Randy Yohe Published

Huntington Low Barrier Homeless Shelter In Jeopardy

Rendering of building under construction - posted on building site
Site for new Huntington City Mission low barrier homeless shelter
Randy Yohe/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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During last month’s cold snap, Huntington’s low barrier homeless shelter stayed at full capacity. The shelter director says the facility – with its limited restrictions –  is unique in West Virginia, but now faces an uncertain future. 

The Huntington City Mission was established in 1939 as a soup kitchen, evolving into a home for unwed mothers. For the past few decades, the mission has operated with roughly 80 beds for men and 80 or so beds for women and families, with 17 family rooms that administrators said are always full. The mission allows service animals, no pets. City Mission Executive director Mitch Webb said the requirement for shelter clients being clean and sober has tempered with the times.   

“If someone comes into the mission and they’re obviously drunk or whatever, as long as they’re not trying to start a fight or beat up staff, something like that,” Webb said. “We’ll say, ‘Now, look, you go in there and sleep it off. Now we’re going to talk tomorrow.’” 

Webb said those who were not sober or had obvious mental health issues but needed inclement weather shelter could temporarily sleep in the lobbies. But when COVID-19 hit four years ago, the unsheltered homeless population grew. That’s when the City Mission took out the pews in its chapel – and put in cots. 

Inside of a chapel with pews removed and replaced with cots.
Huntington City Mission’s low barrier shelter in converted chapel.

“Our approach was, ‘Let’s create a place where the unsheltered homeless folks in the area could at least get off the street at night,’ and then it gave us opportunities,” Webb said,

Opportunities like peer recovery support, for example. But City Mission Operations Director Steven Little explained a low barrier shelter is not about eliminating all the rules.

“It means there’s no requirement,” Little said. “As in, you would have with the residential clients, where the residential clients are required to work on things such as getting documents, employment, housing and so forth. There is not a requirement. Therefore, a low barrier is what we call it.”

Little said there are complexities, though, with providing for low barrier shelter clients.

“There is a significantly higher number of substance use from clients who present at the low barrier shelter,” he said. “Sometimes that comes with other difficulties, whether it be mental illness that present alongside substance use disorder or traumatic brain injuries, as long as nobody’s beating on anybody.”

Webb said when federal COVID-19 funds dried up to pay for the low barrier shelter staffing, and with the unsheltered population steadily increasing, the City of Huntington offered to fund the staff roster. 

“They said, ‘We’ll fund it, we’ll pay for the staffing, if you’ll keep it open,’” Webb said. “They asked us to keep it open year-round. And that led to the idea of plans of building a building dedicated for that.

Construction of a permanent low barrier shelter with bathroom, laundry and kitchen facilities is underway. Webb said the city has given $2 million in construction funding. However, he added that with Mayor Patrick Farrell now in office, any staffing and construction funding may go away. ‘

I do not believe that the city will, or is going to continue to, support the low barrier shelter,” Webb said “Now, let me say that differently, the mayor is in favor of having one, but not right here on the spot. I think he would rather get it more outside of the city limits.”

In a written response to WVPB questions on low barrier shelter funding, Huntington Communications Director Evan Lee said various sources of federal and state funding, not city money, have passed through the city to support the Mission’s work. Lee said there are no plans to move the shelter out of city limits – but pointed to a recent Facebook video from Farrell which indicates there are efforts underway to relocate the facility.

“I’m committed to finding a better location for these essential services,” Farrell said. “I’ve been working with the leadership team of both nonprofits (Huntington City Mission and Harmony House) to find accessible locations that are not in the middle of our central business district.”

The chapel shelter is currently two blocks away from Huntington’s central business district. Webb said the City Mission has the money to finish building the facility, but not to fund staffing.

“The question might be, this time next year when we have a cold snap and our chapel is not open, where do these people go,” Webb said. “I don’t have an answer for you. You should talk to Mayor Farrell about it.”

Farrell said there ‘is more to come’ on the low barrier homeless shelter issue.