Community support is key for Project BEE
Warming center completes second year
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Warming center completes second year
By JILL SCHRAMM
Associate Editor
jschramm@minotdailynews.com
Project BEE's warming center will complete a second winter when it closes for the season after Sunday.
Operating the center the past two years has been a stretch of its resources, but Project BEE has been able to meet the critical needs of vulnerable populations thanks to community support, said Executive Director Liz Larsen.
The shelter from October through March saw 2,106 total beds filled, up from 1,508 beds from October 2021 through March 2022.
"We have seen a lot more challenging clients this year," Larsen said, citing more barriers, such as lack of identification documents, mental health concerns, addiction histories and lack of family and peer support. "But we had a lot more support this year, I think, from the community because they knew what we did the year before."
The community has provided daily meals through a food train program and has provided supplies whenever Project BEE put out a call to action, she said. For the first time, Project BEE has received government funding support from Ward County.
"This next year when we start the warming center, we'll need more community support. I don't know what that looks like yet, but we need more volunteers and we need to know that we are going to have tangible needs met," Larsen said. "This year was really hard. The numbers are so high, and that is just this program. What are we going to do next year when that just keeps growing?"
Project BEE is looking to raise funds through its second annual golf tournament in partnership with Vardon Golf Club in June. Event details can be found at projectbeend.org under "News & Events" as they become available.
Project BEE also will be looking for volunteer groups to assist in cleaning and repairs to its building this summer. The board is planning a Stuff-the-Shelter donation event to provide operating supplies for the coming year.
In August, Project BEE will hold another drive-through diaper distribution and a back-to-school giveaway event to help families with clothing and school supplies. In September, plans are to bring back its Shelterpalooza, which is a day of service to the shelter.
Project BEE plans to plant a garden this summer to have produce to utilize. The organization also would like to develop a program to tap into expertise in the community to offer programs to clients on topics such as basic cooking, budgeting and filling out job applications.
Ground will be broken this summer for an affordable housing complex at Project BEE's Broadway Circle in south Minot. Currently, work is under way to remodel an existing structure. Broadway Circle will include a six-unit family shelter and accommodations for the Lord's Cupboard food pantry, with the ability to add a soup kitchen.
Project BEE continues to accept donations toward completing Broadway Circle, which also is a project of the City of Minot's National Disaster Resilience program.
Even with the new Broadway Circle, Larsen said, Project BEE will need its downtown shelter building to continue the level of programming it offers, including providing a warming center, diaper pantry, community closet and shower and laundry facilities.
"We do recognize that eventually we're going to have to address our downtown building," said Larsen, who noted the building was constructed in the 1950s.
"The building is not meant to do what we're doing with it," she said. "Unfortunately, I don't think this building is going to be able to be renovated. There's just structural issues."
The lack of air conditioning prevents the building from being used as a shelter in warmer months. The primary purpose in operating a warming center in the building the past two years has been to provide a safe place, out of the elements, for people who are homeless. As a low-barrier shelter placing fewer restrictions on who may stay, the warming center often takes men who do not qualify at the Men's Winter Refuge in Minot after background checks.
"We are one of the only options - and the only option here for a lot of the people that come to us," said Alyson Heisler, development associate at Project BEE.
The shelter was able to provide bunk-bed style accommodations this past year with the help of a grant and mattress donations from Trinity Health. However, due to the client caseload, at times it was necessary to continue to use the self-inflating, camp-style mattresses utilized in the first year of the shelter.
Having more traditional beds was helpful because the shelter saw greater health issues among its clients this past year and served more elderly clients, Larsen said.
Project BEE staff has assisted people in addressing health needs as well as in finding more permanent housing and employment. Providing food and shelter is primary, though, if people are to move out of their current situations and establish themselves in the community, Larsen said.
"You've got to give them those basic needs first and allow them to feel safe, to be trustworthy, to have people who are worthy of their trust as well," she said.