Amen Center does important work to help homeless in area

Danny and Shirley Hollowell are doing good work in Delta.

Operators of a homeless shelter called the Amen Center, the Hollowells have been meeting the needs for homeless individuals for several years now. They have more big plans in store.

The faith-based operation wants to expand to provide a transitional facility for parolees and others released from prison. According to a recent story by Mark Bliss, The Missouri Department of Corrections offers compensation to organizations providing "restoration facilities."

Over the years, an estimated 5,000 people have been helped by the Amen Center, Danny Hollowell said. Some 346 individuals have been "saved and baptized" in the former school, he added. In the past six years, the facility has had more than 1,000 requests to house people being released from prison, but the operation has had to turn down those requests due to state bureaucracy.

The operation requires those who are staying there to actively look for work, with a rise-and-shine policy of 6 a.m.

The Amen Center is doing important work, and we support its efforts to add programs to help those being released from prison. We wish the Hollowells the best as they move forward with their plans.