Gabriel’s Horn is now ready for more homeless women after completing a $300,000 expansion largely funded with federal American Rescue Plan Act money.
The $270,000 grant, funneled through Porter County, allowed Gabriel’s Horn in South Haven to add four client rooms and numerous other amenities to serve additional clients.
Now the nonprofit agency is beginning a push to create an “81 Hundred Club” to encourage donors to give $8,100, the cost of a six-month stay for a client and their family. The daily cost is $45.
Twenty donors giving $8,100 each would cover the entire annual cost of housing homeless clients at the shelter, Executive Director Jerry Czarnecki said.
“We’re not charging anyone to be here,” he stressed. The $8,100 covers staffing, utilities and other expenses for a client for six months, the maximum stay at the shelter.
Gabriel’s Horn needs to build financial capacity, Czarnecki said. Paying off the mortgage with proceeds from the annual fund drive will help as a step toward sustainability, he said.
The completed expansion uses one-fourth of the pole barn to which the shelter is attached. With this project, Gabriel’s Horn was able to make the shelter more accessible, with a ramp instead of steps into the expanded area.
A large bathroom has a shower big enough for someone in a wheelchair, Czarnecki said.
There’s also a pantry with at least one shelf per client to store nonperishables. An additional shelf allows clients to place items that could be shared with others at the shelter.
Clients can be assured of privacy in their rooms. The only people who can unlock the client’s room are the client, the executive director and the house manager, Czarnecki said.
In the new common area, there are couches and videos as well as a computer area with two desktop computers and a printer.
Each of the four new rooms for homeless women and their families includes at least one bunk bed, with the top bunk rated strong enough for an adult if needed. Each new client receives a welcome bag with toiletries and other essentials to help them adjust to their new temporary home, pictured on Tuesday. (Doug Ross/for Post-Tribune)
Even with the four new rooms, increasing capacity by 70%, there will still be a waiting list, Czarnecki said. There’s room for expansion inside the pole barn, but first Gabriel’s Horn needs to be able to fund operations at the existing level.
Unlike some shelters, Gabriel’s Horn doesn’t offer in-house community services. That’s because the clients will move out in six months or less. Connecting the clients with community services will allow them to keep working with those agencies seamlessly when they find permanent housing.
“We provide them a place to stay while they focus on their future,” Czarnecki said.
Among the partnerships is working with nearby car lots that help clients get needed transportation. When a car lot takes a trade-in that would be sold at auction, Gabriel’s Horn residents get the opportunity to buy it first.
Gabriel’s Horn frequently updates its wish list posted on its website to help people know what items would be useful, Czarnecki said. Furniture and other items should go to places like New Creation Resale Shop in Valparaiso.
When a client is ready to transition to permanent housing, Gabriel’s Horn provides a list of items they’ll need for their new home. Clients can take that list to New Creation, which provides the items for free, he said.
Morgan Lloyd, a case manager with New Creation, works with homeless men who spend the night at local churches until the new homeless shelter is built.
Clients at Gabriel’s Horn and some other shelters can receive clothing and furniture vouchers for items available at New Creation, although they need to set up an appointment first, Lloyd said.
New Creation offers dining room tables and chairs, couches, sometimes a TV and even a bike when it’s needed for transportation, she said.
“Everyone’s pretty ecstatic to receive the help,” Lloyd said.
Construction on the addition began Dec. 10 and was completed recently. The contractor is still adding a few minor finishing touches, but the county granted Gabriel’s Horn an occupancy permit for the new space.
During construction, generous individuals provided meals each day while the kitchen was being remodeled, Czarnecki said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
