STEVENS POINT – The warming center at Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church is under new management as the cold season approaches.
The overnight warming center at Frame, 1300 Main St. in Stevens Point, will be under the new management of Stevens Point Community Outreach (SPCO) and its director Michelle Strasser-Goman after several years of management by Evergreen Community Initiatives. Strasser-Goman previously worked for Evergreen before creating SPCO about two and a half months ago.
“We started an outreach of meals and then it got to be, do you have a belt, do you have a Band-Aid,” Strasser-Goman explained to a Stevens Point Journal reporter. As she began taking more donations from family and friends and seeking larger grants, she realized she needed a 501(c)3 nonprofit in order to apply for and accept larger grants, so she created SPCO.
“I applied for 501(c)3 with a possibility of running a shelter someday,” Strasser-Goman said. “Well, I guess the someday came earlier than what I expected but that is totally fine. We’re totally great with it.”
Frame warming center’s hours, dates and more
The warming center at Frame is currently planning to operate the same dates and hours as previous years: from 8:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Nov. 1 to March 31, Strasser-Goman said. The center has paid staff overnight and could potentially extend their morning hours with more donations.
An open house for community members to see the warming shelter and learn about ways to contribute to its success will be held at Frame from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 1.
How would homelessness coalition’s plans for new building impact the warming center?
A new coalition of organizations, calling themselves Partnering Together Portage County (PTPC), is working to construct a new outreach facility for people facing housing insecurity that will bring several community resources, including the warming center, under one roof, Gregg Hansel, PTPC president told a Stevens Point Journal reporter.
Organizations participating in PTPC include SPCO, Salvation Army, One Big Tent, Catholic Charities, Noble Community Clinics, CAP Services, Franciscans Downtown and the city of Stevens Point.
“We’re excited about Partnering Together and all of the collaboration that is happening on that board,” the Rev. Ashley Abraham Hood, pastor at Frame, told a Stevens Point Journal reporter.
While the hope is for the warming center to move to PTPC’s new building, Frame may still offer space for overflow, Hood said. The warming center currently uses the church’s fellowship hall and both church and shelter staff must move and set up tables and cots regularly to meet the needs of people using the space.
“We’re glad the building is being used well, but it doesn’t have showers, (which) is probably the biggest thing,” Hood said. “The new building that they’re working on will be a better space for that use and then Frame will figure out how to share our building in other ways.”
Here’s how you can help
SPCO is gathering resources for the operation of the warming center through the winter, Strasser-Goman said. Donations can be made in various ways including dropping them off in person at Prevail Bank, 5709 Windy Drive; via Paypal at Stevens Point Community Outreach; via Venmo at the tag @SPCO-Inc; or by mail to 7179 Sixth St., Stevens Point, WI 54482. More information can be found at the nonprofit’s Facebook page, Stevens Point Community Outreach.
Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Contact him at epfantz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Warming center at Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church in Stevens Point under new management
Reporting by Erik Pfantz, Stevens Point Journal / Stevens Point Journal
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