More than 200 community members joined Ramsey County, Interfaith Action of Greater Saint Paul and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet for a second virtual town hall on Tuesday to discuss a potential shelter for families with children experiencing homelessness.
The proposed family shelter would be located in the Sisters of St. Joseph’s Provincial House at 1880 Randolph Avenue in the Highland Park neighborhood of Saint Paul. Interfaith Action would operate the Provincial House as part of its Project Home program, with financial support from Ramsey County. The shelter would serve approximately 20 families. If the shelter moves forward, it could open as soon as March.
In case you missed it, you can watch a video of the virtual town hall, download the presentation or review the answers to questions asked at the two town halls.
Stay engaged
In a parallel process, Interfaith Action has applied for a conditional use permit with the City of Saint Paul to use the property as a family shelter. The public will have an opportunity to comment on this application at the Zoning Committee hearing, which will likely be held in late January. If you would like to share your input on the proposed family shelter, you can email comments to PED-ZoningCommitteeSecretary@ci.stpaul.mn.us.
How can you help?
At the town halls, many community members expressed interest in donating and getting involved with Project Home programming at the Provincial House in the future. If you are interested in supporting these efforts now, one helpful action could be to start collecting donations, such as gently used towels, hygienic supplies, socks, underwear, etc. Additionally, while Project Home traditionally benefits from volunteers, volunteer opportunities have been significantly reduced due to COVID-19. Once it becomes safe, volunteer opportunities will likely be available at the Provincial House.
Sign up for email updates from Interfaith Action to learn about how to donate and volunteer should the shelter move forward.
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