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After months of planning, a resource center with services for homelessness opens in Chillicothe

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CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Months of collaboration among local stakeholders have finally borne fruit with the opening of a new homeless shelter on the outskirts of Chillicothe.

An offshoot of Ross County Community Action, the Ross County Community Resource Center houses dozens of cots where people can sleep, as well as extensive wraparound services including rapid rehousing, peer support and mental healthcare. Visitors will go through an intake process shortly after they arrive to determine how the center can meet their needs.

Johnetta Pulver of the Ross County Veterans Office was one of many community members who attended the opening ceremony Monday night.

“This is such a godsend right here, it just gives me goosebumps,” she said.

Rows of cots with blankets and pillows in a large open facility.
The cots offer little in the way of privacy, but the space is warm and secure. [Walker Smith | WOUB Public Media]
The center is notable in part for its sheer size. Most homeless shelters in the region offer fewer than 20 beds. The center currently has 65 cots divided into sections for men, women, couples and families. According to Executive Director Julie Bolen, the maximum number of cots the shelter can have is 72.

Wraparound services are set up in the room adjacent, and Bolen said there will always be at least three staff members on site to assist residents. The center has also partnered with Job and Family Services and the local library. In addition, it can serve as a mailing address, without which unhoused people risk losing access to SNAP and other benefits.

Having so many resources in the same building as a homeless shelter is rare, but organizers expect it to have a major impact.

Among them is Faith Gamblain, a peer supporter and outreach specialist who was homeless herself for some time.

“I entered into a shelter in another state, and if it wasn’t for the case managers and everybody that was involved with teaching me the life skills that I needed to be successful, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” she said.

Bolen said the shelter’s goal is to rehouse people in 30 days, though they can stay for longer if nothing is available. That may often prove to be the case, given the critical lack of affordable housing throughout the region.

A dog crate and some cribs sit next to a pair of cots.
The center aims to meet the needs of residents with pets and small children. [Walker Smith | WOUB Public Media]
In the long term, Bolen said Ross County Community Action is looking into opportunities to build more housing itself. The Community Resource Center sits on 6 acres of land, much of which can be built on.

“Right now, this is day services, overnight shelter, but the plan is — the vision is to expand, maybe develop more housing units, maybe help solve the actual housing concerns that we have now, too,” Bolen said.

Local partnerships were key to the center’s creation

Creating the Community Resource Center was no small feat. Ross County Community Action operated a temporary shelter from January 2022 to April 2023. Bolen said the shelter had to move three times because it fell afoul of the local zoning code, which proved costly. Eventually, she and her team decided they needed to close the operation and regroup.

While ultimately unsuccessful, the temporary shelter planted the seed for the new center’s creation. Bolen said the experience provided ample evidence to show the county needed to do more to address homelessness. Their efforts won the support of city and county officials, who helped Ross County Community Action find a new site — not just for a homeless shelter, but a range of support services people in the area might need.

A woman prepares to cut a ribbon with a large pair of scissors.
Julie Bolen prepares to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony for the Ross County Community Resource Center. [Walker Smith | WOUB Public Media]
This proved challenging, according to Ross County Commissioner James Lowe. A few buildings became available that looked promising, but their proximity to residential areas meant zoning was once again an issue.

Then word came that the building that used to house Eastern Avenue Lumber was for sale. As a former lumber and hardware store, the site already had important utilities and plenty of space.

“So we said, ‘Okay, this’ll be nice. There’s no zoning here,’ (…) we’ve got water and sewage here, and that’s what they need to run the building,” Lowe said.

“We took some of the money that we had in ARPA money and gave it to (Community Action) to purchase … this building. Also … the city took part of their ARPA money and put it towards this building,” Lowe explained.

It’s an investment he hopes will benefit more than just the area’s unhoused population.

“This is not only a homeless shelter. This is a resource center for the community,” Lowe said.