CHUM Shelter Expansion FAQ
After receiving a grant to expand our current shelter there are lots of questions to be answered! The purpose of this page is to answer all of these questions so everyone has a clear understanding of what this project entails.
What is going on?
Great question! At the end of 2022, there was a bill passed for congress to direct funds to programs and infrastructure all around the United States. Long story short, we have received a grant for $2 million to expand our shelter.
We plan to add two levels on top of our existing building so that we may extend our services to more individuals.
Why do we need a bigger shelter in Duluth?
Again you are asking all of the right questions! We need a bigger shelter in Duluth because we are not even close to being able to provide shelter for everyone right now. There are only 155 shelter beds in Duluth. 80 of them are in our shelter and we have over 100 people who stay there overnight. People are sleeping on the floor, on chairs, under tables, or on anything they can find.
We also know that there are over 500 people who routinely sleep outside every night in Duluth. Expanding our shelter would mean that we can provide beds for, at the very least, more individuals in the city.
Will people travel to Duluth now just to stay at this bigger shelter?
NO! There seems to be a fear and story going around that people move to Duluth so that they can live in a shelter. When we finish this project and have the space for people experiencing homelessness to sleep in a bed, we will fill the space quickly. Folks will finally have somewhere to recover and stay out of the cold. This will not provide space for people outside of this community to move into because we do not have enough space for the people who are here now.
We are already at capacity every day and need to come up with creative ways for individuals to have a place to stay. With the shelter expanded, people experiencing homelessness in Duluth right now will finally have a bed to sleep in.
How much will the whole project cost?
The grant we received from the Federal Government will be a great starting point for this project. In total, we estimate that this expansion will cost $4.3 million.