The Carbondale Warming Center will close beginning Oct. 31, pushed out by a deteriorating building and a shortage of money, according to The Daily Egyptian. The shelter's board says the East College Street building has grown too unsafe to keep housing people, leaving roughly 15 current guests searching for somewhere else to sleep as colder weather sets in.
Board member Dina Hyde said limited finances and the building's condition forced the decision, as reported by wsiu.org. The board weighed whether the former Southern Illinois University dorm building could still safely serve as housing, and according to The Daily Egyptian, concluded the answer was no. Hyde told wsiu.org the building has pests, mold, frequent flooding, unreliable heating and cooling, and asbestos, problems that have only worsened over time.
A Building in Decline
The shelter, owned by the city of Carbondale, opened in December 2019 and later grew from a planned 12-hour operation into a 24-hour facility, per The Daily Egyptian. In recent months it had already cut back to overnight stays only, the same outlet reported. Hyde said the asbestos complicates any renovation effort, and that unreliable heating poses a real risk heading into winter. “It's not safe, secure or dignified to house people there,” Hyde said, according to The Daily Egyptian.
The center has been described as uninhabitable for the coming winter, and the board's timeline was deliberate: officials say they moved now so other shelters would have time to prepare for an influx of people. “We can't wait until the last minute,” Hyde said, per The Daily Egyptian. The closure is meant to give Good Samaritan Ministries and the Survivor Empowerment Center more lead time to serve additional guests, the paper reported.
Where Guests Are Being Sent
People who normally stay at the warming center are now being directed to Good Samaritan Ministries and the Survivor Empowerment Center, according to The Daily Egyptian. Good Samaritan Ministries runs a 24/7 emergency shelter at 701 S. Marion with capacity for 30 people, per the organization's website. The Survivor Empowerment Center is primarily a domestic violence shelter, but per kfvs12.com, it also serves people needing housing when its capacity allows.
Daytime services remain available through Take Action Today at 809 W. Main St., open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with the exception of the second and last Monday of each month, according to kfvs12.com. Hyde said the shelter's staff has been working to place guests into more permanent housing as the closure approaches, The Daily Egyptian reported.
A Federal Grant Still in Limbo
Carbondale has been tied to a $2 million federal grant intended for shelter improvements, though accounts of its status differ. The Daily Egyptian reported that HUD confirmed the $2 million grant as of Oct. 26, per city manager Stan Reno, while wsiu.org reported the city had already received the funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and an earlier Daily Egyptian report described the money as merely expected. The grant is structured as a reimbursement rather than an upfront payment, and its distribution requires a plan already in motion, The Daily Egyptian reported. Councilperson Nathan Colombo said the funds can only go out once a site has been designated for their use, according to the paper.
Reno, in an email cited by The Daily Egyptian, said the city is still sorting out where that money will go. “We continue to work with local shelter providers and community partners to evaluate potential locations and plans for utilizing the funding,” he said. Reno added that nothing is locked in yet: “No final decisions have been made regarding the location or specific project arrangements.”
Possible Sites Still Unsettled
The Carbondale City Council and Good Samaritan had previously considered 306 W. Mill St. as a site for a new shelter, The Daily Egyptian reported. More recently, Good Samaritan applied for a special use permit for a shelter at 500 S. Lewis Lane, according to a Carbondale neighborhood notification newsletter cited by the paper. That property is a one-story former Helia Healthcare building owned by Southern Illinois University, and Good Samaritan would need to acquire it before any renovation could begin — something The Daily Egyptian reported the organization may ultimately be unable to do.
The city's planning commission is expected to take up Good Samaritan's special use permit application at a public meeting on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. at the Civic Center, per The Daily Egyptian. The Warming Center and Good Samaritan had previously discussed consolidating their operations alongside plans for a new shelter, according to an earlier report from dailyegyptian.com. Hyde said she remains hopeful that a future shelter will better accommodate the community's needs, though The Daily Egyptian characterized those new shelter plans as still tentative.
Not everyone involved is speaking publicly about the transition. Patty Mullen said in an email that she could not comment on the closure, The Daily Egyptian reported, and the Survivor Empowerment Center had not responded to the paper's inquiries as of Oct. 29. For now, the roughly 15 people relying on the warming center are left waiting to see where they'll land once its doors close.
