Mark Keierleber, The Courier-Journal, July 13, 201
The Coalition for the Homeless has established call centers accepting reservations at three emergency shelters in the city.
“Before, clients would have to go to each individual shelter to see if they had a bed. If you went to one shelter and couldn’t get in, you probably were on the street for that night because a lot of the check-in times are at the same time,” said Marritt Gill, single point of entry manager at the nonprofit coalition.
The Bed One-Stop call center will allow people to reserve beds at Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul and Wayside Christian Mission emergency shelters if they qualify for an emergency shelter stay. While the coalition began offering the service at St. Vincent de Paul in May and at the Salvation Army shelter in mid-June, the service began Tuesday for men seeking shelter at Wayside.
“This way they can call and they can find out what’s available and they don’t have to worry during the day ‘where am I going to get a bed tonight?’ ” Gill said.
The beds are for single men and women, but Gill said referrals can be made for family shelters. Between the three shelters, about 150 beds are available for men and 50 are available for women.
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