Coalition Steps Up To Provide Winter Shelter In St. Cloud

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- A coalition of organizations has banded together to provide overnight shelter to St. Cloud's homeless population throughout our harsh winter. Faith in Housing offers its "Overflow Compassion Housing" Program, which is supported by Place of Hope, Lincoln Center, and the Salvation Army.

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Spokeswoman Molly Weyrens says on any given night, there are about 50 people without shelter in the St. Cloud area.

Some of them have been out in different places in tents and in encampments.  We get our harsh winters; that's a pretty tough place to be.

Weyrens says they are given a warm place to sleep in an overflow area of either the Place of Hope or the Salvation Army buildings.

Place of Hope opens up their chapel, and the Salvation Army has designated areas for overflow.  The good thing about the Salvation Army this year is that they've been given permission to house more people in that overflow area.

The Overflow Compassion Housing Program runs from 8:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. seven nights a week through the end of April. Besides a bed, the program also gives them a meal and provides resources for more permanent housing.

Faith in Housing is in need of volunteers for the program to help with transportation, nightly set-up, and morning take-down, as well as meal distribution.

The group hosted a Homelessness Summit in November at Atonement Lutheran Church. More than 100 people came together to learn about and understand the current situation of homelessness in central Minnesota.

Read More: What To Expect At The Central Minnesota Homeless Summit |

Place of Hope has seen an increase of 35 volunteers since that time.