Shelter needs between $40,000 and $50,000 to operate, center official says
Durango City Council is considering the support of the operation of a warming center at Sacred Heart Parish Hall in South Durango after hearing plans to bolster staffing and other updates.
Mike Todt with the emergency warming center said the shelter expected to be open about 25 nights last winter and operated at least eight nights last year.
Seventy-one people were transported to and from the shelter at 254 E. Fifth Ave., he said. The group served 180 individuals over 20 nights overall last year, and served 60 unique individuals – 125 total – this year.
Todt said police made approximately 24 visits to check on the shelter and in other instances dealt with unruly guests who had “behavioral” issues and were escorted out of the shelter.
Issues police addressed including “involving parking, citizen assistance, vagrancy, trespass and one instance of misbehavior at the church office,” he said.
Todt said the warming shelter needs between $40,000 and $50,000 to operate it.
Councilors thanked him and others for facilitating the shelter.
Todt said he met with Durango School District Superintendent Karen Cheser, who said the shelter was working out.
Councilor Jessika Loyer said she wants more reports about the shelter, whether there were any incidents or no incidents. She said maybe the city should reach out to the school district.
Loyer said people get aggravated when they expect the shelter to be open but it isn’t because of staffing issues.
Todt said the shelter doesn’t announce whether it is open – it posts flags at the Durango Transit Center, Manna soup kitchen, Durango Police Department and at the Durango Public Library to indicate when it is open – when temperatures drop below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
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