Iowa City group again providing temporary winter shelter for homeless

IOWA CITY - Winter still may be a few months away, but officials with Iowa City's Shelter House are preparing to again provide a temporary shelter to help the area homeless population escape the bitter conditions.

As with last year, the first challenge will be locating a suitable location to use as a temporary shelter, said Crissy Canganelli, executive director of Shelter House in Iowa City.

All options will be considered, but the ideal spot would be similar to last year's temporary shelter - an open, easily accessible commercial space to accommodate 25-30 people a night, that is relatively close to Shelter House, 429 Southgate Ave., and other nearby services like Salvation Army and Free Lunch Program on Gilbert Court.

'It's the same scenario,” Canganelli said. 'There's a lot of benefit to that kind of location.”

Last winter, for more than two months, the former Aldi grocery store at 1534 S. Gilbert St. was offered at reduced rent from Hodge Construction and retrofitted to provide a warm place to sleep for more than 120 individuals, at approximately 25 people per night.

Many of those who used the shelter did not meet the requirements to stay at Shelter House.

All told, last year's temporary shelter cost a little more than $60,000, with more than $45,000 in aid coming from Iowa City, Johnson County, United Way of Johnson and Washington Counties and the Community Foundation of Johnson County.

Some funds have already been dedicated to a repeat effort this winter. Johnson County's Board of Supervisors earmarked $15,000 for emergency housing during this year's budgeting process. The funds have been set aside for such a use, but will require formal board approval at a later date.

'We really felt it was a success,” Board Chair Pat Harney said of last year's shelter. 'It was monitored and it was relatively trouble free and we just felt it was a good program and it helps alleviate people going to jail or being out in the cold.”

Earlier this week, Sanctuary Community Church in Coralville donated $10,000 to Shelter House, a gift that was inspired by the temporary shelter efforts last winter.

'Our members were enthusiastic about giving money to an obvious need,” Tom Wassink, one of the church's senior pastors said in a Monday news release. 'And we're glad to support an organization like Shelter House, which has such a great impact on the broader community.”

Additional funds will likely be sought in the near future, Canganelli said.

When plans were announced last fall to create the Aldi shelter, some area business owners expressed concern of negative impacts on nearby businesses, but Canganelli said issues were minimal.

Iowa City Police say the temporary shelter also reduced communitywide vagrancy issues by at least 90 percent.

But most importantly, the shelter helped those in need escape Iowa winter, Canganelli said.

'There's a shared belief that it was highly impactful, it saved lives,” she said.