Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
With the weather turning colder and winter not that far off, staff and volunteers at Shawano’s only homeless shelter are preparing for a second year of operations.
“We’re gearing up,” said Muffy Culhane, president of Shawano Area Matthew 25, the group that founded the temporary shelter known as SAM’s House.
SAM’s House volunteers and staff, including a part-time executive director being added this year, will be in training for renewed operations on Saturday, Culhane said.
SAM 25 began working to open the shelter in 2013. It was finally opened in November and finished its first year of operations at the end of April.
SAM’s House is open from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. from Nov. 1 to April 30.
The shelter housed 58 people during its first year of operation, including eight children, providing 630 nights of shelter and nearly 1,000 meals.
Culhane said there have been a few tweaks to the shelter’s policies and procedures to “tighten things up,” but the biggest change to the shelter’s operations will be the offering of a voluntary Steps to Success program aimed at identifying problems that homeless visitors are struggling with and providing resources to help address those issues.
There are still plans to eventually add a clinic, and possibly dental services, to serve people who are uninsured.
Meanwhile, fundraising efforts for the shelter’s operations are ongoing.
“It’s a continual process,” Culhane said, “but it’s going well.”
Two fundraising concerts for the shelter are coming up later this month; the first at Zion Lutheran Church in Shawano on Oct. 22 and then at Cotter Creek House on Oct. 23.
“We continue to be grateful to the community for all their support,” Culhane said.
She said some of that support probably comes from the realization that everyone is vulnerable to changes in their lives that could put them in the kind of need that homeless visitors are experiencing.
“It could be any of us,” Culhane said. “It’s always good to keep our eyes open and be educated about their struggles.”
Culhane said she is looking forward to another season of operations at the shelter.
“It will be interesting to see how the second year goes,” she said. “I’m hoping for another safe and successful year.”