Mar. 16—Lockport CARES, the only emergency homeless shelter in the city, played a little game in the days preceding its fundraiser, the Coldest Night of the Year event, on Feb. 24. Placing staff member Dani Kelkenberg in different businesses around Lockport, people guessed where she was on Facebook.
"Every day caught more momentum and these businesses were so cool!" Executive Director Ben Stuckey said. "Look at Molinaro's, they had a huge reach! and Sub Delicious was so great. They let Dani go back there behind the counter and serve pizza! That told me that this community supported this event."
Funding for the shelter, which holds approximately 17 people at a time for 10-day intervals, depends on fundraising. While the CNOY raised about $15,000, Stuckey is hopeful for more donations to come in. Lockport CARES does not accept any funding from the state or federal government and continues to operate independently, utilizing local volunteers to provide food, clothing and a safe place free of drugs or alcohol.
And there's more of this back-to-basics approach to helping the homeless that may not meet requirements for state aid but provides the guests of Lockport CARES with services that can break the cycle of homelessness. And that's a fact.
"If somebody comes here, I feel we owe it to the community — if they give us money or resources — we owe to them to say, 'Hey, here's how we're measuring success," he said.
Lockport CARES measures outcomes with four goals: healthcare, housing, employment and natural support, whether it's through a church or Alcoholics Anonymous, or a group like the Lions.
"When somebody comes in we ask, do you have these four things? Obviously they don't have housing, so they're automatically down one, but some do have jobs. Two weeks ago everyone had a job," he said.
The shelter's caseworker meets with each individual and helps them toward the goals and each month Stuckey averages out the total outcome.
"We took a practice cut in February and they did OK, but it's not enough because we just started. No one had less than a 2.5. That's my idea to show the community we're good stewards. We're truly trying to connect these people with employment, health care and housing," he said.
Stuckey said sometimes it's as easy as helping the homeless fill out Section 8 (a federal emergency housing program) paperwork.
So, how can the community help? Stuckey had one word: volunteers.
At the moment the shelter is looking for individuals to deliver direct care in the shelter.