Work Continues to Bring COP House to St. Cloud's East End

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- Work continues to bring a second COP House to St. Cloud.

Greater St. Cloud Public Safety Foundation Executive Director Sonja Gidlow says the plan is to have it located on the east side of St. Cloud.

She says unlike the current COP House which primarily serves youth in that neighborhood, she says the east side one will be focused more on mental health issues.

The needs there are not so much youth-related, but mental health, there's a food dessert there, a lack of transportation, and certainly medical challenges. So, we are putting together partners that include CentraCare, the College of St. Benedict, and St. John's Univerity nursing program.

Gidlow says a COP House can be whatever the neighborhood needs it to be.

The foundation is in discussions with Salem Lutheran Church to potentially use some space in their building.

They've got a great location for us and they've got some space they haven't used for a number of years. They are having a congregation conversation about whether they want to lease that space to an outside group.

If the congregation agrees, it could be up and running by later this year.

In 2023, the COP House on the south side had 850 neighborhood youth and teens participate in their activities, they distributed 400 backpacks full of school supplies, and they gave out hundreds of ice cream and candy treats on Tuesdays.