Before the Snow Began to Stick...

Dear Friends,
Friday nights are always interesting at our shelter.  Last night we had dinner bags provided by the Spicer family and salad provided by a donation brought in by our Kenton County jailer, Terry Carl.  Everyone arrived in our shelter at 6:00p.m. with wet coats and feet and were glad to sit down to a meal, hot coffee and good company. 

At 7:00 p.m. another guest arrived to pick up his belongings as he graduated from our shelter and moved into his own apartment!  Today, I meet the landlord to pay $120.00 towards his security deposit...and to verify that he already paid the landlord February's rent.  Our shelter gave him some intial food, the blanket from his spot on the floor and a hug good bye.  We wish him well and continued success with his recovery from homelessness.  Tonight, I head to St. Timothy's church in Union to speak with the parish that has given us a $3,000.00 grant to assist individuals like our new graduate! 

At 8:00 p.m. three more guests arrived, soaked from head to toe. And right before the snow began to stick, our local hospital called to discharge a man from the E.R. who had no where to go.   Our new guest, 58 years of age, arrived in our door with a walker.  Thankfully, we had a bed (rather than a mat on the floor) for our new guest.  Thanks to all of you for your continued support of our shelter.  I hope these stories help convey the continued need we have in our comunity and that we couldn't do it without all of you.

Blessings,
Rachael W.
Shelter Operations Manager

Shelter Happenings...

Dear Friends,
This blog would be a novel if I tried to report all the happenings of our shelter.  At least once every other week, I try to give a brief summary so that you can understand  the challenges and successes of our guests and their plight to recovery from homelessness. 

Let's start with the good news!  First, we have had more people move out of our shelter into a better living situation.  Two young people moved into a weekly motel, one man moved into a sober living apartment, another guest moved into a personal care home and one of our women was able to move into the Welcome House shelter.  On Friday we are expecting one guest who was recently hired on full time at a job, to move into his own apartment!  I am also happy to report that we have seven people who have become employment in the last two weeks...we do "wake-ups" at 5:00a.m. so they guests are on the bus by 6:00a.m. 

We continue to see our guests struggle with medical crisis.  This week, a man came into our shelter who required dialysis, three times a week and yet no money for transportation.  One of our former guests from early January, suffered a massive heart attack and is currently in ICU.  Another guest had heart surgery two days ago.  Last night, we had to call the paramedics to come and get a guest who's blood sugar had nosed-dived down to a dangerous level.  And we have two guests with on-going medical problems (orthopedic and respiratory) who need outpatient treatment who lack transportation. 

Our shelter would be grateful for any TANK bus tickets you could donate.  We received a wonderful donation of bus tickets at Christmas which has really assisted our guests to get to work over the last two weeks but I am running low.

Thanks for all that you continue to do.

Rachael W.
Shelter Operations Manager 

Spreading the good news about our shelter...

Dear Friends,We've had a few great articles in the Kenton County Recorder and the Enquirer over the last two days.  Below are the links to the articles.  Our shelter is embarking upon a summer pilot project that would assist 15 individuals with transitional shelter until they obtain a permanent home of their own.  We now provide life-saving shelter from the cold but you've also seen how many of our guests use our shelter as a transition back into permanent housing.  We want to continue to reduce chronic homelessness by providing a safe place while someone works to get back on their feet.  We welcome all feedback, so please email your comments to nkecs@yahoo.com
http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20100130/NEWS0103/1310351/

http://issuu.com/cincinnati/docs/kenton-community-recorder-012810?viewMode=magazine&mode=embed

Rachael W.
Shelter Operations Manager

A Few Words of Wisdom from a Guest.

Dear Friends,

The following is a submission from a guest of our shelter...

My name is Jay and I am a "guest" at the Cold Shelter.  This is my first time homeless and I was very surprised upon coming here.  Not for all the obvious reasons, but rather the good ones.  I always thought of the homeless as the drunken, drug addicted and mentally ill people that are portrayed on television.  That is not the case.  The majority of the people here are just like you and I.  Most are very intelligent people (like myself) who are just "down on their luck".  With the economy being the way it's been, I tend to see humans from all walks of life pass through these doors.  Some just stay a day or two until they are able to contact loved ones, and some are here for the duration of the winter season.  No matter the length of time, most leave footprints in the sand that don't soon fade away.  During my time here, I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the most caring, compassionate and vulnerable souls.  These men and women have very little, but share and give so much amongst themselves to make sure that we are all on an even playing field.  We share stories, employment leads, food, money and most of all, HOPE.  Inspiration and worlds of encouragement are often heard through the halls and expressed in our men's support group.  The workers and volunteers help us in anyway they can, and often act as "guidance counselors" in times of crisis.  There is an unspoken code here that simply says, "Until you get back home, We are your family".  And as crazy as that may sound at least for now, this is my family.  We look out for one another and help each other to survive day by day by day.  I thank God every day for a place like this.  It may not be my first choice, but it could be so much worse.  God bless the homeless.  

Many Thanks...

Dear Friends,
I'm sure some of you have noticed that are total number served continues to go up at a rapid rate.  Here at the cold shelter we are seeing new people every night and I'm a little shocked at how many.  Perhaps we are more well known and so people know where to find us.  Perhaps more Kentuckians are becoming homeless due to the economy and need our help.  Each time a new person comes in, they fill out one piece of paper and we make a copy of their ID.  The piece of paper they fill out, gives them information about our Code of Conduct and provides a space for them to list their emergency contact.  By taking a copy of their picture ID, I'm able to provide general statistics about where people come from, their age, gender and race.  I'd like to give a big thank you to Kim P. who gives about two hours a week to enter data from our cold shelter and helps make my life a little easier.  She was just here today which is why I know we have now served 170 people!

Over the last week, Candy W., Lakeside Presbyterian Church, Eastside Neighborhood Association, Summit Country Day, All Saints Church, St. Joseph Cold Spring school and Judy H. all donated dinner bags.  This past week three of our guests and myself went to St. Joseph elementary school in Cold Spring and talked with kids about homelessness and the cold shelter.  They made a great donation of gloves and hats.  And, another angel, Charlie W. brought him more new boots for our guests.  

Rachael W.
Shelter Operations Manager