A sincere thank you to Milan Puskar Health Right and Sabra United Methodist Church for stepping up to provide this winter’s warming shelter.
The announcement was made at Monday’s committee of the whole meeting. As part of a presentation, Morgantown Community Kitchen Director Jennifer Powell said she and Dani Ludwig will serve as supervisors, while Health Right handles fiscal management, hiring and training. Sabra UMC, on Richwood Avenue, will host and insure the shelter operations.
The overnight shelter will run 6 p.m.-7 a.m. from Dec. 1-March 15 and will be able to hold up to 40 adults. This, plus the 12 beds opening at Bartlett House, should hold the vast majority of people who would need to seek shelter from freezing temperatures. Last year, the warming shelter regularly served around 60 individuals, so this year’s shelter may be short a few beds. However, this is much better than not having a haven from the cold weather at all.
The group is seeking $70,000 to run the shelter (about half of what it cost to run at Hazel’s House of Hope). Assuming they get all of the $30,000 the City of Morgantown has offered for an emergency shelter, plus the $10,000 the Monongalia County Commission has put up, they are still short at least $30,000. (Possibly more, if Bartlett House receives any of that funding for its 12 beds.)
We hope the community and local organizations will help them secure the remainder of that funding.
