Open Doors in Harrisonburg is still searching for a temporary thermal shelter location, due to the delay in the permanent location’s readiness.
Open Doors is nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide a safe shelter for the unhoused, as well as providing community support and services. Beginning in 2007, Open Doors Harrisonburg is part of the backbone that supports the community as a whole. They have utilized both mobile and permanent shelter models, as well as partnering with other Harrisonburg-Rockingham services.
Throughout 2020 and 2022, Open Doors partnered with JMU to utilize Godwin Hall and D-hub to house individuals experiencing homelessness and COVID. Earlier this year, the City of Harrisonburg chose Open Doors to operate “The Navigation Center”, a permanent shelter scheduled to open this month (November). In 2023-2024, Open Doors provided shelter to 160 individuals and interacted with 5,414. 67.1% of those individuals were previously residents of the Harrisonburg/Rockingham area.
Unfortunately, the shelter is still not ready to open, leaving Open Doors scrambling for a temporary location. Open Door’s Executive Director, Nate Riddle, said “Now that we need a secondary or a temporary location, it still remains the biggest piece of the puzzle that is still missing. Our team and our assists are positioned to be deployed to a temporary location, we are just pending the finding of that location.”
The themeral season has begun, and those experiencing homelessness are without an open door to walk through. “There is not a day that we are not looking at some facility or talking to someone who owns a piece of property that may work,” Riddle said. “We have reviewed around two dozen facilities in the city but we keep hitting barriers.”
Open Door’s staff is ready to go, whenever a temporary location is found. The case management team is available and can be reached at the office at St. Stephen’s at 358 S. Main St. in Harrisonburg. Riddle said the staff is in a position to work in a shelter, and is prepared for the Navigation Center facility when it is ready.
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