Project Hope receives grant

Emergency shelter remains open with increased hours of service to respond to COVID-19 pandemic

Project Hope for the Homeless has recently been awarded a combined $123,850 in grant funding from several organizations in efforts to expand services in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Painesville-based adult shelter is open an additional six hours during the week, allowing guests to stay from 1 p.m. to 7 a.m., and open an additional 12 hours each day on the weekends, allowing guests to stay 24 hours.

The Families Moving Forward program, operating in a separate wing of the facility, at 25 Freedom Road, is open 24 hours per day for families with children after operational hours were expanded by six hours during weekdays and 12 hours on weekends.

Because of Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines being followed that include social distancing, there is a limit of 30 beds at the shelter. Overflow of up to 20 guests are being served off-site through short-term hotel stays.

“Our community was so on top of this response, and it says so much about Lake County and Northeast Ohio leadership overall.” — Judy Burr

According to Project Hope for the Homeless, the expansion of operation was made possible with the support of the community and the following grantors:

• Avery Dennison Foundation: $3,000

• Cleveland Foundation – Lake-Geauga Fund: $22,000

• Coalition of Housing and Homelessness in Ohio: $10,000

• Emergency Shelter Fund (Ohio Housing Finance Agency) – Region 5: $24,150

• Greater Cleveland Covid-19 Response Fund: $22,000

• Lake County Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services Board in partnership with Lifeline: $22,000

• The Lubrizol Foundation: $10,000

• United Way Emergency Relief Fund: $10,700

“The plans for the COVID-19 funds are to keep us operational 24/7 until the governor’s orders change for social distancing, and to provide hotel stays for some of the beds to be off-site,” said Executive Director Judy Burr. “The funds also ensure our facility remains very clean, and we are stocked with personal protective equipment, specifically masks and gloves.

“Our community was so on top of this response, and it says so much about Lake County and Northeast Ohio leadership overall. The grantor(s) were approaching our organization in the majority of cases, so we did not have to reach out.”

Burr noted the shelter also has plans to request special funds — Community Block Grant Cares Act funding — from the Lake County commissioners.

“We are also considering requesting Federal Emergency Management Agency funding if FEMA headquarters decide to fund non-congregate shelters,” she said. “They are making a determination in the upcoming weeks on that issue.”

In the unlikely event any of the funds go unused, Burr added, they would be returned to the grantor(s) or requested to be used for normal hours of operation in recovery of the crisis.

In addition to the grant, the Mentor Rotary Club provided 1,000 masks and has other personal protection equipment should the shelter require it. The Lake County Job and Family Services Department also supplied disposable thermometers for daily use.

“I believe we are extremely blessed in Lake County to have such exceptional partners,” Burr said. “And I agree with one of the children in the shelter who said, ‘This is a great place because of all the interesting things people are trying to do to help us.’ I could not say it better myself.

“I am very proud of the way our agency has handled this crisis,” she added. “All of our social workers, staff and administration, approximately 35, as well as our trustees, have joined together to make things flow efficiently. We are blessed that we are surrounded by about 30 to 40 leaders in the community that run to the crisis not away from it.”

Project Hope for the Homeless also continues to shelter three seniors 24 hours per day at our off-site Hope House.

As an organization, the shelter follows CDC guidelines, including increased procedures for disinfecting; reminding guests, staff and volunteers to wash hands continually; and recently conducting a deep cleaning of the facility by a vendor.

For more information, visit the Project Hope for the Homeless website or Facebook page.