When temperatures plummet, Portage County’s unhoused population is left with diminishing options. For those unable to find warm shelter at night, the county offers exactly one resource: The Haven of Portage County.
When the temperature drops to 20 degrees, the Haven opens its warming center, installing cots in the dining area if needed. The warming center is open 24/7. Open intake ends at 8 p.m., but police officers can refer guests after that time.
“If they’re riding around and they find somebody, they bring them in. Oftentimes people are on the street, so law enforcement will stop them and bring them in if that’s what they want. They’re not being arrested,” The Haven’s Executive Director Anne Marie Noble said.
As of the morning of Jan. 16, 11 people were staying warm at the Haven, sleeping on cots in the facility’s dining area while being cared for by volunteers and a couple paid staff members. The Haven is also hosting another 20 regular clients, she said.
“It’s getting kind of full. I have a dozen cots. I would not anticipate turning anyone away. We would make it work one way or the other,” Noble said.
Everyone is welcome, including parents and guardians with their children.
To ensure safety, everybody goes through a thorough items check, and The Haven uses a metal detector, as well. To avoid the time, manpower and inconvenience of re-inspections, people who seek warm refuge at the Haven are encouraged to stay throughout the day.
Apart from using ARPA funds to cover the cost of three meals a day, The Haven relies on donations, as it does not accept government money. It receives support from local churches, organizations and individuals, Noble said.
“The community has been very generous in bringing in baked goods, so if someone wants to make a pot of homemade soup or a pot of chili that would be extremely helpful,” she said.
The warming center remains open until temperatures rise above 20 degrees. Then, if would-be unhoused clients meet the Haven’s criteria, they may apply for the organization’s regular services, she said.
(Those criteria include, but are not limited to, passing a national background check. Center staff are looking for assault or domestic violence convictions within the last five years, or for people who have open warrants or criminal court cases. Background checks are not required for the warming center, however.)
Typically, the Haven’s clients sleep in the facility’s dorms, receive regular meals and can be linked to representatives from Coleman Health Services, OhioMeansJobs, Job & Family Services of Portage County, Portage Metropolitan Housing Authority and Hope Town, she said.
How people get to The Haven, located across from Walmart at 2645 State Route 59 in Ravenna, is another matter. People who can afford the $1 PARTA bus fare may ride Monday through Saturday, but some show up on foot, Noble said.
Until the county’s Emergency Management Agency formally requests that PARTA waive the fare, the $1 fee will remain in place, said PARTA Communications and Public Advocacy Advisor Denise Baba.
Center of Hope
People who only want or need a warm refuge during the day may visit a warming “station” from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays at Ravenna’s Center of Hope, 1081 W. Main St. The facility is normally reserved for providing emergency food services and hot meals.
Like The Haven, Center of Hope’s warming station is only open when temperatures drop below 20 degrees, Program Manager Lajoyce Harris said. Guests need only to ring the doorbell, and once inside, may enjoy a hot beverage and pastries. Lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
“Our phones have been ringing,” Harris said. “I have been giving them information from The Haven, and I have been checking on my folks here, making sure that they have shelter. If they don’t, I give them the information for The Haven, or I call for them.”
People who are homeless aren’t the only ones seeking warmth.
Harris said folks whose furnaces are on the fritz also need a place to stay. That includes Kent Council Member Robin Turner, whose furnace died last Friday. He opted for a weekend at a local motel until repairmen could reach his house Monday, but that’s not an option for everyone.
Kent, which is the county’s largest city, lacks a warming center or designated warming station of its own.
“It’s an ongoing problem. I don’t know what the solution is. Wish I did,” said Kent Council Member Roger Sidoti.
Years ago, a group of Kent high school students approached him with an idea to use empty storefronts as warming centers, Sidoti recalled. The proposal went nowhere.
“Would it be possible for temporary warming stations to be set up, and who would coordinate that?” he asked. “How would the rent be paid, and would it even be legal?”
Sidoti said he does not know if council can fund a center, or if it did, where it would be located.
Those questions remain unanswered, as does one about using vacant schools around the county as safe havens, he said.
Kent Health Commissioner Joan Seidel said she is concerned about the lack of adequate shelters throughout the county. She’s discussed the matter as far as Kent goes with city officials, but the conversations have always stalled.
“Nobody has stepped up to say, ‘Here’s the place, here’s the staff, and here’s the support you need,’” she said.
That support could be through Family & Community Services, which runs Center of Hope and Kent Social Services, or it could be community-wide via faith-based or grassroots organizations, she suggested.
“It takes a lot of resources to do something like that, and I’m not sure how we could make that come to fruition. It’s an inconsistent and periodic need, depending on what the weather is at any given time,” she said.
Besides adequate staffing, cots, food and restrooms must be in place, making a 24-hour warming center a “very complex situation to try to solve,” she said.
Complicating matters is that the need is not limited to winter. Cooling centers are needed during the summer, as well, she said.
Kent Social Services
Mary Benedict, pantry coordinator at Kent Social Services, said she has not fielded any questions about warming centers. If the issue comes up, staff could only refer them to The Haven, she said.
KSS is not offering extended hours even during cold snaps. Its regular hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, with hot meals served from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
“Anyone can come in for a cup of coffee, and to get warm, but as far as extending our hours or staying overnight, we do not have the manpower to do that at this time,” said KSS Program Manager Marquice Seward. “We will continue to provide our hot meal and pantry services.”
KSS also offers hot suppers from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday of each month.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.