ESCANABA — As the weather turns colder, concerns are growing for the community’s homeless population, and changes to the structure of Hope at the Inn, Delta County’s mobile homeless shelter program, have left some wondering how needs will be met.

“Normally, we open the shelter in November. Clearly, that hasn’t happened,” said Shannon Taylor, chair of the Hope at the Inn board of directors.

Since 2013, Hope at the Inn has used local churches and community volunteers to give the area’s homeless a warm place to stay and a hot meal. During that time, the organization has operated under the 501(c)3 nonprofit status of the Salvation Army’s charitable organization, despite not being a Salvation Army program.

That changed when the Salvation Army reviewed the program and decided it could not continue to offer its 501(c)3 status as the program currently exists.

“We had offered to continue to be involved, but if we were going to be involved we had to bring it up to Salvation Army program standards, and that would be significant changes to their program,” said Captain Doug Winters of the Salvation Army.

According to Taylor, the board was informed of the Salvation Army’s decision in May of this year.

“At that point, myself along with the other members of the board of directors opted to take the option where we just kind of separated from the Salvation Army and went off on our own to do our own thing so we could maintain control of the organization,” she said.

The decision to move forward as an independent organization was not made lightly. The board met with Hope at the Inn volunteers and presented three options: establish a new 501(c)3 just for Hope at the Inn, take a year off from the program, or fold the organization.

Responses were mixed. Some raised concerns about how the group could continue in the wake of dwindling numbers of volunteers, a trend exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Others questioned what would happen to those who needed homeless services if the program ceased altogether.

“We had like a town hall meeting over at the Salvation Army, had a great turn out, and there was a lot of concern about what would happen if we folded or didn’t operate for this year. So then at that point … we went ahead and made the decision to go ahead and just continue. So that’s what we’ve been doing,” said Taylor.

The shelter plans to open Dec. 4, with the first week of shelter being offered at Our Savior Lutheran Church, located near E & E Furniture on North Lincoln Road. Churches have already volunteered to host the first five weeks of the program, but Hope at the Inn is still seeking volunteers for those weeks. A complete schedule and volunteer information can be found at www.hopeattheinn.org.

Currently, there are plans to keep the shelter running through the week of Feb. 26, 2023. The program may run longer than that, but it will depend on the number of people seeking shelter as well as volunteer availability.

“Right now we’re just holding our breath and praying to God that we make it through the first few weeks,” said Taylor.

The group still intends to seek its own 501(c)3 status, but until then, Hope at the Inn has partnered with the Community Foundation for Delta County, which is acting as the group’s fiduciary. Donations for the shelter can be directed to the foundation, which is located at 2420 1st Ave South, in Escanaba, c/o Hope at the Inn.

While the Salvation Army is no longer involved in the program directly, that doesn’t mean it has stopped offering services for the Hope at the Inn residents through its warming shelter program. The warming center has historically been an important piece for Hope at the Inn, as residents would transition from the host churches to the Salvation Army in the morning. That is expected to remain an option for shelter residents.

“We will still be operating the warming center, we still have showers, laundry facilities, and lunch for the residents of the shelter,” said Winters.

In addition, the Salvation Army will also continue to offer access to caseworkers.

“We would still be doing casework for people to help the clients improve, so whatever’s holding them into homelessness. Some of them need identification, so we help them apply for identification. We help them search for jobs, that kind of thing,” said Winters. “We actually help refer to some of the landlords in town that would have available (units).”

However, Taylor noted there may be other options for those in need as a result of the shelter’s split from the Salvation Army.

“It gives us a little more operational control and also expands our options too, because then we’re not completely reliant on the Salvation Army. We can start to utilize and bring in Community Action Agency and their homeless services program that they’re operating there,” she said, noting Community Action’s own case management program.

Taylor expects the need for the shelter may be greater than in recent years, as she believes many people have not recovered from the impact of the pandemic. It’s that need that is driving the program to continue, even if there are still many unknowns.

“It’ll be a learning curve this season. I’ve told my fellow board members it may be a rough one, but we’ll do what we can as we can and that’s as good as we can do,” said Taylor.