The level of overnight shelter available to the homeless in Columbia is expected to increase this winter season.
Room at the Inn Volunteer Coordinator Janet Schisser says a group of about 20 people have been planning since July to find a new location to house the homeless through the winter months.
Last week the Wilkes Boulevard United Methodist Church confirmed they will accept Missouri’s homeless to stay overnight starting in January.
The program, Room at the Inn will house about 30 people in January and February in addition to the soup kitchen the church currently hosts.
Schisser says that she and the Columbia Interfaith Resource Center are still working on improving current issues serving the homeless: “Columbia Interface Resource Center is working on finding a permanent building that can be used as day center, a better day center, than we have now and eventually an overnight place.”
Schisser says the location of the current day center which allows people to shower, make phone calls and eat is inadequate. The group is working on finding a new, possibly permanent location for the day center.
