MORGANTOWN — Morgantown Community Resources – the nonprofit that serves as facilitator and landlord for Hazel’s House of Hope – has brought full-time, private security onto the Scott Avenue campus.
MCR Chair Seth Wilson said the decision was made in response to increased foot and vehicle traffic as well as concerns over possible drug activity on and around the 10.5-acre property that’s home to the 108,000-square-foot social services hub.
“The Board is committed to provide a safe and secure campus for all interested stakeholders. We met with representatives of some of the existing agencies housed on campus as well as members of the Morgantown Police Department and then made the decision to engage private security to further our mission to provide a safe, secure campus,” Wilson said. “The decision was not made as a reaction to any specific incident, but rather as an attempt to proactively address concerns arising from the recent uptick in traffic.”
Catholic Charities West Virginia operates Grace Shelter, the emergency shelter at HHH formerly managed by Bartlett House. Last winter, CCWV also ran a cold-weather shelter out of a separate space within the facility.
CCWV Executive Director Mark Phillips said the increased activity on the property can be traced directly to Morgantown’s camping ban, which took effect at the end of May.
“There’s a situation in Morgantown where because of the camping ban, individuals have sort of been pushed out of the city center, and so we have more people who are experiencing homelessness setting up encampments around the area where Hazel’s House is located just because they can get services there. They can get a hot meal. They can wait and see if a shelter bed is open,” Phillips said. “That creates a situation where sometimes, you know, there are individuals who are breaking the law. They’re living outside, which is illegal. They may be using drugs, and that creates tension in the community around Hazel’s House.”
Asked if Catholic Charities intended to operate a warming shelter this winter, Phillips said those conversations are underway.
If so, it doesn’t sound like it will be within the HHH building.
“If the warming shelter is there again, it only exacerbates the issue, because then you’ve got folks who are staying in the shelter overnight and then really don’t have anywhere to go during the day,” he said. “Hazel’s House might not be the place to also have a day shelter. We’ve got other agencies in Hazel’s House that are working with people who are actively in recovery, and having individuals who might still be using in and out of that space or living right around there in the woods or neighborhoods is tough. So, we’re actively talking about it.”
As for MCR, Wilson confirmed that the board is not aware of any plans for an emergency warming shelter to be operated on campus and hasn’t been approached by any organization wishing to do so.
The reasons for that go beyond the complicating factors explained above.
In the weeks leading up to the implementation of the city’s hotly debated camping ban, Catholic Charities was notified by the city fire marshal’s office that the shelter was over capacity based on how the space is currently configured.
As a result, the shelter that stayed full at 28 beds was reduced to 19.
In response, former shelter director Jessica Thompson said CCWV began looking at expanding into the 5,100 square-feet within HHH that once held the short-lived Hope Hill Sobering Center – the same space that’s served as the emergency warming shelter the last two winters.
Phillips said work to that end continues.
He noted the expansion would likely increase shelter costs by $55,000 to $60,000, primarily due to the staffing needed to cover space on both the first and second floors of the building.
“If it were just an expanded footprint all on one floor, it would be easier to manage staff-wise than something on two floors – just making sure staff are always comfortable and always backed up and able to respond as quickly as possible if an individual would have a physical or mental health crisis,” he said.
As for how the additional space would operate, Phillips said it would likely have a capacity of 15-20 people.
“We’ll have an opportunity to discuss whether we would operate it a little bit differently, or not. We might move to a space where we have a floor exclusively for males and a floor exclusively for females.”
These are not the only changes taking place at Grace Shelter.
Thompson left the shelter in early July to become a case manager for CCWV’s statewide disaster services.
Erin Shelton, with Project Rainbow and Rainbow House, is serving as the Grace Shelter director on an interim basis until a full-time replacement is hired.
Rainbow House is a low-barrier shelter in Monongalia County that prioritizes services for unhoused members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“Erin is helping out in that way since she already knows the landscape of services for folks experiencing homelessness in the Morgantown area,” Phillips said.
The city of Morgantown and Monongalia County are major funding sources for Grace Shelter. Both put up $150,000 in the previous fiscal year to help finance operations. Both approved $125,000 as part of their current operating budgets.
