New homeless shelter opening on time

SAM’s House has moved to its new location and will be ready to open Nov. 1 with some expanded and additional amenities.

The homeless shelter, managed by Shawano Area Matthew 25, recently moved to 105 E. Richmond St. in Shawano after spending several years at 213 E. Green Bay St. The old facility is currently still in use for some administrative needs, according to SAM25 executive director Jen Laude Bisterfeldt, but all the essentials to operate the new facility are in place on Richmond Street.

The old shelter’s capacity was usually 15 occupants, although many nights it was over that capacity, according to Bisterfeldt. The new shelter can hold about 25 people comfortably, and the facilities are wheelchair-accessible.

“It depends on the family makeup, because it’s usually one household per room,” Bisterfeldt said, noting that larger families might take up two rooms. “The old shelter had five bedrooms, and they were all smaller, so they didn’t fit as many people. Here, we can fit about 25 with current staffing.”

With the coronavirus pandemic still in full swing, the shelter will not be able to pair up single homeless people like they could before, Bisterfeldt added.

The front entrance is for people seeking to participate in resource days, where shelter staff help people find jobs or connect with other essential needs, Bisterfeldt said. There is a rear entrance for those utilizing the shelter overnight to allow them some privacy, she said.

“We did that with our old building, and that worked really well,” Bisterfeldt said.

An expanded kitchen and dining area are part of the new shelter, as is a new children’s room where children can play. There is also a room for classes, according to Bisterfeldt.

“We’re getting in,” she said. “We’ve had to move all the food over and the plates and the cups. There’s so much stuff.”

There are a few minor things being taken care of, like installing cabinet doors, touching up paint jobs and checking the plumbing, but everything is coming together, in spite of a pandemic that caused delays and headaches.

“A lot of materials were delayed, or you just couldn’t get them, so we had to switch to different things,” Bisterfeldt said. “The doors, for example, we had to change the type of doors we use, which cost more because we couldn’t get the other doors in time. There was too far of a lag. Everything is on delay right now for everyone, so we’re just lucky and grateful we were able to get it done.”

There are a pair of rooms that can be utilized as a quarantine area, if necessary, not just for the coronavirus but for the regular flu season, as well. Bisterfeldt noted that having a separate area for people who are sick was not an easy task in the old shelter.

“Even outside the pandemic, it’s always nice to have a place in case somebody is ill or needs some privacy,” Bisterfeldt said. “In any shelter environment, you’re going to have a cold go around or a flu bug. There’s also a family bathroom in case people need more privacy.”

Still in the works is a clinic facility to assist those who are sick. Bisterfeldt said the clinic was only recently approved by the state, which is why that has not been completed.

“It’ll be a free clinic for anybody that doesn’t have insurance and can’t afford to pay for their services,” Bisterfeldt said. “It’ll be basic care, kind of like the urgent care. There won’t be surgeries or anything like that being done, but they can get to a doctor or a nurse if they need it.”

While SAM25 exceeded its goal of $410,000 on the capital campaign it waged last year to renovate the new facility, costs during the pandemic went up, according to Bisterfeldt, but the shelter has made it as far as it has due to donated services and more.

“We used all local people. They’ve always been very good to us and done a lot to support us,” Bisterfeldt said.

SAM25 has been fortunate to get grants to help with expenses, as well. Bisterfeldt estimated about $200,000 in grants helped to complete the renovations.

An expanded facility means expanded services, including the resource days. Started in 2017, they used to be once a week but have turned into an everyday affair, as the number of calls has tripled in the last year, Bisterfeldt said.

“People don’t just come on Tuesdays; they come every day,” Bisterfeldt said. “We want to increase staffing for that and increase those programs.”

SAM25 will also be able to expand life skills, budgeting and parenting classes for those staying at the shelter, according to Bisterfeldt.

“We want to expand that to the community, not just for the guests at the shelter, but for anybody who might need help,” she said. “We want to try and help people before they become homeless.”

With the pandemic, many of the traditional fundraisers for SAM’s House have had to be canceled. This included the Empty Bowls event, which allowed community members to decorate bowls to be sold off. Bisterfeldt said that raised about one-third of SAM25’s annual budget.

“We’re very concerned about that for the future,” Bisterfeldt said. “People have been incredibly kind to us — our local people. Some of the foundations have helped, like the Shawano Area Community Foundation. Different places like that have been awesome and reaching out to see what they can do to help.”

This year, the Empty Bowls fundraiser was replaced with a virtual open house of the new shelter. Bisterfeldt said some matching donors stepped up and helped to mitigate some of the losses, along with a successful online silent auction.

“Our fundraising season is our off season (when the shelter is not operating),” Bisterfeldt said. “Normally, we are very busy doing farmers markets and brat frys and all sorts of things that had to be canceled because, with the pandemic, we felt it wasn’t safe to do it.”

Individual donations have also increased, Bisterfeldt said.

The organization is also opening a thrift store at the front part of the shelter, which is expected to help make up for the losses. The thrift store is expected to be open sometime in the next couple of months.

The shelter will be open from Nov. 1 through April 30.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com