While the Starke County Resource Center’s goal of setting up a full homeless shelter is on hold, plans for a daytime warming center are quickly moving ahead. A number of potential volunteers, most of them affiliated with local churches, gathered Monday at the Trinity Assembly of God Church in Knox, where it would be housed. Among other things, they looked at how to go about providing meals, clothes, resources, and programs to people who need help.
Some issues included whether to offer laundry and shower facilities. Suggested operating hours are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The goal is to have it up and running on November 16, according to Davis Wesleyan Church Pastor Matt Ohime, who’s spearheading the effort.
As for the Knights of Columbus building on Lake Street, Ohime says the Starke County Resource Center still plans to take ownership, after it was offered free of charge. The nonprofit group has withdrawn its request with the Knox BZA to use it as a homeless shelter. Ohime stresses that a final use hasn’t been determined yet. One temporary use discussed during Monday’s meeting was as a storage facility to support the daytime warming center on the other side of town.
More information can be found on the Starke County Resource Center Facebook page.
