Oxford Area Solutions for Housing listens to guest speakers to plan for cold shelter this winter
OASH discussed potential solutions for this year’s cold shelter at its Aug. 18 meeting.
Oxford Area Solutions for Housing (OASH) heard advice from three guest speakers and discussed plans regarding its cold shelter this winter.
OASH had previously been in talks to take over operating a cold shelter after Talawanda Oxford Pantry and Social Services (TOPSS) announced that it wouldn’t in July. The organization held a meeting on Aug. 18 to share information and build its plans.
The city previously requested faith leaders and community groups to help operate a shelter. Oxford can provide funding and resources, but the city itself cannot run the facility.
Members of OASH have been meeting at Vineyard Church weekly to discuss their plans, and they have come up with two potential models. The first model includes renting a single facility, while the second model involves rotating between three churches that will house for a month each throughout the winter.
The plans are early in development, and the Aug. 18 meeting provided an opportunity for members to receive advice and ask questions from three speakers who have previous experience operating cold shelters: Jeannie Sturgeon, a volunteer who has worked at homeless shelters, Tammy Weihe, a public health nurse who has also worked in shelters and Deb Wells, a social worker from Access Counseling.
The three speakers introduced themselves, shared their backgrounds and explained why they wanted to help in homeless shelters.
“I was really touched by the fact that it could be any of us being unhomed and having mental health needs and addiction needs,” Weihe said. “It’s a disease, and it doesn’t really decide and select who’s going to be affected.”
Sturgeon talked about her experience volunteering at a church in Cincinnati that participated in the Interfaith Hospitality Network. She said a big piece of advice she learned was to treat the families she met as guests, not burdens.
“We always referred to the people we were providing shelter to as our guests,” Sturgeon said. “They were always our guests … They would usually have a name tag on so that we could get to know them.”
Treating the people who relied on the shelters with empathy was a common note for the guest speakers. They explained the importance of recognizing the trauma associated with homelessness and how that could impact behaviors and mental well-being.
“Trauma-informed care is the word that we use now,” Wells said, “but recognizing that homelessness is traumatic. Most of the folks you’re going to see have been chronically homeless for a long time. People have been out there for 10, 15 years, and it’s an ongoing trauma.”
Following the speakers’ introductions, attendants at the meeting were invited to ask questions about the best practices to run a shelter and what OASH should know going forward.
Members asked about safety precautions, laundry services, local police involvement, background checks and more. The speakers used their backgrounds and prior experiences to shed light on the preparation and resources required to run one in Oxford.
Most importantly, the speakers emphasized the importance of collaboration both within OASH and between the organization and the city.
“It takes a village for something like this to work,” Sturgeon said.
Towards the end of the meeting, OASH announced that the city had authorized guests at the future shelter to use the showers at the TRI Community Center for three evenings each week. The members will continue to meet each week and discuss more plans, but they said this update was a good sign.
OASH will meet at the Oxford Presbyterian Church on Sept. 15 to hear from more guest speakers and discuss further updates with its cold shelter plans.
