Homeless shelter opens in former Xenia school
Bridges of Hope seeks volunteers, funding to fully provide for guests.
Bridges of Hope, an emergency shelter, has opened its doors to aid those experiencing homelessness, poverty or addiction.
At 7 p.m. Monday night, five homeless, hungry and cold men walked into what used to be the Simon Kenton elementary school.
Bridges of Hope, an emergency homeless shelter, opened its doors for the first time.
Michael Deis bought the building at 1087 W. Second St. in September, and converted it into Bridges of Hope, a faith-based nonprofit organization committed to helping those experiencing homelessness, poverty or consequences of addiction. It will be open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. nightly.
There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in the gym where the beds are kept.
Tami Cernetic, administrative assistant for Bridges of Hope, said everything went smoothly the first night.
Shelter manager Tracy Chizever said she was happy with the turnout. “Four of the five guys left their things here, so I think they’ll be coming back,” Chizever.
The shelter has 20 beds, but can hold up to 100 people.
Those who stay have access to a bed, clothes and food. Guests get dinner, breakfast and lunch to take with them when they leave the next morning. To get a bed, guests must show valid ID and pass a brief background check.
Bridges of Hope has raised $30,000 of the $200,000 it hopes to raise through April of 2018. While it is operational, Cernetic said, the organization still needs to make repairs to maintain the building.
“We’re going on faith,” Chizever said. “I’m trusting God is going to help keep us open.”
Xenia City Manager Brent Merriman said in a statement that the city is pleased volunteers at Bridges of Hope have stepped up to help the homeless in the community.
“Our city is no different than most cities that have some level of homeless people who may
continued from B1 live on the streets and we are grateful that an experienced, faith-based group like Bridges of Hope was able to partner with us to provide assistance where assistance was needed,” Merriman said.
Chizever said she sees the community’s excitement.
“The community has blessed us beyond imagination,” Chizever said. “This has really been a grassroots effort.”
Bridges of Hope still needs volunteers and funding to fully provide for its guests. Monday night they had four volunteers for the first shift, 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., and three volunteers for the second shift, 1 a.m. through breakfast at 7 a.m.
“We can make do with two or three, but we’d like to get four per shift,” Cernetic said.
Those who would like to volunteer can sign up via the Bridges of Hope Facebook page or website. The organization hopes to hire an additional shelter manager as well.
Bridges of Hope will remain open through April, if all goes smoothly, and will stay open all day on Christmas Day.