The temperatures dropping to winter-like levels is not welcome news to one Northern Michigan homeless shelter whose staff is already concerned about the lack of volunteers.
Safe Harbor of Manistee County might have to close their doors on weekends because they don’t have enough people to staff the shelter.
They said it’s a last resort, but with the increase in need, they are concerned families will be left out in the cold.
Safe Harbor of Manistee County Family Services Director, Jeff Carter, said the shelter can hold about 30 people and they’re already full.
“We have seen a spike of families. And when that happens, we have to have more staffing as well for volunteer help,” said Carter.
Carter said those young families include small children, some as young as just one year-old.
“We’ve seen a lot of young families come in. We’ve seen a spike in the youth population with and that’s ages from anywhere from, I would say youngest when we had was 20 up to then the young population to about 28 years of age,” said Carter.
Carter said operating from 6 at night to 8 in the morning, makes it harder to find volunteers but there is another problem complicating things right now.
“Some of the volunteers are getting older. They’re not able to volunteer as much. We’re seeing them kind of lean out a little bit. So, we’re trying to target some of the younger population,” said Carter.
Stefanie Mallory has been a volunteer at Safe Harbor for more than a year. She said she started volunteering after Carter visited her church and talked about donating time.
“I’ve always cared about homelessness, so it was just one of those things where I’m like, ‘all right, well, now that I know there’s one in Manistee, I can at least see what I can do to help.’ So that was really the eye opener,” said Mallory.
Mallory said she has come close to being homeless herself, it’s hard not to relate. She made some bonds volunteering last year and was ready to do it again this year.
“It was kind of heartbreaking not seeing the same faces, but at the same time it was like, ‘good, they got a house or good, they got an apartment.’ So, we didn’t see them again. But then the heartbreak starts when you see the families rolling in and you see, you know, the little ones even,” said Mallory.
She said it’s alarming they were full within three days of opening back up but it’s why she feels she’s providing a critical service.
“This year seeing, you know, infants up to the older folks come in. And it’s heartbreaking. I wouldn’t want to be in that position, but also, I wouldn’t want to not help,” said Mallory.
The shelter said you do need to pass a background check to volunteer. To contact Safe Harbor of Manistee County, please click here.
