Don’t forget about local homeless shelters during the ‘January blues’

EAST IDAHO – Homeless shelters often see an influx of donations, volunteers and gift-giving during the holidays, but one thing to remember is the less fortunate need help during the other 11 months of the year too.

Eastern Idaho homeless shelters are bracing for cold winter months as snow, hail and freezing temperatures continue to threaten those who don’t have permanent housing.

Tyler Perkins, the CEO and executive director of the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission, says shelters are seeing an influx of people in need of shelter, food and warm clothing. See the entire list of needs here.

“We typically have an influx of people when the weather gets really cold, and when people can’t just sleep in their cars easily or sleep outside,” says Perkins.

The Idaho Falls Rescue Mission owns and operates three separate shelters, including The City of Refuge (a men’s shelter), Ruth’s House (a women’s shelter) and The Haven (a shelter for women and children).

Perkins said all three shelters are currently near capacity. The City of Refuge has a capacity of 25 beds, Ruth’s House has 20 beds, and The Haven — currently under renovation — is hosting four families.

“Christmas is a crazy time of year for us, as we live in such an awesome community that everyone just ramps up their giving,” says Perkins. “Then in January, we kind of just stretch that out until the next giving season.”

The Rescue Mission also runs a commercial kitchen in downtown Idaho Falls, which provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner for shelter occupants and other people who may just need a hot meal. This kitchen runs on donations from the public, something they are in need of year-round.

“It takes a ton of food. We have a commercial kitchen downtown, and all of the meals are prepared there and then sent out to the shelters. We also provide shelter for the crisis center, and we serve meals to the public every night of the year, for people who may not be staying with us but may be on the brink can come in and get a free meal,” says Perkins. “You combine all of that together, and it’s well over 30,000 meals a year. We are the only commercial kitchen in the entire region that I know of that just never shuts down.”

Other than food and warm clothes, Perkins says they are always looking for help from those in the community who may have a little extra to give.

“We have staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week at several places across the community, and that costs a lot of money when you take into consideration that we’re not just helping people with food, we’re housing them,” says Perkins. “And it’s not just housing, it’s program housing, which means we’re providing everything for them: toiletries, clothing, food, case management, counseling and helping them move toward sustainability. That type of housing is the most expensive kind of housing you can get.”

The Rescue Mission is staffed 24 hours a day by volunteers, who often miss the holidays with their own families in order to make sure nobody is outside freezing during the cold winter months.

“We have staff that don’t get a lot of holidays off, and when they do, they rotate them with other staff,” says Perkins. “If you can afford to write the mission a check, that is a huge need. We are completely local, and we are probably 90% funded by donations by our local region and community. We’re really blessed to do it, but we also need the community to continue to support us to be able to provide these resources.”

In Pocatello, the Aid for Friends homeless shelter is seeing the same kind of generous love during the holiday season, only for it to slow down during the “January blues.”

BJ Stensland, the executive director of Aid for Friends, says the Pocatello community is absolutely necessary to the shelter’s success.

“It would be wonderful to have this heightened awareness that we feel during the holidays for those that are less fortunate and to have that go throughout the year,” says Stensland. “People experience crisis and homelessness 365 days a year. With January blues after the holidays, sometimes things settle down. We still need ongoing support. Our community is really good with helping us with items, but it would be really good to have that internal awareness that even after the holidays, people are still struggling.”

Aid for Friends helps families and homeless individuals in Pocatello to help them get back on their feet. The last few years, a local organization has been lifting a lot of weight off the shoulders of the staff during the holiday season to provide Christmas presents for the shelter residents.

“We have angels in our community. The Acorn Fund of Pocatello is one of those angels. For the past eight years, they have organized Christmas gifts for our shelter clients, and for some of our other clients, in a a Sub-for-Santa program,” says Stensland. “They go online and allow people to shop for an individual or a family, and everyone asks for a couple of Christmas gifts. They create the list and then organize it so the Aid For Friends’ staff is not burdened trying to figure out how to coordinate that effort. They do it all, so everyone at the shelter is given Christmas gifts.”

Acorn Fund Pocatello even helps to organize a Christmas party for the homeless shelter residents, ensuring that everyone will have a present under the tree this year, meet Santa, and eat a ham and potato Christmas dinner.

“I cannot say enough about the Acorn Fund Pocatello, and the volunteers that support that Sub-for-Santa program,” says Stensland. “That has taken such a major relief off of us, so we can focus on giving them the basic services, the case management they need, making sure they’re safe, and we’re not frantically trying to figure out how to bring the holiday season to them, because our community does it. Isn’t that amazing?”

To contact the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission, visit its website to donate, volunteer or learn more.

You can also show up to the Ruth House, City of Refuge, or the Haven if you are in need of assistance, or call (208) 552-5575, to discuss options and figure out which shelter best suits your needs.

Aid for Friends is at 209 East Lewis Sreet in Pocatello. You can call the shelter at (208) 232-5669. For more information, visit their website here.