LEWISTON – There’s no room at the mission.
A local shelter turned away a homeless couple with a toddler because the men’s dorm was full.
All 12 beds have been occupied since the end of last week, said the Rev. Paul McLaughlin, who heads up Hope Haven Gospel Mission. It’s the only shelter in the Twin Cities that takes families, including children.
McLaughlin said he offered to take the mother and child and refer the man to another shelter, but the family apparently wanted to stay together.
“I said, I can help you and your child, but I can’t help you,'” McLaughlin said. “It is never easy having to turn anybody away.”
They’ve had to do just that ever since he can remember, McLaughlin said.
Last year, the Lincoln Street shelter had to turn away 177 people, including 76 children. That’s why McLaughlin is hoping to squeeze two more bunk beds into the two rooms in the men’s dorm and add three more to the women and children’s dorm. That dorm also has two portable cribs, he said.
First, though, he needs permission from the city.
The number of turnaways has see-sawed over the years. Two years ago, they had to close their doors to 248 people, including 118 children. The year before that, they turned away 188 people, of whom 58 were children.
St. Martin de Porres will take adult men and women referred to its shelter, but not children, McLaughlin said.
The mission is preparing to launch a capital campaign to raise $3.5 million in an effort to build a new shelter next door. The three-story building should at least double the capacity of the men’s and women’s dorms, he said. It would allow for future expansion, as needed. Zoning allows for a nine-story building at that site, he said.
“There’s no sense in relocating,” he said. “We are in the ideal place to have a shelter. I really don’t think they’d want us in a more affluent neighborhood.”
The mission building needs too much work. It wouldn’t make sense or be cost-efficient to renovate, he said.
In addition to shelter, Hope Haven offers meals and a drug treatment program for men. Others who come to the shelter must be drug and alcohol free and willing to be tested, McLaughlin said.
Hope Haven also offers spiritual guidance. Biblical passages can be found on stairwell landings.
“We try to offer people encouragement and hope,” he said. “That’s what people need to get through what they’re going through.”
The mission also refers people who stays with it to places where they can find jobs and more permanent housing.
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