GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Since the beginning of November, both men and women have been staying at the St. John’s Ministries men’s shelter.
Staffing shortages forced the non-profit to not open the women’s location at the beginning of the shelter season.
Just three weeks into the winter shelter season, St. John’s Ministries says they’ve seen a high number of people using their services.
“Especially for this early in our season,” said Executive Director Jesse Brunette.
Brunette tells FOX 11 that Monday night, there were 83 men and 36 women at the men’s shelter. Over the last week, they’ve had more than 110 seeking shelter each night.
“Historically, that is a high number for us,” said Brunette. “And I would imagine that as the weather gets colder, we’re going to see even more guests come to our doors for shelter.”
As staffing levels have improved, there’s hope that the women’s shelter could be opening soon.
“We’ve had a good number of candidates come forward. We’ve been able to hire and train,” said Brunette. “We look forward to the time where we can open the women’s shelter and we expect that to happen very soon.”
The men’s shelter can hold 140 people each night. With winter weather in the forecast, it’s even more important for St. John’s to open the women’s location.
“When we fully open that women’s shelter, we are committed to making sure that it opens for the rest of the shelter season,” added Brunette.
St. John’s Ministries has not provided a potential opening date for the women’s shelter, but expects more information to be released within the next week.
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