‘Such a blessing’: Church readies to serve as temporary men’s homeless shelter

Two days before the end of 2022, half a dozen local church and community organizers stood in a semi-circle at the entrance of All Nations Church of God in Christ in Port Huron.

Vincent Mathews, the church’s pastor, raised a hand above his head to lead the group in prayer — their coming task that afternoon was clear.

“As we embark on this shelter for men, not only will they come in for comfort, but we want to meet the spiritual need of everyone,” he said.

All Nations Church has been identified to serve as a temporary men’s homeless shelter by the local shelter group tasked with finding both short- and long-term solutions to fill the hole left early last year with the closure of Blue Water Area Rescue Mission.

The city of Port Huron signed off on the use of federal COVID stimulus funds last month to help finance operations at All Nations through April, and Andrew Seppo, an executive director of Operation Transformation and among those spearheading the effort, said they hoped to get things up and running for the temporary shelter by Jan. 16.

But first, organizers wanted to inform the neighborhood what was coming.

“We had 25 pastors praying this morning,” Seppo said before the neighborhood canvass Dec. 29 — a short stack of pamphlets in hand. “We meet every Thursday, and we’ve had people praying this whole time. I was up last night — I don’t mind confrontation, but I was just prayerful. You know, we want to do this. I’m more nervous about just getting things started. It was supposed to start a month and a half ago, two months ago.

“And this past week, it was so cold out. I went out to take my dog for a walk and I forgot my gloves, and I was like, ‘Oh!’ There’s men who don’t have a place to go right now. That stupid small thing reminded me the reason why we’re here.”

How did we get here?

The closure of BWARM’s men’s shelter, which accommodated up to 30 people, was attributed last year to its operators’ personal health concerns, as well as difficulty in hiring help. They also closed their neighboring women’s facility, though another group’s separate women’s shelter remains.

Some members of the faith community have been discussing alternative shelter options for a year.

A formal subcommittee to address the needs of those who are or are at risk of becoming homeless started sitting down last spring.

Until the setup at All Nations is final — men staying there will be expected to leave each morning for the day, staying only overnight — local leaders said those in need should continue to reach out to Blue Water Community Action for help seeking temporary shelter at 810-982-8541.

Melinda Johnson, the agency’s executive director, said the collaboration to address the issue has gone well so they could “get back to the task of finding a permanent solution” for men’s shelter needs long-term.

Community Action used a federal funding source to shelter men and others facing homelessness at local hotels from the fall of 2021 through last year, costing a total of about $134,000. However, that source has since run out.

The agency spent about $125,000 on hotel costs and more than 1,500 nights of individual stays for the first half of 2022.

From just July to December, Bernie Newby, Community Action’s housing assessment resource agency manager, said the agency provided a total of 1,625 bed nights for 36 households, or 40 adults and 31 children, at a cost of over $54,700.

Moving forward, the $200,000 in American Rescue Plan funds administered by the city will go toward expenses that include compensation for program staff, contracted security personnel, and operational costs like supplies, food, snow, and dumpster trash removal, bus passes, telephone services, rent, and an administrative fee for fiduciary oversight.

And that grant agreement is with Community Action in tandem with other agencies.

What were neighbors told?

On Dec. 29, residents living a few blocks around All Nations, 2030 Church St., may have been presented with a small but detailed handout — complete with a bullet-point list of program details for the temporary shelter. Others may have found one left at their front door or beside their mailbox.

It referred to the operation as a warming shelter that would:

• Stay open through the end of April
• Be limited to 30 beds
• Provide men with bus rides to and from the church through Blue Water Area Transit
• Entail entry and dismissal times for men at 6 p.m. and 7 a.m., respectively
• Be manned by paid security on site

It also emphasized collaboration with Mid City Nutrition to help feed men staying at All Nations, as well as the YMCA of the Blue Water Area, which will provide the staff to monitor the site and offer facilities for men to shower.

Much of that was incorporated into the city’s agreement with Community Action.

Seppo said local pastors were also coordinating daily bible studies for men at the facility.

Near the handout’s end, it adds, “Most of all, these men are not criminals but simply people without a place to live. This is our opportunity to help those in greatest need this winter.”

Seppo and others that day made similar points — that it was an opportunity. Still, they briefly weighed how to best share the news with neighbors, speculating what questions may arise.

“It doesn’t really affect the neighborhood at all. It affects the church,” said Ron McComas, ministry director at Hillside Wesleyan Church. He canvassed with Seppo and Bailey Lewis, community impact director for the United Way of St. Clair County.

“So, they’re sleeping at night and they’re leaving in the morning via bus,” he said. “They’re not going to be wandering around the neighborhood.”

In all, Seppo later said the group hit about 80 homes. There weren’t too many questions, he said, most people seemed to understand or share the excitement that the church was lending a helping hand.

“We didn’t have a ton of deep conversations because we were trying to get to as many houses as we could,” he said this week.

Mathews walked a couple of blocks with Kevin Miles, a retired pastor, and Randy Bennett, outreach coordinator for Operation Transformation, before returning to the church.

When people were home, most accepted the pamphlet with a quick word of support.

“We’re just passing out leaflets about opening up a men’s shelter,” Mathews told the man at the first home he stopped at. “We’ve got some information on there. We’ve got it coordinated really good.”

“That’s what you guys have been doing over there?” the man said. “That’s awesome."

Why All Nations Church?

Before the shelter discussion, Mathews said All Nations was planning to return to service as a certified day care.

But now, an assembly of furniture, supplies, and children’s toys have been moved into side rooms for storage as they prepare to take on the new, temporary role.

Individuals are expected to be able to enter nightly at a back door, where a bus can pick up and drop them off, near stairs leading to the church’s basement level.

By the end of December, the former tile flooring had been stripped and awaited a new epoxy surface.

A large activity or gathering room abutted by a small kitchen awaited its 30 cots with bedding still bundled up in a separate area.

Other improvements, including painting, appeared to be ongoing.

Earlier that afternoon, Mathews told the group with Seppo that their small congregation was on board with their new mission, adding, “This is what ministry is all about.”

During a tour with the Times Herald, he said that maintaining outreach in the community, such as with the shelter effort, was a new main priority even as they continue to work to grow “little by little.”

And that's because it’s just too important, Mathews said.

“This is such a blessing for us. It’s just so needed,” he said. “So, we just scrapped what we were thinking about doing, and people who don’t have a warm place, I think that’s essential. Most essential. So, we couldn’t say no to this.”

Contact Jackie Smith at 810-989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.