Seattle is having one of it's coldest, most drawn-out snowy winters in at least a decade. What happens to homeless people during this freezing weather?
City emergency shelters are set up, but it looks like there will be one less place for homeless people to go. CityTeam Ministries on Elliott Ave. has been shut down. They house 55 men at night and 15 in recovery.
While churches and other charities are trying to buy the space- CityTeam Ministries has received bids by commercial businesses.
CityTeam Ministries, a nonprofit agency based in San Jose, Calif., announced in a letter to supporters on its Web site that it will close both the Seattle shelter and recovery programs Sunday, citing "the harsh downturn in the economy and the decrease in donations."
They will continue to help...
The statement from Julie Stephenson, CityTeam's Northwest program director, said the organization is "downsizing our programs in Seattle," but would still operate community-based services here, such as helping homeless families get food boxes, school supplies and referrals for other assistance.
But CityTeam Ministries may choose to go with the highest bidder, instead of one that will continue the homeless programs.
Eric Stelter's group, working with the Bread of Life Mission, has offered to buy the CityTeam building and operate the shelter. He declined to say how much his group offered for the facility, but acknowledged it may be less than an offer CityTeam has already received from a potential commercial buyer.
Jeff Cherniss, CityTeam's chief financial officer, said the organization, within the last few days, retained a real-estate consultant in Seattle to help determine the future of the site. "We've received the offer [from Stelter's group] and are evaluating it," Cherniss said, but he said that group is not the only interested potential buyer.
In this tough economy, I suppose CityTeam Ministries will say they will use the money they make from a commercial purchase to help their other shelters. But, at the risk of 55 homeless men, and 15 in recovery.
I will be posting updates on the situation here.
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