operational expenses
The warming shelter is accessible from the rear parking lot and is open from 8:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. daily. For more information, or to donate, contact Mallory at [email protected] or 715-252-7860, or go to wisconsineci.org.
