The Bridge Emergency Shelter opens for our sixth full season on Oct. 15. Significant changes are planned for operations inside the shelter. This season we will focus on separating our services into two programs, a shelter program and a substance abuse program.
Due to licensing and regulations, we are unable to create an official de-tox center; we will have sobering rooms to accommodate highly intoxicated individuals. We have more space because Montezuma County has generously agreed that we can begin to utilize a larger area in the old jail facility. In an attempt to make a real impact with willing clients, we are partnering with Axis Health System, whereby a counselor will host weekly substance abuse support group meetings and screenings for mental health and co-occurring issues.
We are upgrading our intake process to stay within state compliance and to learn more about our clients so that we are able to connect them to relevant community resources. Shelter rules and chores have been re-examined with the motivation to develop a skill-building and personal responsibility system. Our goal is provide a shelter environment that is safe and functions as a learning environment to become a stepping stone toward self-sufficiency.
The greatest need at the shelter is a kitchen facility. In our five years of operation we have depended on Hopes and Graces soup kitchens and the good will of donated food in order to provide hot meals. The soup kitchens have experienced a significant increase in meals served over the years and for everyones benefit we see a need to have our own kitchen facility. We have preliminary permission from the County and expect to have a kitchen in the planning phases very soon! Meanwhile, the soup kitchens will once again help us provide hot meals until we are cooking on our own.
In the midst of change, there is stability too. We will continue to open our doors at 6 p.m. and clients will have to leave by 7 a.m. unless they are engaged in individual or group meetings. Donna Boyd is back as shelter manager and Sara Wakefield continues as executive director. Our board of directors is a committed group who are diligent about attending meetings to ensure sound fiscal oversight, effective management processes, and fund raising in our community. When you see any of these folks, thank them for the work they do for the Bridge: Roy Lane, Dennis Spruell, Angel Hubbard, Pat Kantor, Liz Sellers, Johnny Mosher and Joanie Howland.
We will continue to rely on volunteers every night for helping with our intake shift. Expanded training for staff and volunteers is being planned and the dates will be Oct. 5, 6, 7 and 8. We have a wonderful cadre of loyal volunteers. We invite new faces to show up to work with us. In the words of a volunteer, I was nervous at first because I didnt know what I could to do help, but before long I understood this was a way I could quietly give back to my community and it fit with my work schedule.
For the first time, we will have financial support from the Navajo Nation to help us address the needs of Navajo tribal members and to ensure quality services to all clients. We have signed a contract with the Department of Behavioral Health Services in Window Rock; we have been told we will have funds before the end of the year. Its significant that the Navajo Nation has an outreach program to reservation border towns where tribal members are often stranded. This agreement will enable us to refer clients directly to the in-patient rehabilitation center in Shiprock, N.M.
The Bridge is participating in a newly formed group, Southwest Colorado Rural Homeless Shelter Coalition. We are working with shelters in Grand Junction, Durango and Alamosa to share best practices for operating shelters as well as pursuing possible government grants. We have visited these shelters more than once; its encouraging to share our everyday challenges, solutions and our common vision for the future of encouraging self-sufficiency while honoring individual dignity.
Our Day Labor program has been moving along steadily under the capable management of Anna Bosquet. This is a connecting point between employees and employers; its very evident that the national economy has hit our community hard as the numbers of people seeking work far outnumbers the opportunities for employment. To create jobs The Labor Enterprise Garden was created and made possible by a grant from LiveWell Montezuma. Clients have done the work and it is yielding great produce which will be on sale at the Farmers Market on October 15th. Watch for a more in-depth article about Day Labor in the future.
Oct. 22 will be our first open house and memorial service at the shelter. We invite the public to see our facility, meet our staff, share in a Native American Indian blessing, remember fallen friends and have something to eat.
The Bridge has come a long way since our very first short season early in 2006. Our funding reflects a diversity of sources including the City of Cortez, foundations, State government, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and now the Navajo Nation, as well as the large in-kind contribution from Montezuma County for use of the old jail. Thirty percent of our budget is from local sources individuals and faith-based organizations. On behalf of the Board and with enormous gratitude, thank you to this wonderfully caring community.
MB McAfee is the chairperson of the Bridge Emergency Shelter board of Directors.