FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – It wasn’t long ago that the now 30-bed warming shelter in downtown Fond du Lac was office space. A growing need in the community was behind the renovation.
“We have numerous people who are homeless — many families,” Holy Family Director of Communications and Marketing Sarah Razner said. “I believe that the number of people who are homeless has tripled since 2022.”
This meant someone was going to need to step up after the Salvation Army announced in September its warming shelter would be closing.
“I was in awe of seeing how fast it came together and how well it came together and just the support the we had received,” Razner said.
Holy Family Catholic Community bought and renovated a space in just a matter of months. On Wednesday, the building opened to guests the first time. It will be open each night until the end of April.
“Everything went well,” Razner said. “We had a meal donated and people stayed to serve it. We had lots of volunteers on hand to help.”
Razner said 13 of the beds were used, but she expects that number to go up as the temperatures go down. The old Salvation Army-run shelter had between 30 and 40 guests a night. Issues with staffing and a deteriorating building led to the decision to stop services.
“Several seasons before, we’ve had plumbing issues with the showers, with the restrooms we had here,” Christina Champlin with the Fond Du Lac Salvation Army said back in September.
FOX 11 asked Holy Family officials how they plan to avoid those same issues.
“I think that through the collaboration of the community, we really worked to ensure that we had the resources in place,” Razner said. “Of course we can’t foresee what’s going to happen, but we really tried to put in place the best people that we can and work within the community to solve these problems before they happen.”
Though Holy Family Catholic Church is running the shelter, there are also a number of community partnerships that are helping to make it possible.
“We’ve also had a day shelter we ran for a couple years, so we knew we had the ability,” Razner said. “As of the end of October, we had over $200,000 in donations just from businesses and almost $140,000 from individuals.”
A renovation is planned after this season to increase capacity.
The shelter is always accepting donations. Church leaders also have a fundraiser planned for Nov. 28th.
People who wish to donate can visit the St. Katherine Drexel Shelter that day between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. or by visiting the Holy Family Catholic Community website.
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