Winter weather services for homeless increase in Johnson County

IOWA CITY - As the bitter chill of winter pushes the mercury lower, several Johnson County organizations have come together to expand on local winter homeless shelter services.

The new service, a day winter shelter provided through Johnson County Salvation Army and several local services agencies, adds to the list of programs and emergency shelters being offered to those in need both in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.

Starting Monday, Salvation Army, with support from several agencies in the county's Local Homeless Coordinating Board, will begin offering a winter day shelter from 9 - 11:30 a.m. on weekdays at the Corps center at 1116 S. Gilbert Court. Salvation Army is providing the space, while community volunteers and officials with groups like Shelter House and Domestic Violence Intervention Program staffing the service.

'It's really been a collaboration and we at the Salvation Army could not offer this service without the other agencies' support,” said Rachel Lehmann, Salvation Army social ministries coordinator and Pathway of Hope case manager.

While Salvation Army has hosted a warming center in previous years, but it was often tied to the daily temperature. This is the first time the offering will be provided daily.

Salvation Army also offers a warm space from 4-6 p.m. at the center's weekly free dinner service.

Officials hope to keep the day shelter - which will provide a light breakfast and coffee - in operation as long as Shelter House's temporary overnight shelter is open.

Crissy Canganelli, executive director with Shelter House in Iowa City, said the day shelter should provide a warm place for those in need during the window of time between the 8 a.m. close of Shelter House's temporary overnight shelter and the nearby Free Lunch Program, which starts at 11:30 a.m.

'I would anticipate we will see a very significant crossover with the folks who are using the winter emergency shelter,” Canganelli said.

Canganelli said the temporary shelter, which opened Dec. 14 at 1925 Boyrum St., has served more than 70 unique individuals so far and is on pace to serve more people than the 124 people who used the shelter last year.

'We hit the ground running, we were full pretty much from the first night on,” Canganelli said. 'The location is working well for us.”

The temporary shelter is open to anyone who needs a warm place to stay and typically serves those who do not meet the programming requirements to stay at Shelter House. That said, individuals who stay at the shelter must check their alcohol at the door.

In Cedar Rapids, this winter's Community Overflow Weather Shelter System has been working well, said Phoebe Trepp, executive director of the Willis Dady Emergency Shelter.

The service first provides those in need with extra overflow beds in the city's existing shelters, which host about 100 beds total.

The system uses a windchill chart used to protect children from the cold in determining when the weather is at a 'danger” point, which triggers the overflow system.

Trepp said individuals are first transported to existing shelters where additional beds have been added and, if more space is needed, an overflow site is opened.

'We're not just open every night, it depends on the weather so we've had about 9 occasions that have warranted the triggering of the overflow system,” Trepp said. 'The first step is to fill those overflow beds, once we fill those we trigger the off-site location.”

Of the nine times that the overflow system has been activated, only four have warranted the need to open the off-site location. About 13 people have been served with the program.

Trepp predicted the service to stay open into March and be activated about 60 days.