As December begins, leading deeper into the cold season, the Winter House will open its doors today for the third year. People needing a safe place for the night will once again find a meal and warm mat in Bethel.
“It’s a safe place for them to come to,” said Benjamin Charles, vice president of the Winter House board and a volunteer. “They can get out of the cold, and they don’t have to stay in a place where conditions might not be favorable to the individual.”
The site serves about 20 clients a night. Charles said it’s a changing group with a few core members
“How it fluctuates is some people might be coming into town just don’t have a place to stay, or people are being referred to us,” Charles said.
Charles said he doesn’t expect to see some regulars this season, and that’s a good thing.
“They’ve helped themselves become self sufficient, and they have places to stay now,” Charles said.
The Winter House will open for the first 15 days of December at the Evangelical Covenant Church in City Subdivision and then move to the Salvation Army building in Tundra Ridge, about two and a half miles out of town.
Charles said the house is creating a voucher system with cab companies to meet people at central locations—like AC or the hospital—and drive them to the new site.
The goal is to remain open every night from now until the end of March, and Charles said this year that seems possible.
The nonprofit has hired two paid staff members to work Sunday through Thursday, leaving the weekends for volunteers.
The Winter House requires two people on staff at all times. Historically, the nonprofit has counted on about 60 volunteers, but they usually work during the week, making covering a night at the house difficult.
Also, with the move to the Salvation Army, the house will find a permanent home and no longer rove from church to church for refugee.
But Charles says the Winter House has never been about the building it’s sheltered under.
“The Winter House for me,” Charles said, “these are people. I’ve gotten to know them and consider them my friends now. I believe people have the right to be happy and safe. So without the Winter House, I don’t know what would happen with them.”
Doors open Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 9:00 p.m.
Anna Rose MacArthur is a reporter at KYUK in Bethel.
