St. Louis bolsters plan to end homelessness

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A shelter in downtown St. Louis that is central to the city's efforts to end homelessness is undergoing a major renovation.

About $130,000 in new investment will refurbish the Centenary Church Drop-in Center, which serves meals and provides other services to about 200 homeless people on any given day.

The center plays a critical role in the city's 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness. It opened in December 2005, and its annual budget of about $600,000 comes from the city's Affordable Housing Commission and some private donations and grants.

"This is a centerpiece of changing the landscape in downtown," Bill Siedhoff, director of the city's Department of Human Services, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "The critical thing is getting people inside, where they feel welcome and develop relationships."

For people like Becky Wagner, the center is a stepping stone from homelessness to security.

"I can't wait to get to work," says Wagner, 41, who has been homeless for six months. "This place gives you spiritual focus, spiritual friendship and emotional healing."

The new investment -- which comes from church and city funds -- will pay for new handicapped-accessible restrooms, social hall entrances and kitchen remodeling.

The center also plans to offer evening meals and the use of showers and computers.

While the shelter offers food, it also gives visitors the kinds of service they need to get jobs or new housing. Some visitors use the shelter's mailing address for correspondence. Others come to check their voicemail messages or seek help applying for identity papers they have lost living on the street.

The center aims to be less restrictive than other shelters for the homeless.

"We don't expect you to make a life-changing decision. Our biggest requirement is you behave yourself," said the Rev. Conway Briscoe, Centenary's senior pastor. "People need a place where they can be. Hopefully, we can see their lives transformed in front of us."

St. Louis has seen a decrease in its homeless population. A January count by city officials found 1,386 homeless people one night, 26 percent fewer than two years ago.

So far, 235 homeless people have moved into permanent and supportive housing. Funding has been secured to provide another 194 permanent and supportive individual units over the next two years.

Woody Jackson goes to the center most days for breakfast and lunch.

Jackson, 49, who lives at a shelter, said he hopes to find a hotel housekeeping job and his own place soon.

"I really want to get off the street because this is no life for anyone," he said, "but I won't forget the people who really helped me."

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com