PC: Wise Women Gathering Place
ONEIDA, WI (WTAQ) — Wise Women Gathering Place is working on reopening their Safe Place Parking program.
Roughly 45 vehicles relied on the lot in Oneida; which began operating in 2020.
“It’s just a parking lot for people to park their car and have a safe place to sleep,” said Brenda John, communications and outreach specialist with Wise Women Gathering Place. “They’re not going to get a knock from somebody that says ‘hey you don’t belong here, you’ve got to go.'”
The lot also provided resources to connect people with stable housing, a meal, portable batteries to charge phones, and more. It costs the organization about $12 thousand a month to operate the lot, with funds also going to the staff available at the lot every night from 6-9 p.m.
The lot shut down in July when their insurance company dropped them, even though they never submitted a claim.
“We’ve never had any physical or dangerous altercations on the lot, so it was very hard for us to understand what was going through these insurers minds,” said John.
Earlier this month the organization secured new insurance, costing roughly $5 thousand a year. However, they need to raise an additional $30 thousand to re-open on December 1.
To donate and support reopening the lot, click here.
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