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Cold-night shelter gets OK in Stafford

Stafford supervisors approve permit for homeless shelter

Date published: 6/17/2009

BY JONAS BEALS

After 21 years of searching, the area's cold-weather homeless shelter finally will have a permanent home.

Stafford supervisors voted 7-0 to approve a conditional use permit that will allow the shelter to locate at 750 King's Highway east of Fredericksburg.

The building is the Old Little Falls Schoolhouse, which is currently owned by the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board and used as storage space for the adjacent RACSB office.

Discussion before the vote was limited. Two Stafford residents spoke in favor of the permit, and none spoke against it.

"This is a community issue," said attorney Charlie Payne, who was working pro bono on behalf of the applicant, Micah Ecumenical Ministries. "They provide a great resource where there are gaps in the community."

Since 2002, the shelter has set up in the gym at the Bragg Hill Family Life Center. As the center expanded, it became challenging to juggle their programs with the space and time needed for the shelter.

With their new, dedicated home, the shelter should be able to set consistent hours and better serve the homeless during the coldest nights of the year. The shelter will operate between Nov. 1 and April 15 on nights when the temperature drops below 32 degrees.

"This is something that's been a long time coming," Micah director Meghann Cotter said. "I'm very thankful that we'll have additional, dedicated space to serve this population."

Although the site is outside the city limits, shelter organizers say that it is a more convenient location that is actually easier to get to from their hospitality center on Princess Anne Street downtown.

Cotter expects the shelter to be open by Nov. 1, although she estimates it will cost between $35,000 and $50,000 to upgrade the facility and make it usable.

"A lot is dependent on the community coming together to get it done," Cotter said. "But this will be a program people can count on."

Jonas Beals: 540/368-5036
Email: jbeals@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 6/17/2009