Coronavirus: Local homeless shelter seeks funds to temporarily stay open 24 hours a day

XENIA — Bridges of Hope, on 2nd street, is currently offering grab-and-go lunches to guests but has temporarily suspended its night service, which offers people in Xenia, who have no shelter, a place to eat dinner and sleep. Guests leave the facility at 7 a.m. daily.

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Marlene Labig, Bridges of Hope Board President tells News Center 7 she was concerned about guests leaving the facility during a time when the public is supposed to practice social distancing.

“Right now if we were operating as normal at night, the guests would leave at 7 a.m. and would go out in the community. Obviously there is no where for them go to. They can’t go to the library or a fast food restaurant which concerns us greatly. It’s not good for them. It’s not good for the community”, said Labig.

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The shelter is working with the city of Xenia and Greene County Public Health daily. Some guests have been temporarily moved to hotels but Bridges of Hope wants to offer the guest a 24-hour solution to keep them safe.

"The only way we could operate is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for this period of time to get through this. That way we could operate 24/7 for this period of time to get through this. That way we could get them in during the day and spread out through the building. That would give them adequate distance. We temporarily suspended night service so we could get the funding together", said Labig.

Labig said the board is working to acquire a grant that would match any donations made to help fund the temporary 24-hour facility. She told News Center 7 the goal would be to keep the shelter operating around the clock for at least 2 months. More information is expected by next week.

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