MOORHEAD (KFGO) - The long running FM Churches Sheltering Project is going to call it quits.
30 metro churches participated in the program this past winter. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, the network of churches have taken turns housing and feeding those unable to find space at local shelters. The sheltering project has been called a lifesaver. Pastor Sue Koesterman, Executive Director of Churches United for the Homeless in Moorhead, says the project was originally planned to run five years and ran for six years.
She says the decision was made because demand for overflow shelter space has dropped as a result of progress made in ending homelessness in the metro.
Koesterman says the bad news is that local shelters are seeing an increasing number of "extremely vulnerable," people, because of either age or mental health issues who need higher levels of care, something sheltering volunteers are not trained to handle.
Advocates are in the process of looking for a plan to handle homeless people unable to find room at local shelters next winter.