Glade Run shelter warming up for people facing homelessness as winter weather closes in
Calvary Church’s Grace Wellness Center at 123 E. Diamond St., which opened to people in need of shelter on Dec. 5, will work to meet the test of approaching winter storms.
The center, operated by Glade Run Lutheran Services, operates from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. and will remain open until March 31.
First-time visitors at the center would first need to receive assessments at the Center for Community Resources at 212 to 214 S. Main St., Glade Run president and CEO Stephen T. Green has said. Those assessments would serve both to gather information about every individual’s unique situation and ensure a mutual understanding of the warming center’s rules.
Assessed visitors can then receive vouchers that provide them access to the site overnight.
It’s possible the center will soon have a role in saving lives, given the severity of looming weather events. AccuWeather projects temperatures that drop below 0 degrees this evening and tomorrow evening, with wind speeds that exceed 40 mph. Impacts from this and a nationwide winter storm the National Weather Service forecasts this week underscore the value of crucial services like the wellness center.
“We’re seeing an uptick in people utilizing the warming center,” Green said. “I’m conflicted in terms of how I feel about that. You want it to be used, and you want people to feel comfortable in coming, but at the same time, you wish you didn’t need it, right?”
Five people required shelter in the overnight warming center Tuesday night, which shows the demand of the ongoing need, Green said. Usually the center averages one or two visitors a night, he said.
Support from other segments of the community is helping to manage the need that exists too, he said.
“What I’m being told is that people are pretty generous with opening up their doors and letting relatives or loved ones stay overnight with them up to the holidays,” he said. “And after the holidays, we will really experience — based on weather, based on generosity of people — we’ll see an uptick after the holidays.
The holiday spirit sort of wears off after Christmas, Green said.
“I think we’re pretty well prepared to meet the needs of anyone trying to access this overnight warming center,” Green said. “I think our preparation paid off in terms of our policies, procedures and operation manual. Again, we just want to create a safe and warm, inviting place for people to be if they find themselves in this situation.”
The center has prepared for any surge in need with ample food and linen, and 20 cots in total, Green said.
A Glade Run worker, paid between $15 and $17 hourly, and a volunteer operate the site overnight, Green has said. Glade Run staffs the site with caseworkers from other organizations in the morning who offer support too, he said.
“This is the first year of operation,” Green said. “This year, we’re working towards collecting a lot of data, so that we know what this looks like next year. We know how to prepare. We can make improvements. But, more than anything, we’re learning about what does homelessness overflow look like and the trends that we might see come next.”
“I always knew that Butler County was a caring, compassionate county, but based on all the people who have reached out, asked how they could help, and all the people who have volunteered to work,” Green said, “the warming center has really reinforced that idea that our county is really special in regards to caring about one another.”
