Project Hope for the Homeless continues to take precautions as we remain open to serve our guests during this time of crisis.
We are closely monitoring the global outbreak regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) and we’re working to safeguard the health of our community. The health and well-being of our guests, staff, and volunteers is our top priority.
Project Hope for the Homeless has increased procedures for disinfecting; reminded guests, staff and volunteers to wash hands continually; ordered a deep cleaning of the facility from a vendor; and should a quarantine be necessary, we will work in conjunction with the Lake County General Health District to make proper accommodations for someone infected.
“We thank the community for supporting us knowing that we remain open during this crisis,” said Judy Burr, Project Hope for the Homeless executive director. “It is our desire, should some emergency funding become available, that we will extend our hours to keep our vulnerable population safe.”
Hear more from Judy discussing our response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) in this YouTube video:
Project Hope for the Homeless, which is the only emergency shelter in Lake County, is a 50-bed, year-round facility and is keeping up with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.
The adult shelter is currently open daily from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and serves up to 38 guests per night. Our Families Moving Forward program serves up to 12 guests nightly and operates in a separate wing of our 25 Freedom Road facility currently from 1 p.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekends.
Our procedures for dropping off donations and meals will be changing to door drop-off only to limit the spread of the virus. We have also asked our staff and volunteers ages 65 and older to temporarily take a leave of absence so that they remain safe as they are vulnerable as well.
Please visit our website www.projecthopeforthehomeless.org and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/projecthopeforthehomeless for updates as this situation evolves.
In the meantime, there are a few things people can do to help Project Hope for the Homeless including:
- Join us in prayer for everyone to be safe.
- Sign up to volunteer from 6:45 p.m. to 11 p.m. by completing an application available on our website since we have lost some valuable older volunteers for the upcoming weeks.
- Help us with funding to extend our hours if there is an order from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to “shelter in place”.
- Stay calm and continue to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website at www.cdc.gov for additional information about COVID-19.