WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Our Savior Lutheran Church is raising $1.5 million to build a new homeless shelter in downtown West Lafayette they announced at a city council meeting Monday.
For over 10 years Our Savior Lutheran Church has been operating a homeless shelter out of their basement at 300 West Fowler St. However, the church can no longer able to afford the cost alone.
The coalition has already raised around $200,000 with another $180,000 in pledges in two months. They also applied for $1 million in state and federal grants.
The coalition is asking the city council to donate a site valued at $100,000, which is located at 100 State Street in downtown West Lafayette. However, local businesses are protesting the proposed location.
These people are not allowed to stay in the shelters during the day, said Scott Walker, CEO of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. They just hang out near the shelter instead, said Walker.
“We’ve got customers who say they don’t come downtown anymore because of the homeless, because of being approached and asked for money, or ranted at,” said Walker.
This location is ideal for a shelter, its central and easy for the homeless people to get to, said Jennifer Layton, Executive Director of Lafayette Transitional Housing. Locations further away would not be useful as they cannot walk out into the country or out of city limits to get there, said Layton.
We arrested on average 300 homeless people per month last year, said Jason Dombkowski, West Lafayette Police Chief. These arrests cost the taxpayers roughly $100,000 per year, said Dombkowski.
During the city council meeting the council voted 7-1 to donate the land. The new shelter will run on volunteers and a small full-time staff once built.
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Our Savior Lutheran Church is asking for donations to build a new homeless shelter in West Lafayette. The proposed site is located at 100 State Street, next to the Chauncey Hill shopping center. The project needs $1.5 million, and supporters have already applied for $1 million in grants.
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