The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Project Hope charted record numbers
Homeless shelter served 476 in 2019
Founded in 1994, Project Hope for the Homeless serves as Lake County’s only emergency housing shelter.
The facility in Painesville Township has just recorded a record number of guests for 2019, serving 476 guests across the year. This total includes 71 children.
This total is up slightly from 2018’s total which saw 471 guests, including 65 children among them.
A news release issued by the organization underscored the significance in these numbers by highlighting the 88 percent of guests which successfully transitioned to better living situations in 2019, according to data collected from Project Hope social service directors.
Executive Director Judy Burr said that their guests’ weekly goal planning sessions help guide them toward more sustainable and positive environments.
Of the 50 guests a night that Project Hope can house, up to 38 can stay at the adult shelter facility and up to 12 people within families can find shelter in the Families Moving Forward program, housed in a different wing of the same building.
Adults are allowed at the facility from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. the following morning. Families are afforded a longer time frame that can run from 1 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next day.
“We are especially proud that we have the highest positive outcomes in our history while serving guests with the most serious issues and barriers,” Burr said, “We could not do this without the community partnerships and support.”
Last year the organization also celebrated the expansion of a new senior care facility. The threeunit transitional housing program serves seniors 62 or older with subsidized or rent-free lodging while they work towards more stable living situations.
“Many seniors Project Hope has served were once very well-respected contributors to our community. This program gives them a fighting chance to begin again,” Burr said at the time.
Project Hope added in the news release, “We believe our mission and organization empowers people to become more self-sufficient because our staff and volunteers work every day with our guests to equip them with the tools and skills they need to achieve this goal upon leaving our program.”
Adults are allowed at the facility from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. the following morning. Families are afforded a longer time frame that can run from 1 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next day.