Strategies to End Homelessness announces $900,000 funding gap remains in “Bring It Home” campaign
CINCINNATI, OH – December 14, 2015 – After five years of makeshift quarters, the City of Cincinnati’s homeless shelter system now has a permanent home for the Winter Shelter and the capacity to serve everyone in need during the coldest months of the winter. Funded by the City of Cincinnati and operated by Shelterhouse (formerly the Drop Inn Center), The Barron and Rebecca Barron Center is the new permanent home for the city’s Winter Shelter. The Barron Center is located at 411 Gest Street.
The Winter Shelter will open tomorrow, Tuesday, December 15, and will remain open through February, serving an additional 100+ homeless adults per night as demand for shelter is highest during the winter months. With temperatures expected to drop into the 20s by the weekend, Winter Shelter capacity will open just as it is needed.
Over the years, Strategies to End Homelessness, Shelterhouse, homeless services providers and advocates have worked together to add capacity to the local system. In addition to having a safe, warm place to sleep, our community’s most vulnerable homeless citizens now have improved access to case management support services designed to help move them out of homelessness.
A cornerstone of the Homeless to Homes Plan is improving our local emergency shelter system with five service-enriched facilities. Strategies to End Homelessness announced plans for the “Bring It Home” community-wide fundraising campaign in June to raise the final $2.7 million needed to complete construction of the Homeless to Homes shelters.
“We have been collaborating to transform our homeless shelter system for the past five years, and we have accomplished what seemed unimaginable not that long ago,” said Kevin Finn, president and CEO of Strategies to End Homelessness. “Now we’re in the homestretch with about $900,000 left to raise in the “Bring It Home” campaign, which will close the funding gap for capital expenses, including at the new Barron Center,” he added.
In addition to the Winter Shelter, churches and other groups also sometimes open their doors to homeless people to ensure everyone has a safe, warm place to sleep. This winter, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, which previously allowed Shelterhouse to make use of its building as a location for the Winter Shelter, will be allowing people to once again sleep in their building when the weather is at its worst.
Donations to support additional Winter Shelter capacity can be made at www.WinterShelterCincy.org.
Donations to support the “Bring It Home” capital campaign can be made to Strategies to End Homelessness by visiting www.StrategiesToEndHomelessness.org or by calling 513.263.2785.
