FREMONT – After 28 years leading Liberty Center Homeless Shelter, Executive Director Margaret Weisz will retire at the end of May.
Weisz and the Liberty Center have gone through many changes over nearly three decades of operation. Weisz came to the center after a variety of jobs that included working at a grocery store, the post office and a candy factory. She became involved with the homeless shelter in Fremont through her church.
In the 1990s her pastor, Larry Langston (then with the Fremont Christian Church) and two other local clergymen — Bob Moore and Doug Nagle — began looking at long-term options to house the local homeless in hotels for two weeks at a time. After the two weeks passed, the homeless residents were back on the streets, Weisz said.
“They had a community meeting,” she said. “I was involved doing research and was a volunteer.”
The first shelter opened in 1994 on Tiffin Street. “It was a tiny 900-square-foot building we rented from Ruben Rendon,” she said. At the time, Weisz was living in Bellevue doing other jobs before she was asked to join the shelter’s board of directors.
In December 1997, the shelter’s initial director resigned and Weisz took an interim post. She then became executive director in the spring of 1998. Back then, Liberty Center had one room for single men, one room for single women and one room for a family. It could house 12 people.
“It was amazing to see how God put it all together,” Weisz said.
Liberty Center aided 3,460 homeless people since opening
From 1994 to today, Liberty Center has housed and assisted 3,460 people, Weisz said.
In those early years, there were two staff workers — Weisz and another part-time employee. They also relied on the many volunteers who kept the shelter in Fremont running. Volunteers still play a role at the center.
After planning, lots of effort and “blood, sweat and tears,” the homeless shelter moved to its current location at 1421 E. State St. in January 2005, Weisz said. “The community helped with a lot of the renovations.”
The East State Street building needed remodeled
The whole interior of the East State Street building needed to be remodeled. Today, the interior now has multiple bedrooms, a living room, kitchen area, restrooms and offices for staff. The current 4,800-square-foot building can house up to 26 people, but the actual number varies.
Liberty Center also has become far more than just a roof over people’s heads.
“It’s changed so much over the years,” Weisz said. The center offers a variety of programs to aid homeless citizens with re-establishing a life and finding their own home. The goal has become to move people into the shelter and actively aid them to transition out in 90 days, but the deadline is flexible. At the center, residents have to learn skills and share in the housework.
“We have added case management,” Weisz said. Through a private grant from the Lee N. Koenig Legacy Fund, Liberty Center can follow up with people who have moved into a home or rental and help them resolve issues to stay in their housing.
Domestic violence assistance program added
Liberty Center also now has a domestic violence victims advocate program, which was created with aid from the United Way of Sandusky County. Weisz said while that program is housed at Liberty Center, it can assist anyone in the county and the person does not need to be a shelter resident for help.
Policies have also changed on whom the center can house and assist. The center cannot allow in a resident who has had a sex violation, history of violence or arson.
“Anybody else can apply,” Weisz said. “Initially, we could not serve anybody who had a felony, but now we do.”
For several reasons, it is often difficult to help people find a home-rental even after they are aided by the Liberty Center and are back in the workforce.
People who turn to the center often have bad credit, a record of evictions and lack an income. The area also lacks affordable housing, Weisz said.
“Our clientele has changed over the years,” she said. The East State Street building has downstair rooms to house multiple single men and one room to house a person with disabilities. Upstairs, it has a room for six single women to use and three family-sized rooms.
“We are getting calls for more single men,” Weisz said. A few years ago, another homeless shelter opened in Fremont to house single men, and it lasted a couple years. “It did not work out,” Weisz said.
The Liberty Center also deals with clients who have mental health issues, drug and alcohol issues, those wanting to leave a lifestyle and more people with disabilities. The past couple of years, many senior citizens have turned to Liberty Center for help.
Weisz has made personal changes to deal with the demands of the center. During her years as director, she became a grants writer and fundraiser to keep the operation going. In the early years, there were times when there was hardly enough money to keep the center open, she said. Today, the Liberty Center is more financially secure with grants and donations.
Weisz has earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work and received her license as an Independent Social Worker in her past 28 years with the center.
“It’s going to be strange not being here. I know I am going to miss it,” she said.
New Executive Director Jackie Young takes over full-time at the end of May. Weisz will help part-time for a smooth transition. Young is already putting in part-time hours preparing for Weisz’s exit.
“I look forward to seeing how Liberty Center grows,” Weisz said, who is now 68. As she retires, Weisz will spend more time with her four granddaughters. Weisz also plans to remain active in her hobby of birding.
Contact Rebecca Brooks at 419-334-1059.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Weisz to leave the helm of Liberty Center after 28 years
Reporting by Rebecca Brooks, Fremont News-Messenger / Fremont News-Messenger
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