Shelter House searches for temporary winter housing to aid Iowa City’s homeless.

By KayLynn Harris
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With fall and winter fast approaching, a location for a temporary winter homeless shelter in Iowa City has not yet been found.

Shelter House, a local nonprofit, runs the temporary shelter in Iowa City. The shelter has 70 beds available on a day-to-day basis.

Shelter House Executive Director Crissy Canganelli said this limited space is an even greater issue during the winter because of the much harsher weather conditions.

For the first time last year, Shelter House opened temporary housing during winter to provide safe living conditions for the homeless. The space was a former Aldi’s grocery store donated by property owners Mike Hodge, Dean Oakes, and Kevin Digmann.

Ronda Lipsius, co-executive director of the local Free Lunch program, said she has concerns about potential locations for the shelter.

“It is important for a shelter to be in a location close to other services a person may utilize,” she said. “We have the Crisis Center, [the Domestic Violence Intervention Program], [the National Allicance for the Mentally Ill] and Salvation Army on the same block as Free Lunch.”

Lipsius noted the fact walking is the only means of transportation many homeless people have, so a central location is key.

Shelter House hopes to continue to provide temporary housing this winter and is seeking donated commercial spaces, Canganelli said.

“A ground-floor commercial space that can occupy 25 to 30 people a night from December to mid-March and is near public transit would be ideal,” she said. “Winter housing is designed to help those who literally have no place else to go.”

Canganelli described certain procedures, such as Breathalyzer tests that are standard at Shelter House, won’t be required at the temporary winter facility in order to provide everyone with a safe place to sleep.

Locals who frequently use Shelter House services hope a location is found soon.

Carl Johnson, who is homeless, said Iowa City’s homeless community is in dire need of assistance in the harsh winter months.

“We are in a bad situation out here,” he said.

Canganelli said she hopes community members will come forward like before with a donated space to use for the shelter.

Carlos, a local homeless man who declined to give his last name to The Daily Iowan, said the biggest danger faced by the homeless during harsh Iowa winters is living on the streets with nowhere to go.

“People have died,” he said. “I have seen people freeze to death.”