MORGANTOWN — While the Catholic Charities’ emergency overnight warming shelter at Hazel’s House of Hope has been open every night since Dec. 11, the question of where individuals can go to escape frigid temperatures during the daytime hours has been a work in progress.
To this point, that work has been taken on by a largely unorganized collection of volunteers.
According to information provided to The Dominion Post, an agreement was reached Wednesday aimed at bringing a little more stability to those efforts.
Dr. Jessica Thompson, the Catholic Charities shelter director at the Hazel’s House of Hope facility, said Project Rainbow has stepped forward to staff and manage daytime operations.
Project Rainbow is a nonprofit housing services organization created to serve unsheltered LGBTQ+ individuals. Staff and volunteers with Project Rainbow have been among those volunteering to keep day hours available at Hazel’s House of Hope.
Morgantown City Councilor Danielle Trumble has also been a part of that effort. Trumble represents the city on the Morgantown Community Resources Board of Directors, which serves as the landlord and facilitator of the HHH property.
Trumble said there was concern from within the MCR board that daytime hours needed to be under the umbrella of a responsible agency.
The board initially reached out to both Catholic Charities and Lauren’s Wish about taking that on with the financial support of grant dollars secured by MCR.
Neither was able to do so.
“In the meantime, [Project Rainbow] reached out to us yesterday saying they can staff it with volunteers and their insurance will cover the liability, which is what some members of the MCR board have been concerned about,” Trumble said.
Monongalia County Commission President Jeff Arnett represents the county as a member of MCR.
“From MCR’s standpoint, we couldn’t have any activities that would damage the center or endanger any other residents of the center,” he said, explaining the body agreed to utilize up to $12,000 in grant funding to keep paid staff on site. “It’s come down to a staffing and a funding issue, so the board took the action that they would authorize funding to pay for the person to be there during those times.”
It’s unclear if Project Rainbow will be provided financial support for its efforts.
The daytime hours to be covered during the week will be from 8 a.m.- 10 a.m. and from 3 p.m.- 8 p.m. The Salvation Army staffs a dayroom from 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. and the overnight shelter runs from 8 p.m.- 8 a.m. Daytime coverage is needed from 8 a.m.- 8 p.m. on the weekends.
