MORGANTOWN — There’s been a lot of talk in recent months about the closure of the former Bartlett House triage shelter in Hazel’s House of Hope and the subsequent transition to Catholic Charities Grace Shelter.
So, with the changeover now largely complete, Catholic Charities threw open the shelter doors on Thursday and invited the community in for a first-hand look.
Catholic Charities took over the lease space from the struggling Bartlett Housing Solutions on Sept. 1. A couple days later, new Shelter Director Jessica Thompson was on site.
Today, the facility is back running at its full 28-person capacity.
“I have one male bed open today. We’re full otherwise,” Thompson told The Dominion Post. “We had actually been full for a solid week before someone left yesterday.”
The shelter space was well beyond full capacity for a brief time on Thursday as a sizable crowd filled the facility’s main hallway shortly after the open house kicked off with remarks from Catholic Charities West Virginia President and CEO Mark Phillips.
Thompson, who came to Catholic Charities from the Human Resource Development Foundation, said she was pleased to see the community’s interest in their efforts.
“In my role as shelter director, I want to be completely transparent, so I wanted to have people come in and see what a homeless shelter or triage shelter looks like,” Thompson said. “We’ve installed a lot of different changes since Catholic Charities took over and we’ve tried to brighten up the place and make it a little more homey for those who are staying with us.”
The shelter’s stated goal is to meet immediate needs while working toward getting individuals into permanent housing.
So far, two individuals have made that transition during Thompson’s tenure.
She said the majority of the clients in the shelter are employed, some with multiple jobs.
“They are trying to get on their feet. This is just a place to lay their head, have a warm meal and have a shower. We are getting them into stable housing,” Thompson said. “They’re not living here. Our goal is to get them in and out in 45 days.”
Assisting in those efforts are organizations like Christian Help, Morgantown RAMP, Salvation Army and others.
The Salvation Army served some 3,900 meals out of its Hope Cafe within Hazel’s House of Hope in September.
“It’s been great working with the other organizations coming in and helping. Everybody has been working together and has really went above and beyond,” Thompson said. “When Health Right comes up here too, that will be so valuable, just because so many of our clients use their services.”
Health Right Executive Director Laura Jones told The Dominion Post she is “very optimistic” the agency’s new home across the street from HHH will be up and running by Jan. 1.
