Iowa City’s temporary homeless shelter opens just in time for weather storm

IOWA CITY - With the arrival of more snow and subzero temperatures, Iowa City's temporary homeless shelter appears to be opening just in time.

The shelter, retrofitted in the former Aldi grocery store at 1534 S. Gilbert St., was slated to open Monday night and will offer a warm place to sleep for anyone without a home for the next two months.

Crissy Canganelli, executive director of Shelter House, said Monday staffers and volunteers were setting up cots and tables in preparation for the 5 p.m. opening as a temporary homeless shelter.

'We've been lucky so far this winter that the bitter weather hasn't hit,” she said. 'I'm glad we didn't have to push that luck any further. 'This is the week that it's really going to hit. The fact that we can get people in tonight is very important.”

Canganelli said the temporary shelter was made possible with financial support from Iowa City, Johnson County, United Way of Johnson and Washington Counties and the Community Foundation of Johnson County as well as Hodge Construction, which offered to provide the former Aldi building at a reduced lease.

The shelter cost about $67,000 to open. Two Shelter House employees will staff the shelter from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily.

Canganelli said it's difficult to say how many people will take advantage of the temporary shelter so spreading the word is important, which has included efforts by Iowa City Police Department's downtown liaison officer David Schwindt, who has been sharing information with area service agencies.

As a temporary service, individuals who have been banned from Shelter House will not be turned away, but they will be expected to follow the rules.

'This is kind of a second-chance option for people who may not have been able to make it work at Shelter House,” Schwindt said. 'There is that expectation that you treat the place, the staff and other visitors with respect.”

Schwindt said the temporary shelter has the potential to benefit police by reducing calls where officers can find themselves facing a tough situation when someone without a place to stay finds themselves trespassing on another's property.

'Now the officers will have a place to direct a person to go to and get the shelter they need,” he said.

Plans for the shelter began after last winter's frigid temperatures forced between 20 to 25 people to sleep in the Iowa City City Hall lobby each night.In mid-December, 37 businesses and property owners submitted a petition to the council to refrain from funding the shelter with concerns that an increased homeless population might negatively affect their businesses.

Since the petition was submitted, several business owners - including McNutt Gallery owner Jeff McNutt, Mark Paterno with Marco's Taxi and Justin Rios and Steve Jacob with Diamond Vogel - have requested their names and businesses be removed from the petition.