(PUEBLO, Colo.) — A new emergency warming shelter is now open in Pueblo, and just before the post-holiday snow. The Pueblo Rescue Mission’s new emergency warming shelter, The Porchlight, is now open on 710 W. 4th Street, thanks to Community Building Development Block Grant (CBDG) funds from the city.
“We no longer have to worry about where we’re going to shelter the additional folks during inclement weather because we have this building now,” said Melanie Rapier, executive director of Pueblo Rescue Mission.
Rapier said the Pueblo Rescue Mission can shelter about 95 people, but during a dangerous cold snap, that number can double, or even triple.
“The mayor declares inclement weather, and every year it’s been kind of like a rough struggle to find a warehouse or find a ministry to step in and and offer space up to do that,” Rapier said.
This new place will not only offer a refuge from the cold, but it also provides services to help people experiencing homelessness transition off the streets.
“It’s going to have programming for mental health, addiction and recovery,” Rapier said. “Attorney legal services, we’ll have job supports to help people seek employment, and we’ll have medical, dental and behavioral health care on site here within this campus.”
The Pueblo Rescue Mission said it wasn’t an easy road to come by their new building, facing some pushback from the community.
“You get resistance from neighbors,” Rapier said. “You get resistance from the community in that area who notoriously are uncomfortable having a warming shelter or added homeless services in the areas they live in, in their residential communities.”
City Council also voiced some concerns about how this might enable some people to stay homeless.
“We want to see people transition,” said Regina Maestri, District 1 representative for Pueblo City Council in a work session on October 16. “We don’t want to just see them being taken care of and babysat.”
Other concerns included safety–if a hundred people experiencing homelessness would show up in one night.
“I can’t imagine vetting and patting down every night. It’s an emergency shelter that people show up and you put them into their beds,” Maestri said.
The Pueblo Rescue Mission said this is something they will look into, while continuing to draw others in until eventually they may want to make a change.
“We need to have that program to stabilize those who are ready,” Rapier said. “And then, when those folks come in for emergency shelter, at some point they may be ready and we want to be here. I want to capitalize on that opportunity. When they get tired of the rigors of emergency shelter and are ready to make a change.”
