Hospital organization, church partner on homeless facility

A two-story, four-bedroom frame house in the 800 block of Jefferson Street in Cape Girardeau will soon become permanent housing for several homeless men, thanks to a partnership between The People’s Shelter and Saint Francis Health System Foundation.

The first residents of The Peaceful Place — Saint Francis House at 827 Jefferson St. will move in around Sept. 1, according to the Rev. Renita Green, pastor of St. James AME Church. The church sponsors The People’s Shelter, which is also renovating another house for homeless men at 802 William St. It, too, will be known as The Peaceful Place.

Jimmy Wilferth, the health system’s vice president of marketing and the Saint Francis Foundation, said he learned about Green’s efforts to provide housing for homeless, single men, age 50 and older, through a co-worker whose wife volunteers with The People’s Shelter.

“We didn’t even know about this a month ago,” Wilferth said and explained the Saint Francis Foundation was already providing housing for several homeless men in south Cape Girardeau. “We (he and the Rev. Green) started talking with mutual friends who said, ‘Jimmy, do you know what Renita is doing?’ and ‘Renita, do you know what Jimmy is doing?’ so we got together, and here we are.”

Wilferth’s interest in helping the homeless began several years ago soon after he returned from Africa, where he was president of the faith-based humanitarian organization Heart for Africa, which cares for orphans and other vulnerable children in the Kingdom of Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland.

The kitchen of 827 Jefferson St. is seen Tuesday in Cape Girardeau as renovations near completion.BEN MATTHEWS

“When I moved back, my prayer was ‘God, what’s next?’ and all He would do is answer me saying, ‘On your street,’” Wilferth said. The message made no sense, he said, until soon afterward when he met three homeless men living in an abandoned trailer — with no plumbing, heat or electricity — on his street in Cape Girardeau. “These were real human beings living in an abandoned trailer on Hopper Road.”

Depending on the time of year and the temperature, the men also spent time living under the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge and behind a loose board under the gazebo next to the Common Pleas Courthouse.

With the consent and support of the Saint Francis Foundation, Wilferth arranged to rent a house for them in south Cape Girardeau where they continue to live today.

“For the past two years, the Saint Francis Foundation has provided a safe home for these men who once lived in the streets,” he said. “The need is real, and we are called to serve this marginalized and discarded population. The mission of Saint Francis is to provide a ministry of healing, wellness, quality and love. This is tough to do if basic life needs aren’t being met, like proper nourishment and a safe place to call home.”

Green and Wilferth met over lunch a few weeks ago.

Bedroom doorways connect to a living area at the upstairs landing in 827 Jefferson St. on Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

“We laughed, and we cried, and we discovered that God had laid a very similar mission and vision on us so we said, ‘Why don’t we do it together?’” Wilferth said.

Again with the support of Saint Francis leadership and the foundation board, Wilferth agreed to partner with Green and began looking for a house to rent.

“So I contacted the same landlord I’m renting the other house from, Jason Coulter, owner of rentSEMO,” Wilferth said.

“We were able to identify a suitable property for the mission,” Coulter said, adding “it’s great to watch people (like Wilferth and Green) do things like this in our community.”

The Saint Francis Foundation will pay the rent and utilities for the house while Green and The People’s Shelter will handle the facility’s day-to-day operations, with support from Community Counseling Center and Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri.

Volunteers have been working at the house for the past week or so getting it ready for the new occupants, each of whom will pay a nominal fee to stay there based on their ability to pay.

“The men will contribute,” Wilferth said. “They have income in the form of Social Security, welfare and so forth, and they will all pay some sort of rent on a sliding scale.”

Meanwhile, work is continuing on The Peaceful Place house on William Street, which Green said she hopes is ready for occupancy by next spring after renovations, including electrical and plumbing upgrades, are completed.

“The front yard (of the William Street house) will include a memorial garden that will be a place for remembering the homeless who have died and the flagpole there will be dedicated to homeless veterans,” Green said. “We also need some trees trimmed in the backyard, and as soon as we get those trees trimmed we’re going to open it up as a gathering space. So before the house opens, the grounds will open, and then we’ll just do the house piece by piece until we get it done.”

The Saint Francis Foundation and The People’s Shelter will host a “home warming party” at the Jefferson Street house from 5 until 7 p.m. today. Green said people are asked to consider giving cash or gift cards for furnishings and household supplies. Light refreshments will be served and information will be available about various programs and ministries provided by The People’s Shelter.

Among the gifts Green said she knows will be presented during Wednesday’s open house will be a check for $1,250 a boy in the Fruitland area raised in three days through a lemonade stand in support of the homeless project.

“We know we can’t fix the problem for homelessness for everyone,” Wilferth said, “but we can do for one at a time what we wish we could do for all.”