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History of the
Shelter
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During
the winter months of 1987, eight downtown churches joined together to feed and provide
emergency sleeping areas in church buildings for the homeless. A
year later, the need had so grown that shelter operations were moved to a vacant school
building.
Three years later, the capability of this location to assimilate the growing
homeless community had been exceeded, and another move was necessary. In the winter of
1991-1992, the shelter was operated in motels. |
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A
diligent search, conducted to locate a permanent location for 12-month shelter operations,
resulted in selection of the location at 510 Essex Street. This shelter facility
was renovated with donated professional labor, building materials, and services. A cadre
of local builders freely gave thousands of hours of their time, augmented by volunteers
from all sources, to provide this shelter. |
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The shelter
was configured to serve 80 people, with separate sleeping areas for men,
women, and women with children. A large multi-purpose area used for dining, recreation,
and shelter meetings was in the center. A
small commercial kitchen, a washer-dryer room, the case management
office, an intake processing room and the director's office make up the remainder for the
9,700-square-foot building. |
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As
the Shelter expanded and enhanced its programs, having such a small building
quickly became an issue. As the facility was rented, the Board of
Directors began a site search for a new permanent facility. |
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In February of 2005, Thurman Brisben Homeless
Shelter, the now Thurman Brisben Center, moved into a new state-of-the-art
facility at 471 Central Road. This facility has private offices for
all staff, a fully equipped laundry room for residents to do their laundry,
a computer lab, several meeting rooms and 8 family units for parents and
children. Finally, the Center has space for a Certified Day Care unit
which is expected to open in the near future. |
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