photo by: Mike Yoder

Lawrence Community Shelter, 3655 E. 25th St.

As temperatures dropped Tuesday night, Lawrence Community Shelter Interim Executive Director Charles Frager says he was driving around Lawrence, looking for homeless people still out on the streets.

Frager said that even though the homeless shelter is not at capacity, there are still people who he said lack a strong sense of self-preservation, have previously been banned and may think they can’t come back, or otherwise chose to remain outside. Frager said that he drove around until about 10 p.m. Tuesday looking for people who were out, but didn’t come across anyone who has been staying at the shelter.

“In these circumstances, my ultimate goal is nobody freezes to death on my watch,” Frager said.

A homeless survey is completed each January, but this year’s numbers aren’t compiled yet. However, over the past few years, survey volunteers have found about 20 to 40 unsheltered people in Lawrence, according to the survey results.

This year’s survey was conducted last week, and Frager said that, anecdotally, he knows there were people unsheltered. He said he knows of a teenager who has been in the downtown area and people camping near the river. In addition to the shelter’s outreach, Frager noted that Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center has an outreach team that contacts those individuals and tries to get them to shelter. As wind chills fall to dangerous levels, Frager urges people to come to the shelter and for anyone in the community who sees someone they are concerned about to contact the shelter.

The shelter typically has capacity to house 125 people, but Frager said that during the cold weather months the shelter brings out extra beds and sleeping mats and even lets people sleep in overflow areas. With those accommodations, the shelter can house another 15 people. He said that the shelter has not had to turn anyone away because of capacity, but that if capacity is reached because of the extremely cold weather, the shelter has churches and volunteers who will accommodate people.

Some people staying at the shelter have been required to leave the building during the day, but when asked about that by the Journal-World, Frager said that practice has not been in place during cold weather and the plan was to cease that requirement under all circumstances starting Wednesday.

Specifically, Frager said that historically the shelter has required those who aren’t working with a case manager — typically about 15 people — to leave the shelter between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. every day. He said the shelter has a 25-person limit for each case manager, and that a majority of the people that have had to leave during the day are on the waitlist.

“I feel that forcing certain people to leave during the day — the people who are on overflow — is probably not the most humane thing we can do,” Frager said. “It’s really just imposing artificial barriers for services, so my plan is tonight at our guest meeting to effectively remove that exodus mandate.”

Regarding behavior standards, Frager said that people who cannot function independently because of alcohol or other substances and people who are having behavior issues cannot generally stay at the shelter. However, he said that rather than turning them away, the shelter seeks medical services for those who are incapacitated, and those who are a security or safety concern can stay in a separate “calming room.”

The shelter has a separated area that can accommodate nine homeless families, and Frager said that area is consistently at capacity. He said there have been times when the shelter has had to house families in overflow areas, such as the playroom.

Family Promise also provides emergency shelter services and other supportive housing and programming for families. Family Promise Executive Director Dana Ortiz said the emergency shelter component of her organization’s services can house four families and up to 15 people. She said the emergency housing regularly runs at capacity, and that Family Promise has had an increase in calls during the cold weather of recent weeks.

Ortiz said that, while most families on the waitlist are living with others or couch surfing, 9 percent of families in 2018 self-reported that they were camping, living in a car or staying in motels. Ortiz said that ahead of the most recent snowstorm there was a family that was camping, and that Family Promise worked to get them housed elsewhere.

Weather is forecast to warm up later in the week, but temperatures overnight Wednesday are still predicted to be dangerously cold. Frager said that until conditions improve, the shelter is working to prepare additional meals and that he will be driving around to find anyone who is outside in the cold.

“I plan on continuing to do so until the weather gets to the point where it’s not as hazardous,” Frager said, adding that people should not try to make it through the cold and he would be available to pick people up if necessary.