LORAIN, OHIO — Lorain County is nearly tripling its emergency shelter space for families. This week, Neighborhood Alliance completed an expansion at the Haven Center in Lorain.
The nonprofit unveiled 19 new rooms in the Ben and Jane Norton Center addition. 11 of the rooms are dedicated to families experiencing homelessness.
“When you’re in the middle of a crisis, you need your support people, particularly for the children. Being homeless can be very scary for them, it’s a very traumatic experience,” said Alicia Foss, Neighborhood Alliance President and CEO.
She noted a growing need for emergency shelter, particularly for families.
Neighborhood Alliance operates the county’s only 24-hour, 365-day emergency shelter with space for men, families, single women and adult couples.
The older wing of Haven Center currently offers four family-specific rooms. The new facility will include private bathrooms and be able to accommodate parents with children, couples and large blended families with connecting rooms. A playground is eventually planned for the center courtyard.
Foss said the spaces are designed to give people a sense of normalcy as they navigate crises.
“The process of finding housing or finding employment can be very daunting because you have to focus on - first things first. You have to make sure that you’re fed and you have a roof over your head,” she explained.
The project broke ground one week after historic flooding in Northeast Ohio.
Nearly 20 inches of sewage and stormwater flooded the Haven Center’s lower level during a late summer storm.
RELATED: Lorain homeless shelter, neighbors still recovering from summertime flooding
“We couldn’t have the residents on-site,” Foss recalled. “It was really difficult for both our residents and our staff.”
The damage displaced shelter operations for more than a month and forced upgrades to the shelter’s community room and kitchen well ahead of schedule.
Fortunately, the flooding did not disrupt progress on the building’s expansion.
Staff said the project’s completion comes as more people will be seeking shelter during the winter months.
“We don’t know who’s going to walk through those doors next. It could be me, it could be anybody,” said Roberto Toro, the Fund Development Manager for Neighborhood Alliance.
He said many of the families and individuals seeking assistance face illness, lost employment or other unforeseen circumstances that have upended their lives. He hopes the new facility will provide a comfortable place to land and move forward.
“That welcoming presence, it literally lets that big guard down. And once they start talking and explaining their story, you get to see they’re just like you,” Toro said.
The Ben and Jane Norton Center is one of several phases for Neighborhood Alliance’s capital improvement plan. The nonprofit is fundraising for a planned remodel at the Haven Center and other projects. If you’d like to help, you can donate and find more information BY CLICKING ON THIS LINK.
