The board that runs the shelter said the service, located at 13 Depot Street, has been faced with financial burdens.

“The communities of Mifflin, Juniata and Huntingdon counties will be directly affected by the cease of (our) services that have been quietly provided since 1986,” shared Todd Detwiler, Shelter Services’ Board President.

Approximately 20 percent of the shelter’s operating budget comes from local county governments and county mental health. This funding most often comes with specific guidelines for how the money is to be allocated. Some grants must be used for maintenance projects only and others are for food specifically.

The remaining 80 percent is covered by private donations from small businesses, clubs and private faith sectors. A portion of money comes from two volunteer run thrift stores.

Sentinel photo by LIV SUYDAM
Pictured is the sign at the front of Shelter Service Inc., the shelter is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

“The community is very generous with help with foods, toiletries, bedding, cleaning supplies etc…we have many compassionate citizens that support us year round,” Jane Neff, Shelter Service, Inc. executive director.

Despite the donations and funding, the shelter is still struggling to fulfill their mission.

All services offered by the shelter are free. Services include 24-hour staffing to ensure safety, toiletries, bedding, food products, clothing and case management to guide them toward stability, which includes job searches, house searches, lessons and instruction on becoming a better tenant, and assignments of regular household chores to prepare them for their future.

The shelter serves a variety of individuals facing homelessness. They serve those struggling to escape addiction and poor criminal choices in their past, the elderly with no family to support them and too small an income to survive on their own, people actively receiving chemotherapy and no one to help them through their struggle, individuals unable to work because of intellectual delays and side effects from stroke, those suffering from mental health episodes as they are released from hospitals and treatment facilities or local corrections, and men, women, and children that were not fortunate enough to have a network of healthy, caring individuals to walk along side of them through life.

As Shelter Services strive to help those in need, an accumulation of finances has burdened their ability to continue helping the community.

Recently, the state of the economy has begun to plummet at the same time, the shelter has noticed an increase in the number of people they help.

“By August we had already housed our average yearly total served,” shared Neff. “Since September our average daily total has been 30 individuals. As some move, others come in needing help.”

Neff estimates that in the past nine years, 800 different individuals have been housed at Shelter Service.

If the shelter cannot come up with a viable solution, and has to shut their doors, they will have to connect their clients to helping resources that meet their needs the best.

There are night time shelters in State College, Harrisburg, and Altoona. However, these shelters are generally full and often send their overflow to Shelter Services, so they may not have room to take in clients displaced from our local shelter.

“The situation we are in currently is a result of several negative elements crashing into each other,” explained Neff.

Recently, the doubling of the shelter’s utilities and insurance as well as the increase of labor costs for maintenance and repair, has caused the donations they have been receiving to no longer cover all their necessities.

How can the community help?

“Our board, community members, and staff are all doing their part to start fundraisers and spread the word among peers and their friends throughout our community,” said Neff. “We are seeing and hearing a lot of support. People believe in our mission and want to see us continue to serve the needs of the homeless.”

People can help us build the shelter’s operating budget by planning a fundraiser, hosting a ‘spaghetti dinner’, doing a yard sale, etc.

Recently, an anonymous donor offered a match challenge- if the Shelter can raise $10,000 they will match that amount- so any size donation will help.

Donations of clothing and household supplies, in good condition, would also be great help. Those items could be used in the thrift stores or could be held onto to help clients set up their apartments when they move on.

Another help is donating household products that you use around the house- such as trash bags, paper towels, shampoo, deodorant, and more.

“Everything you need in your home, we need in our home,” said Neff.

While the shelter is in need of donations to continue operating, they are also in need of more volunteers to help in areas such as covering customer service within its thrift stores, those with maintenance skills are needed to help keep repair costs down, and those willing to spend time with the shelter’s clients to build their confidence and self worth.

“We want to be a beacon during tragedy, a safety net for law enforcement and a support for mental health services,” shared Neff. “We do not want to see people huddling in doorways or camping out at the emergency room, small businesses, and reception areas.”

During this time of the year, especially, it is important to keep the doors open to local shelters offering safety to the homeless.

“I am asking the community to rally to help the Lewistown Shelter Services provide help to those that have nowhere else to go,” said Detwiler.

People can send checks to Shelter Service, Inc. 13 Depot St, Lewistown, Pa 17044 or use the QR code that is posted on the Shelter Service of Mifflin and Juniata County Facebook page.