COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new homeless shelter west of downtown Columbus will ease the strain on existing facilities and provide more space for what local officials say is a growing population of homeless men, women and families.
The Community Shelter Board has bought an empty warehouse in the West Edge Business Center, 595 Van Buren Drive, where it plans to open a new shelter in the spring of 2014 to address a 14 percent growth in the number of homeless single men and women.
The building will also house Rebecca’s Place, a women’s shelter that has fallen into disrepair, and which can be used to meet overflow demands for space for single men, women, and families, the fastest growing segment of the homeless population, CSB executive director Michelle Heritage said.
“With a 65% increase in the number of families seeking shelter over the last three years, this new building also presents a better way to safely shelter families when the YWCA Family Center reaches its capacity,” she said.
The building will provide sleeping quarters, showers and meals and will be operated by the YMCA of Central Ohio, Southeast, Inc., and YWCA Columbus.