Neighborhood Alliance provides a variety of help for those seeking shelter in Lorain County.
When the Haven Center flooded in late August, an area partnership helped create a solution to housing nearly 60 people.
“Our residents have remained strong and taken this in stride as they await the reopening of the shelter,” said Neighborhood Alliance Chief of Staff Rebecca Haywood. “This has been an arduous period for our agency.
“As we work through the clean-up and restoration of our center, however, we have been able to keep our residents safe and still provide much needed services to them.”
Shelter residents were housed in area hotels thanks to help from Lorain County Community Action Agency.
The Community Action Agency set aside $60,000 from the Emergency Rental Assistance round two funds to help the Haven Center cover hotel stays.
The flood was the first major need for the funds.
Nearly $20,000 was used to re-house shelter residents.
Haywood said a total of 58 people were displaced.
Some were helped with other resources.
Today, 31 people remain in hotels or motels with 13 of them being supported with the Community Action Agency funds, she added.
The Haven Center, located at 1536 E. 30th St. in Lorain, can house up to 68 people and also provides meals, toiletries, laundry and clothing.
Haywood said the center tries to place everyone in their shelter, but not everyone is a good fit and sometimes the shelter is full.
Typically, overflow means they use eight to 10 area hotel rooms — most often for families.
“Sometimes we choose a motel over shelter depending on the status of the client,” Haywood added. “Clients with severe past trauma may not do well in a large dorm-style space so we may place them in a motel room so they don’t have to share a room with others.”
The flood destroyed five HVAC units, several freezers and refrigerators, two ovens and all of the center’s washers and dryers.
Most of the doors in the center no longer function due to the wooden frames swelling.
“We are renovating these areas now and hope to reopen the shelter by mid-November,” Haywood said. “We were able to mobilize our staff and quickly move residents out of the shelter and into motels with the funding from LCCAA.”
The Community Action Agency was pleased to provide the assistance.
“We admire Neighborhood Alliance so much,” said Community Action Agency CEO Jackie Boehnlein. “Their incredible resourcefulness is only rivaled by how much they care.”
The support also was quite timely.
“The flood came at a difficult time, as we were planning the groundbreaking on the Haven Center addition,” said Alicia Foss, president and CEO of Neighborhood Alliance. “We are grateful for the partnership of LCCAA and their support of our residents.
“With their help, we were able to relocate our residents safely and not delay the plans to renovate and increase the shelter capacity.”
The Haven Center is the largest homeless shelter in Lorain County and the only one serving women and intact families.
They help approximately 500 people every year.
