Project Hope for the Homeless holding open house, brunch

Project Hope for the Homeless announced it will host a public open house and pancake brunch from 10 a.m. to noon on Feb. 15 at the shelter located at 25 Freedom Road in Painesville Township.

The free pancake brunch for open house visitors includes coffee, juice, pancakes, and sausage. Tours of the shelter will be conducted and the public will have the chance to interact with staff and obtain information about volunteering opportunities, according to a news release.

The open house event also coincides with the 26th anniversary of Project Hope, which was formed Feb. 14, 1993. Donations from the public are welcomed from the wish list at https://projecthopeonline.org/current-needs.

The organization has grown substantially from a temporary, 25-bed, seasonal shelter that initially operated in local churches to a 50-bed, year-round program in a permanent, expanded location with additional aftercare services, the release stated.

Project Hope, which is the only homeless shelter in Lake County, served 471 guests, including 65 children in 2018, the release stated. The optional Aftercare Program provides support to former guests and has helped reduced the recidivism rate to less than 10 percent.

The staff works with guests to provide proactive solutions to help them reach independence

The free pancake brunch for open house visitors includes coffee, juice, pancakes, and sausage. Tours of the shelter will be conducted and the public will have the chance to interact with staff and obtain information about volunteering opportunities

in Lake County.

The shelter provides a hot meal along with goalsetting and referral services for up to 50 guests total per night. Up to 38 adult individuals may stay at the adult shelter facility and up to 12 people within families may stay each night in a separate wing of the building as part of the Families Moving Forward program.

Reservations to stay at Project Hope are handled by calling 211.