Since Sojourner’s moved to its current location in 1992, the program has provided shelter and supportive services around the clock, 365 days a year to those in greatest need in the community.
“While occasional renovations and repairs have been made throughout the past 18 years, the facility has not received an extensive overhaul due to the complexity of completing certain projects while simultaneously housing an average of 64 individuals daily,” stated Debby Weinstein, Executive Director of the YWCA of Charleston. “After much consideration, we realized that a temporary program relocation was greatly needed to accomplish these critical projects.”
During this temporary relocation, which is anticipated to last 60-90 days, the YWCA Sojourner’s program will still fully operate at the 1601 Second Avenue facility and continue to provide homeless women and families with basic needs such as shelter and food, along with comprehensive supportive services such as counseling, case management, children’s programs, and housing, relocation and transportation assistance.
Renovations and repairs at the shelter will include renovating the kitchen and repairing kitchen fixtures and equipment; relocating a laundry facility from the basement to the ground floor; removing all carpet from the shelter’s bedrooms and replacing it with tile; replacing industrial size hot water tanks; repairing plumbing, electrical, HVAC and sprinkler systems; fully eliminating a persisting bed bug problem from a few of the shelter’s 21 bedrooms; increasing safety and security features on windows and doors; and re-designing staff and intake offices.
“We have made repeated attempts to complete renovation and repair projects at the shelter without have to displace our residents, who come to our shelter during very personally trying times,” stated Margaret Taylor, Director of the YWCA Sojourner’s Shelter. “However, after extensively examining the situation, we are certain that temporarily relocating the shelter will be the most effective and responsible action for the health and safety of our clients.”
YWCA Sojourner’s has partnered with other local agencies to aide them in this transition, including HospiceCare (providing facility space), American Red Cross (providing cots) Manna Meal and Papa John’s (donating some evening meals), Kanawha County Schools (ensuring that children residing at the shelter will be able to continue their educations uninterrupted) and the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, City of Charleston, Fire Marshal and WV Bureau for Public Health.
Funding for the shelter projects, which are projected to cost $330,000, is provided by the West Virginia Department of Health & Human Resources; West Virginia Housing Development Fund; City of Charleston; United Way of Central West Virginia; Triana Energy and City National Bank.
As there are no on-site cooking facilities at the West Side temporary location, the program welcomes and greatly encourages donations of meals – particularly dinner. Please call the shelter line at (304) 340-3562 to coordinate meal drop-offs. Donations of fresh fruit, juice, milk and cases of bottled water are also encouraged; however, the program will be unable to accommodate any other types of donations during this transitional time.
The YWCA Sojourner’s Shelter for Homeless Women and Families provides emergency shelter and supportive services 24/7, 365 days a year for homeless single women, women with children, men with custody of their children and intact families. This 75-bed facility offers a secure, healthy environment with crisis intervention, case management, counseling, and education and job training to help individuals achieve long-term self-sufficiency. Last year, the YWCA Sojourner’s Shelter served 1,019 individuals (309 of which were children), provided 81,671 nutritious meals and 8,296 hours of free counseling and case management, in addition to providing educational and job readiness services to 476 homeless adults. The shelter maintains a 5% average recidivism rate (individuals returning to facility within the course of a year), which is well below the national average.
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