Homeless shelter reopens in Williamsburg

Williamsburg’s only homeless shelter, Emergency Christian Ministries, is more or less back in business after shutting early last year, but its current leaders say it can still use all the help that it can get as much of the building still needs extensive work.

“Everything needs to be brought up to code. Everything needs to be renovated,” said Susan Jett, who is one of the board members for the shelter in addition to the being the secretary and treasurer for the group and interim director.

“We have put in three new bathrooms already. Everything needs a new bathroom in it. The sheetrock needs to be brought up to code. It is not up to the fire code. We need a new roof desperately. It leaks all on this back side.”

The roof situation is to the point where the shelter has already done work on some of what it refers to as the “dry rooms” but is waiting for the new roof to be installed before trying to renovate the “wet rooms,” that have a leaky ceiling, Jett said.

The Williamsburg City Council and the Whitley County Fiscal Court have each allocated $25,000 in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to help cover the cost of the roof replacement on the shelter, which is expected to be done this spring.

Jett said that the building more or less needs gutting, especially on the “wet side” of the building where floors and ceilings largely need to be redone due to water damage.

The homeless shelter first opened in 1991, when then Williamsburg Mayor Marcella Mountjoy used some Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds to help purchase the property, which used to be an old motel but has since been added onto.

Following the retirement of shelter founders and longtime directors Bill and Joyce Woodward in late 2020, the shelter shut down in early 2021.

A new board was put in place in early 2021 after the couple retired.

The current board is composed of Susan Jett, Steven Jett, Gina Hamblin, Ronnie Partin and Ronnie Wilson.

The “new” shelter

Susan Jett said probably the biggest thing that the current board would like people to know is this is the “new Emergency Christian Ministries,” or put another way “there is something new up here on the hill” as some refer to the shelter being “on the hill.”

The new board is actively working to get the building up to code, Jett noted.

Jett said that the new shelter got its first resident last February or March when Steven Jett saw a woman on the street and asked if she needed help, and she said she needed a place to live.

“Since that time we have had people here the whole time,” Susan Jett said.

Currently, the shelter is limited to 15 residents if it utilizes the laundry room with a mattress on the floor.

Once the shelter is fully renovated, it will be able to accommodate about 25 residents.

Fully functional shelter needed

Jett said the need to have a fully functional homeless shelter in Williamsburg is “more than I ever thought,” adding the problem is much more extensive than most people think.

“There are people you don’t even see that need a place to stay. I think the tie that ties these people together is no family support. If they hit a crisis or bump in the road, they don’t have family support to fall back on. So there they are. Some have vehicles but not many or they have no place to live so they go behind the bank or under the bridges,” Jett said. “I can’t tell you the number of people, who live in their cars before they come here.”

Jett concedes that some people do make unwise decisions but many aren’t homeless because they are lazy, and others simply don’t have the skills they need to function independently.

She cited the example of one shelter resident, who had been on disability since she was three years old. Her mother put her on it.

“She never thought she could get off it. She had to have that check to survive. She has a job now. She loves it. She has developed into a different person. She has self-respect, discipline and motivation,” Jett said adding that the woman will soon have to get off disability because she makes too much money, but she is alright with that.

“She feels secure enough that she is able to do something. This is what we want to do. We want to give a hand up instead of a hand out.”

Once people get to the shelter they don’t sit around twiddling their thumbs all day.

Jett said that the first thing she tells all shelter residents is they have to get a job, and if they can’t find a job then she will find them one. The shelter also has a work schedule, and each person staying there is expected to pitch in doing something.

Christian non-profit

The shelter gets funding primarily from donations and churches.

In addition, it also applies for various community grants from places like Walmart, Save the Children, and the Upper Cumberland Community Foundation that fund particular projects.

The shelter is also doing some fundraising projects, such as a quilt raffle.

There is currently a quilt on display at Williamsburg City Hall that is being raffled off on April 5. The cost is $2 per chance, or five chances for $8, with proceeds going to the shelter.

Call Gina Hamblin at (606) 549-6033 for more information about the raffle.

“We are trying not to have to be government funded. We are a Christian non-profit and we would like to keep it that way,” Jett said.

The shelter does take couples, who aren’t married, but they are required to stay in different rooms.

“We want to help everybody. Just like Jesus helped everybody, we want to try and be like Him and meet needs. Also, we don’t push it on anybody, but we do have a Bible study here on Thursday nights and they are welcome to come,” Jett said.

“We take them to church if they want to go to church, but it isn’t required that they go to church. We give them a Bible if they want one, but we don’t push it on them. We do encourage it I guess you could say.”

Anyone wanting to assist the shelter can mail it at ECM, P.O. Box 13, Williamsburg, KY 40769, or call (606) 400-1464.

“It takes a community to do it. The board can’t do it by itself. I can’t do it by myself. We have to have the community supporting it. We want to get people, who are homeless, to be able to stand on their own. Self-sustaining I guess is what you would call it,” Jett added. “It is helping the community doing that so they can be contributing citizens.”