Butler County homeless shelter opens as temperatures drop

A Butler County church-based homeless shelter served 24 guests during its opening week.

Serving Homeless Alternate Lodging Of Middletown (SHALOM) served 16 males and eight females last week at Franklin Church of God, said Bill Fugate, volunteer coordinator. He said SHALOM “thankfully” didn’t serve any families with children.

MORE: Advocates: Homelessness ‘not new problem’ for Middletown

This is the 18th winter of serving the homeless for SHALOM.

Last year, during the 14 weeks of service, SHALOM served 129 guests, Fugate said. The average stay per guest was 20 nights and the average age was 42. The youngest was 2 months and the oldest was 67.

The homeless are picked up every day at the SHALOM office at First United Methodist Church, 120 S. Broad St. Daily intakes are performed from 4-5 p.m. and the homeless are transported from the church every day at 5 p.m., then are returned to the office at 8 a.m. the next day.

Here is the hosting schedule for the 2019-2020 season at SHALOM:

Dec. 8-14: Yankee Road Church of God

Dec. 15-21: First United Methodist

Dec. 22-28: Breiel Church of God

Dec. 29-Jan. 4: Christ United Methodist/First Christian

Jan. 5-11: Holy Family Parish

Jan. 12-18: Holy Family Parish

Jan. 19-25: First Baptist

Jan 26-Feb. 1: First Presbyterian/Christian Enterprise Baptist

Feb. 2-8: Crosspointe Church of Christ

Feb. 9-15: Christ United Methodist/First Christian

Feb. 16-22: Stratford Heights Church of God